Partners, Not Posts: 4 Ways DMOs Elevate Influencers Beyond Pretty Pictures

For many destination marketing organizations, influencers still sit in the “nice-to-have” bucket, fun for campaigns, helpful for awareness but not exactly central to strategy.

That’s changing fast.

This isn’t an argument to throw more money at influencer campaigns. It’s a call to work with influencers differently, to see them as partners in research, product development and brand-building, not just as a line item under “social content.” As podcasts and offline interaction with influencers are increasingly trending, DMOs need to reconsider how they partner.

But why? Influencers matter more to DMOs than to a consumer brand that focuses on sales. For a destination, a creator’s content signals to an audience member if a place is “for people like me.” It highlights safety and value, which are important at all stages of a booking journey. 

Moreover, when creators share stories about a neighborhood, hiking trail, café or festival, they’re shaping place perception in real time. This influences leisure travel decisions and meeting planner confidence, but also local pride.

Ready to fold influencers into your evolving strategy? These four practical strategies will get you started correctly.

1. Invite Them in Early

Before you finalize a new campaign theme, invite a small group of creators into a virtual or in-person roundtable. Share your proposed messages and visuals and ask them about their audiences, what more they would need and how they would respond.

This means ditching the single FAM trip or campaign and building a “creator bench”—a small group of trusted partners you work with over time. They can provide feedback early in campaigns and provide quick turnaround for content when last-minute opportunities arise. 

When creators understand your brand, your goals and your constraints, they become much more than distribution channels. They become informal advisors and extensions of your team.

2. Tap Creators as Segment Specialists

Many creators have built deep credibility with specific audiences—families, LGBTQ+ travelers, outdoor enthusiasts, luxury seekers, sports fans, etc. These niche segments are highly engaged and receptive to your messaging when it’s aligned.

This is an opportunity to highlight specific influencers as your “go-to,” “voice of,” or “partner for” any given audience. These deeper partnerships help you stress-test your destination’s offering for those groups and build more relevant content over time.

3. Co-Create Itineraries and Packages

Rather than asking creators to “just post,” invite them to co-create a “Creator’s Weekend in [Your Destination]” itinerary that’s actually bookable. Imagine a three-day food and culture itinerary, built around their favorite spots. Or target women travelers with an “adventure weekend” featuring female-owned businesses and guides. Highlight accessibility with a travel itinerary showcasing wheelchair-friendly routes and experiences. You get the idea.

Your partners (hotels, tour operators, museums) can then package or promote the itinerary, with the creator’s content acting as proof of concept.

4. Use Their Channels as Research Inputs

Influencer channels need to be systematic points of research for your DMO. Analyze the top questions in their comments, the most saved posts and the misconceptions audiences ask about frequently.

This insight is vital to inform website FAQs, trip-planning tools, seasonal content themes, future campaign messaging and photography. Avoid thinking of it as an “alternative” way to research. Instead, it’s the reality we’re facing, and DMOs need to embrace it.

And remember: Whether you adopt one or all of these tips, measure success beyond counting likes and views. Shift your lens to destination-relevant KPIs to account for:

• Increases in search for your destination.
• Click-throughs to partner websites from influencer content.
• Visitor guide downloads or email sign-ups attributed to creator links.
• Redemptions of offers promoted in creator content.
• Traffic to specific pages (e.g. dining, neighborhoods, cultural districts) after a campaign.

Where possible, connect influencer metrics to the KPIs you already report to stakeholders. This makes it easier to justify—and grow—investment.

The final word: In a world where travelers are building their bucket lists on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube long before they hit Google, creators aren’t just amplifying your brand: they’re actively shaping how a destination is understood, experienced and remembered. For DMOs, that has real implications for visitor intent, resident pride and even stakeholder confidence.

When DMOs move beyond “pretty pictures” and invite creators into strategy, research and product development, influencer work stops being a one-off tactic and becomes a meaningful driver of how people discover, experience and talk about your destination.

For today’s travelers, especially in the U.S. and Canada, influencers are a powerful bridge between curiosity and action. Are you ready to start partnering with them?

Reach out to Tania Kedikian at Tania.Kedikian@old.aboutdci.com to learn more about developing your influencer partnerships with DCI’s team.