Field Notes

SEO Isn’t Dead — What Travel Marketers Must Know for 2026

SEO has shifted more in the last nine months than in the previous nine years — and travel marketers are feeling it. In this episode of Field Notes, Eric sits down with SEO expert Casey Yandle to break down:
What’s actually changed in SEO heading into 2026
Why “SEO is dead” is terrible advice
How travel brands should audit their content heading into the new year
The rise of AI, Reddit, user intent, and what it all means for DMOs
Practical tactics to future-proof your website and search strategy
If you’ve been confused by the noise, worried about AI search, or unsure how to evolve your content, this episode is your roadmap.

Why Events Can Make or Break 2026 for Travel Marketers

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights & Observations for the Travel Marketer, Rachel Normansell from Yodel joins Eric to dig into why events are becoming one of the most important levers for destinations heading into 2026.
From shifting traveler behavior to the rise of AI-assisted trip planning, Rachel unpacks why events can no longer sit at the edges of your marketing strategy—they are the strategy.
What We Cover in This Episode
 Why Events Matter More Than Ever in 2026
Rachel explains why events are no longer “nice to have” add-ons for DMOs, but critical decision-drivers for weekend travelers, regional visitors, and shoulder-season demand. She shares how events are influencing booking windows, content needs, and traveler expectations more than most destinations realize.
The AI Factor: How Trip Planning Has Changed Overnight
With consumers increasingly asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other tools to “plan my weekend,” event listings become data inputs—whether DMOs realize it or not.If events aren’t findable, structured, and current, they’re invisible.If they’re invisible, those travelers go somewhere else.
Rachel talks about how DMO event strategy now sits directly inside search, AI, and itinerary generation.
The “Aperture Problem” You Don’t Know You Have
Rachel and Eric explore how most destinations underestimate their true event landscape. From apple orchards to lilac farms to niche seasonal gatherings, travelers are motivated by things destinations aren’t even counting.
A wider aperture means more discoverability, more reasons to visit, and more reasons to stay longer.
Rethinking ROI: What DMOs Should Measure in 2026
Beyond attendance and hotel nights, Rachel outlines additional metrics destinations should track to understand the full impact of their event strategy, including:
Spillover spend
Content performance
Search visibility
Year-over-year lift tied to event categories
Community participation and sentiment
Event-driven itinerary creation
She also shares one overlooked ROI metric most DMOs miss entirely.
Events as Community Identity Builders
Rachel discusses how strong event ecosystems elevate both visitor and local experiences—and why DMOs should treat community stakeholders as part of the event ROI equation, not just tourism.
 2026 Trends DMOs Should Prepare For
As we head into a pivotal year, Rachel highlights the trends she’s seeing across the country:
Intelligent chatbots guiding trip planning
AI-generated itineraries driven by event data
Traveler demand for niche or micro-experiences
Year-round “evergreen events” gaining traction
Higher expectations around accuracy and freshness of event listings
Increasing operational complexity as event calendars grow

Canva's Huge AI Update - What Does It Mean?

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights & Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric sits down with Sara Dyer to unpack Canva’s largest product launch in its history — a complete reinvention of the platform into a full creative operating system. We break down how Canva’s new AI-powered suite is transforming the way destinations and travel marketers create, collaborate, and deploy content at scale… even without a full creative team.
🧠 What We Cover:
Canva’s three-layer Creative OS: Visual Suite, Canva AI, and Platform How DMO teams can lock brand standards while enabling creativity
Canva Grow — the new AI marketing engine that scans your destination website, pulls brand voice, tone, colors & messaging Auto-generating on-brand ads and pushing them directly into Meta Ads Manager Real-time ad performance insights within
Canva Turning visitor survey data into infographics and dashboards instantly
The new “Ask Canva” AI assistant for design suggestions, copy improvements, and creative guidance
Why Canva’s update is a game-changer for small and mid-sized teams with limited time and budgets
✨ Why This Matters This update collapses design, data, creative, email, video, and ads into one platform, cutting subscriptions, saving time, and giving travel marketers the ability to build professional-level content in minutes — no Adobe mastery required.
🔗 Connect with Sara Instagram: @saradyer If you’re a travel marketer trying to keep up with AI-driven creative tools, this one’s worth your time.

Why Some Cities Win: Lessons from the 2025 City Brand Barometer

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren sits down with Ben Knapp, Brand Strategist at Saffron Brand Consultants, to unpack this year’s City Brand Barometer—a deep dive into why some cities rise in global rankings while others fall behind.
Ben shares powerful insights on:
The evolution from place branding to placemaking
How cities can close the perception–reality gap
The role of AI and online sentiment in shaping travel decisions
Why smaller, lesser-known destinations are poised to thrive in 2026
From Madrid’s brand alignment to the rise of Dubai and the rebirth of smaller communities, this episode explores how cities can turn authenticity into competitive advantage.
👉 Download the full report: https://bit.ly/3WNO4o5

AI, Content, and Trust in Travel Marketing

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren takes us inside his keynote talk delivered in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio. With spooky season as the backdrop, he leads travel marketers through a journey that compares reading the jungle to understanding the shifting marketing landscape—where AI is no longer “new,” it’s “normal.”
Eric explores how AI is reshaping content discovery, why trust outweighs reach, and how travel brands can adapt by scaling content smartly while staying authentic.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
🌍 Why marketers should think like anthropologists, not advertisers.
⚡ Why AI is not a trend—it’s infrastructure, like electricity or highways.
🔎 The shift from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and what that means for travel marketers.
📹 Why blogs feed AI but video delights humans—and how to balance both.
🤝 Why trust > reach when building communities in an era of automation.
🥖 How to repurpose one big piece of content into 40+ smaller ones (from bread to Hamilton to whitepapers).
📲 Tactics to stop cross-posting and instead design platform-specific content.
📧 Why email and text remain undervalued community-building tools.
👥 How to turn employees into brand megaphones without policing them.
🚦 Why “zero-click attribution” will redefine how we measure marketing success.

