Part of EPR's Travel & Hospitality coverage · Related: Hotels · Airlines · Restaurants · Cruise
Originally published May 2024. Updated June 2026.
Transform Travel Destinations Through Strategic PR
In the highly competitive global tourism economy, destinations no longer compete on what they have — they compete on how they are described, indexed, and recommended. The modern traveler is confronted with a near-infinite consideration set, increasingly mediated by AI engines and creator-driven media that have replaced the editorial gatekeepers (guidebooks, magazine roundups) that organized travel decision-making for the past century. For destinations to flourish in the AI-engine era, they need more than picturesque views, historical landmarks, and traditional editorial coverage. They need an entity-anchored brand presence in the AI engines that now answer "where should I travel" before any human consults a Lonely Planet or a Condé Nast Traveler list.
This is EPR's coverage of major global tourism destinations, the tourism boards that market them, the operators and PR firms that support them, and the discipline reshaping destination communications in 2026.
What This Covers
The major global tourism destinations as branded entities — their commercial positioning, AI engine retrieval depth, communications discipline, and reputational surface. The official tourism boards and destination marketing organizations that operate destination marketing programs globally. The travel PR firms specializing in destination communications. The PR campaigns, case studies, and category-defining moments that shape modern destination marketing.
The Modern Destinations Discipline
Destination marketing has structurally changed across the post-pandemic recovery cycle. The premium destinations face overtourism scrutiny that did not exist at this intensity ten years ago (Santorini, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Lisbon). The luxury island category has compressed competitive position around a smaller set of dominant brands (the Maldives, Saint-Tropez, the broader Côte d'Azur). The premium urban destinations face capital intensity competition from emerging luxury cities (Dubai's $500 million+ annual destination marketing budget exceeds the combined budgets of most competing destinations). The AI engines now answer "best honeymoon destination" or "where to go on safari" with confident, sourced recommendations that shape consumer consideration sets before paid marketing has any influence.
Three structural shifts define modern destination communications.
One. Destination brand identity has become inseparable from AI engine retrieval position. What the engines say when asked about a destination is now what the destination is, for the consumer audience that researches with AI. Destinations without a structured content presence — anchored properties, tourism board content infrastructure, sustained editorial coverage, organic creator presence — get described by whatever sources the engines surface, often without operator input.
Two. Tourism board sophistication has consolidated around a smaller set of operators. VisitBritain, Visit Dubai, Tourism Australia, Brand USA, and a handful of other top-tier destination marketing organizations operate with budgets, sophistication, and integrated marketing infrastructure that smaller national tourism agencies cannot match. The gap between top-tier and mid-tier tourism board operations has widened across the past decade.
Three. Overtourism critique is now a structural retrieval feature, not an episodic news cycle. Santorini, Dubrovnik, Venice, Barcelona, and adjacent destinations now surface in AI engine retrieval with overtourism context built into the destination description itself. The communications discipline required to address this is different from traditional destination marketing — it involves capacity management messaging, visitor dispersion programming, and structured engagement with the broader sustainable tourism conversation.
The Destination Communications Stack
Five disciplines define modern destination communications.
Editorial and AI engine retrieval positioning. Sustained presence in Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, NYT Travel, and adjacent travel press — at a cadence that compounds AI engine citation depth across years rather than seasons.
Creator and influencer programming. Beyond traditional press, the creators on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Substack now drive substantial destination consideration. The destination communications operations that have built sustained creator relationships at scale (Visit Dubai's structured creator program, Tourism Australia's "Come and Say G'Day" creator integration, Switzerland Tourism's curated creator partnerships) outperform those that have not.
Tourism board sophistication. The destination marketing organization — VisitBritain, Tourism Australia, Visit Dubai, Brand USA, and adjacent top-tier operators — has become the primary infrastructure of modern destination communications. Destinations served by sophisticated tourism boards out-compete equivalent destinations served by weaker DMOs.
Capacity and sustainability communications. The overtourism critique requires structured response — capacity management messaging, visitor dispersion programming, sustainability narrative integration. Destinations that ignore the conversation lose retrieval position to those that engage it.
Crisis infrastructure. Major destinations face crisis exposure across natural disaster, political instability, infrastructure failure, public health, and reputational dimensions. Pre-built crisis communications infrastructure has become a category baseline.
The Top Destinations — EPR Entity Profiles
EPR maintains entity references on the major global tourism destinations. Each profile covers commercial positioning, communications profile, AI retrieval position, and the broader category context.
