Partnership to Profit: 7 Ways Hospitality Brands Can Better Leverage DMOs

Hospitality brands are no strangers to marketing themselves effectively. But even the strongest hotels, restaurants and attractions can gain more if they maximize the potential of their destination marketing organizations (DMOs).

Hospitality brands, embrace collaboration

Sure, hospitality CEOs are busy shaping strategic alignment and PR teams face constant challenges from AI, but stretched time and resources are exactly why collaboration is essential. Better results come when hospitality professionals realize their DMO isn’t a separate entity. It’s an active partner in growing awareness and bookings.

Let’s look at why collaboration with DMOs matters and what hospitality brands can do to engage them effectively.

Why this POV matters more than ever:

Simply put, collaboration is a competitive advantage. Deeper engagement with local DMOs leads to greater amplification and better business outcomes for hospitality brands.

But it’s more than just basic collaboration. Top DMOs are evolving into broader reaching organizations that do more than market a place. They shape trust in that place. While they seek to inspire visitors, they also instill local pride among residents.

This work positions the community as a place worthy of investment and talent migration. Tourism is a massive part of the work, but the modern destination organization is becoming a steward of place and a driver of community value. Hospitality brands have the opportunity to be a part of this promotion. They need to join the broader shift to develop a destination’s brand, ultimately elevating their own brand in the process.

Deeper collaboration also matters deeply when something goes wrong. Brand stewards cannot build relationships in the middle of a crisis or a natural disaster.  It’s vital to do the legwork to create clear communication and understand shared goals before it’s too late.

Steps hospitality brands should take:

1. Connect Frequently

Hotels and restaurants need to be in touch consistently with DMOs. It’s a massive mistake to limit dialogue to a crisis or a grand opening. A good rhythm of communication helps hospitality partners stay visible. Whenever there’s a renovation, a new chef, a seasonal package, an award, an event, a new experience or any other update, this provides a natural opportunity to check in with your DMO.

2. Know Your Team

Hospitality brands need to know their counterparts at the DMO, to identify by name who leads each aspect of their marketing. When you know the team, you know where to bring an idea, where to share an update and who to call when there is an opportunity. And just as importantly, they know you. That familiarity really does make a difference.

3. Share Data Both Ways

Hospitality brands can benefit from insight from DMOs, but it works both ways. Share meaningful data to help DMOs make stronger decisions about their marketing efforts. Offer insight on booking pace, need periods, feeder markets, customer trends, what packages are converting and where demand is soft. This first-person intelligence that hospitality partners have can make relationships more strategic.

4. Be Media Ready

DMOs need assets and information they can use confidently. Provide updated photos, accurate descriptions, current hours, the right contact names, meeting specs, bookable offers, anything commissionable and anything seasonal that will help them incorporate your brand into their efforts. Someone in the DMO may be talking to a journalist or a meeting planner at any time, so make it easy for them to understand and sell your business.

5. Provide Stories

Knowing there is a new menu or a lobby renovation is fine—but so what? Frame these updates through storytelling to share what’s interesting or novel about it. Who designed the menu? What preservation stories stemmed from the renovation? Is there a cultural angle or a trend tie-in? DMOs are always seeking stories that bring the destination to life. The more you think like a storyteller, the more valuable you become to your DMO.

6. Provide Positive Feedback

No relationship is perfect, and hospitality brands might need something different from their DMO. That’s normal, but the delivery needs to be constructive. Frame feedback positively to let DMOs know when hotels and restaurants need more support. If the goal is to drive more business, then frame feedback around what would help do that more effectively. Suggest, “Here are a few ideas that would help us convert more,” rather than just bemoaning a lack of support.

7. Market as Part of the Destination

Hospitality brands need to adopt the right mindset that they aren’t just marketing a business. They’re marketing the destination. That shift is important, inviting hospitality partners to think like ambassadors. They need to understand that when the destination gets stronger, they benefit, too. Businesses that get the most out of a DMO relationship are often the ones that invest in it the most.

Ready to act?

At the end of the day, the most successful hospitality brands understand that they are not just selling a room, a meal or an experience. They are helping shape how people feel about a place. The relationship with a DMO doesn’t just bolster marketing efforts, but builds trust, pride and momentum for the entire community.

Hospitality partners need to look beyond their own marketing goals and partner with their DMOs impactfully to be a part of that larger narrative. Learn more by listening to DCI’s conversation on the Hospitality Nexus podcast.

Looking to elevate your business while also helping create a stronger, more vibrant place for the people who live there and the people who choose to visit? Get in touch with Karyl Leigh Barnes at karyl.barnes@aboutdci.com to learn more about creating a better hospitality marketing strategy that incorporates your DMO more meaningfully.