Brand as Signal: How Travel Marketers Can Thrive in the Age of AI

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Strategies for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren takes the stage in Flint, Michigan, to deliver his keynote “Brand as Signal.” The talk explores how travel brands can adapt and lead in a rapidly shifting marketing landscape dominated by AI. With billions of weekly queries happening on ChatGPT and platforms like Google Gemini, the rules of visibility are being rewritten. Eric breaks down what this means for marketers and, more importantly, what to do about it. What you’ll learn in this episode: Why AI isn’t the future of marketing, it’s the present. The concept of “answer engine optimization” and how it’s replacing SEO. How to create scalable content systems (turning one white paper into 200 pieces of content). The importance of trust, taste, and community over sheer volume of posts. How to turn employees into authentic brand ambassadors on platforms like LinkedIn. The dangers of cross-posting without tailoring content to each platform. What “zero-click attribution” means for the future of traffic and conversion. Eric also shares practical action items travel marketers can take right now, including how to feed AI models the right signals, test your visibility in Gemini/ChatGPT/Perplexity, and move from passive audiences to active communities. Plus: Stay tuned until the end for a lively audience Q&A covering cross-posting, emoji use, and whether traditional SEO efforts still translate in an AI-first world.

Marketing College & the Future of Travel: A Conversation with Shannon Gray

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric sits down with Shannon Gray, Provost of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Marketing College and founder of Gray Research Solutions. Together, they dive into:
Shannon’s journey from anthropology into travel marketing research.
What makes Marketing College such a unique program for tourism professionals.
How community, innovation, and mentorship shape the next generation of travel marketers.
Why graduates often come back to teach and give back to the program.
The evolving role of research in driving smarter tourism marketing decisions.
Whether you’re curious about professional development, intrigued by the intersection of anthropology and marketing, or just want a behind-the-scenes look at how tourism leaders are being trained, this conversation offers fresh insights and inspiration. 👉 Learn more about Marketing College through the Southeast Tourism Society: southeasttourism.org

Louisiana Travel, Hospitality & the Future of Tourism with Chris Landry

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights for the Travel Marketer, Eric sits down live at the STS Connections Conference with Chris Landry, President & CEO of the Louisiana Travel Association.
Chris shares his perspective on Louisiana’s unique travel identity, the evolving role of AI in marketing, and why hospitality is the ultimate differentiator in tourism. Topics include:
🌴 What hosting a major conference means for Lake Charles and overlooked Louisiana destinations🍤 The food culture divide—why gumbo, boudin, and jambalaya showcase the western Cajun influence🤖 How AI is changing marketing workflows for CVBs and leveling the playing field for smaller destinations📈 Why Louisiana is optimistic heading into 2026 with big events like Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl fueling demand💡 How the industry can avoid burnout and why “niceness” might just be the most important KPI in tourism🎓 Opportunities in hospitality careers, from marketing to accounting, and the work of the Louisiana Tourism Fund
If you’re passionate about travel marketing, destination branding, or the future of hospitality, this episode offers fresh insights straight from one of Louisiana’s leading voices.
🌐 Learn more: Louisiana Travel Association🎙️ Subscribe for more Field Notes episodes on travel, strategy, and storytelling.

Influencer Marketing in Travel & Hospitality | Field Notes Podcast with Jordan Basham

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights for the Travel Market, Eric sits down at the STS Connections Conference with Jordan Basham, creator of the Instagram account Where to Geaux.
Jordan shares her story of starting as a Baton Rouge foodie posting takeout boxes during COVID, growing into a full-time influencer, and launching her own social media agency. Together, we dig into:
✅ How DMOs and brands can effectively work with influencers✅ What to look for when choosing the right creator for your campaign✅ The ROI question—what works, what doesn’t, and why longevity matters✅ Navigating “viral overload” and why sometimes you don’t want 200,000 people showing up✅ How AI is shaping social media strategy for agencies and influencers✅ Lessons from Raising Cane’s, NIL partnerships, and working with influencers on any budget
Whether you’re a travel marketer, local business, or just curious about the behind-the-scenes of influencer marketing, this conversation is packed with practical insights.
📲 Follow Jordan on Instagram: @wheretogeaux225🎙️ Subscribe for more episodes of Field Notes—your guide to travel marketing, storytelling, and strategy.

What you need to know about GPT 5 as a DMO

As a travel marketer, the AI landscape is shifting fast and last week’s update to ChatGPT might be the biggest change yet. In this episode of Field Notes, Eric Hultgren breaks down what GPT-5 means for you and your DMO team, and how to turn this leap in AI capability into a competitive advantage. We’ll walk you through a set of high-impact prompts you can start testing today in GPT-5 or A/B against other models like Claude or Perplexity to inspire travelers, personalize experiences, and drive more bookings.
 
Whether you’re new to AI or looking to sharpen your skills, this “Summer of AI” starter kit will help you level-up your AI dexterity and make your destination stand out.
 
Chat GPT 5 Prompt Starter Kit
https://www.advancetravelandtourism.com/insights/travel-marketers-gpt-5-prompt-library/