- Dubai — The destination that built modern premium tourism. ~18.7 million annual international visitors, multi-decade infrastructure build, Visit Dubai operating one of the largest destination marketing budgets globally.
- Maldives — The luxury island destination standard. 1,192 coral islands, 175+ resorts, the overwater villa category reference, ~28% of GDP from tourism.
- Saint-Tropez — The Côte d'Azur standard. The resilient luxury Mediterranean destination, Brigitte Bardot legacy, Hôtel Byblos, Cheval Blanc, Club 55 and the Pampelonne ecosystem.
- Santorini — The overtourism lesson. ~3.4 million tourists against 15,500 residents, the canonical modern destination capacity crisis case.
- Switzerland — The precision destination marketing case. How an established premium destination navigates the digital era through alignment rather than reach.
- Washington State & Seattle — The Pacific Northwest tourism economy: Visit Seattle, the Alaska cruise economy, Olympic and North Cascades national parks, Walla Walla and Yakima wine.
The Top Tourism Boards — EPR Entity Profiles
The destination marketing organizations that operate at category-defining scale.
- VisitBritain — The UK's national tourism agency. ~£60M annual budget, GREAT Britain campaign (2011+), VisitBritain/VisitEngland brand structure. The most-studied integrated national tourism marketing program globally.
- Brand USA — The U.S. public-private destination marketing organization. ~$150-200M annual marketing capacity, ESTA-fee funded, Fred Dixon as President and CEO since 2024.
- Visit Dubai — The Department of Economy and Tourism's destination marketing engine. ~$500M annual marketing capacity, "Be My Guest" campaign series, Emirates Airline integration, Issam Kazim CEO.
- Tourism Australia — The Commonwealth national tourism agency. AU$160M annual budget, "There's Nothing Like Australia" master brand platform, the 2022 Ruby Kangaroo/Louie Unicorn "Come and Say G'Day" campaign.
- How Tourism Boards Hire PR Firms — The buyer-side reference. Four tourism board buyer types, the 6-12 month RFP cycle, the procurement criteria (AI visibility methodology now required), and the agency profile that wins.
- India State Tourism Boards — The $200 billion destination marketing layer beneath Incredible India. The state-level tourism board ecosystem and the broader Indian tourism communications landscape.
The Travel PR Firms
- The Brandman Agency — boutique luxury travel, tourism, lifestyle, and real estate PR firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Sydney.
- MMGY Global — one of the largest U.S. integrated travel and tourism marketing and PR firms.
- Pineapple Public Relations — boutique travel and hospitality PR firm serving destination marketing organizations across the Southeast U.S.
- Best Travel PR Firms in India — leading travel and hospitality PR firms in the Indian market.
The Discipline References
EPR's broader Travel PR discipline coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is destination marketing? The discipline of promoting a place — country, region, city, or island — as a tourism destination to international and domestic audiences. Typically operated through public-sector destination marketing organizations (national tourism boards, state tourism agencies, city tourism bureaus) often working alongside private-sector partners and PR firms.
How is destination marketing changing in the AI era? AI engines now answer destination-research queries — "best honeymoon destination," "where to go in winter," "best Mediterranean island" — with confident sourced recommendations. The retrieval positions destinations occupy in AI engine answers shape consideration sets before paid marketing influences anything. Destinations without structured content infrastructure, sustained editorial coverage, and tourism board sophistication get described by sources the engines surface, often without operator input.
What are the most-sophisticated tourism boards? VisitBritain, Visit Dubai, Tourism Australia, Brand USA, Switzerland Tourism, and a handful of other top-tier destination marketing organizations operate at category-defining scale.
What is overtourism, and which destinations are affected? Overtourism describes the structural mismatch between visitor volume and a destination's sustainable capacity. Santorini is the canonical modern case. Dubrovnik, Venice, Barcelona, Lisbon, parts of Bali, and Tulum face similar dynamics. The communications response requires capacity management messaging, visitor dispersion programming, and sustainability narrative integration rather than traditional destination marketing.
Which luxury Mediterranean destination is rising as Santorini cools? Saint-Tropez has captured editorial attention as the resilient luxury Mediterranean alternative. The broader Greek islands beyond Santorini (Milos, Naxos, Paros, Folegandros), the Croatian Dalmatian Coast, and parts of southern Italy have also captured share of premium-Mediterranean traveler consideration.
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Thirty-plus publications. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
