CEO Executive AssistantDestination marketing coordination requires hospitality CEOs to operate in a world of overlapping relationships and competing priorities: destination marketing organizations with their own governance structures and member expectations, co-op marketing programs that demand coordinated investment decisions across multiple hotel assets, tourism board reporting cycles with specific financial and performance data requirements, media fam trip logistics that influence long-term media relationships, and board presentations that tie destination marketing investment to occupancy performance and revenue impact. None of this coordinates itself. The executive assistant who manages the CEO’s engagement with destination marketing is not booking venues and scheduling calls. They are running the relationship and reporting infrastructure that connects the CEO to the partnerships that drive hotel performance.
This article covers how skilled executive assistants coordinate destination marketing activities for hospitality company CEOs, from DMO partnership review scheduling to tourism board reporting, co-op marketing program management, fam trip logistics, and board presentations on destination marketing investment performance.
The CEO’s Role in Destination Marketing
Hospitality company CEOs engage with destination marketing at the strategic and relationship level. They represent the company in destination marketing organization (DMO) governance, negotiate the terms and scale of co-op marketing investments, engage tourism boards and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) as a peer to their executive leadership, and present to the board on the return the company is generating from its destination marketing investments.
What the CEO does not do is manage the day-to-day execution of marketing campaigns, track individual campaign creative deliverables, or handle the operational logistics of marketing programs. That work belongs to the VP of marketing, the revenue management team, and the marketing agencies the company engages. The CEO’s value is in the strategic relationships and governance-level decisions that shape the investment framework and the partnership terms that the marketing team then executes against.
A skilled EA creates the coordination infrastructure that makes CEO engagement at this level effective. Without strong EA support, DMO partnership reviews fall off the calendar, tourism board reporting obligations are managed reactively, co-op marketing investment decisions lack the CEO’s timely input, and the board presentation on destination marketing performance is assembled the week before it is needed rather than with the proper lead time for accurate data and thoughtful narrative. The EA prevents these failures by owning the coordination calendar, the briefing process, and the action item follow-through that keep destination marketing coordination running efficiently.
Scheduling DMO Partnership Reviews
Destination marketing organizations are the primary vehicle through which cities, regions, and tourism destinations market themselves to leisure and business travelers. For hotel companies, relationships with the DMOs in their key markets are significant: DMOs administer cooperative marketing programs, distribute visitor guides and promotional content, manage convention and meeting sales efforts that drive group business, and operate visitor information systems that influence traveler decisions. The CEO’s relationship with DMO leadership is a strategic asset.
The EA manages the DMO partnership review calendar by scheduling the CEO’s periodic engagement with DMO leadership across the company’s key markets. Partnership reviews are distinct from routine coordination calls: they are structured conversations between the CEO and the DMO chief executive or president that address the state of the partnership, mutual marketing investment levels, performance against shared destination objectives, and strategic priorities for the coming period.
The frequency of CEO-level partnership reviews varies by market importance. For the company’s highest-priority destinations, where hotel assets are most significant and where DMO partnership investment is most substantial, CEO-level reviews may occur quarterly or semi-annually. For secondary markets, annual reviews may be sufficient, with the VP of marketing maintaining the relationship between CEO-level touchpoints.
Scheduling DMO partnership reviews requires the EA to manage the outreach and scheduling process with each DMO’s executive office, coordinate any travel logistics when in-person reviews are appropriate, prepare the CEO with a briefing document covering the current state of the partnership and the key agenda topics, and track action items and commitments from each review for follow-through. DMO executives are external partners who notice when commitments made in partnership reviews are not followed through. The EA’s action item tracking function directly affects the quality of these relationships.
Coordinating Co-Op Marketing Program Meetings
Co-op marketing programs are structured investment mechanisms through which hotel companies and their individual properties contribute to destination-level marketing campaigns organized by DMOs, tourism boards, or other destination marketing entities. The mechanics vary: some programs require annual commitments at a fixed contribution rate tied to room revenue, others are project-specific investments in individual campaigns or media placements, and others are tiered membership programs that offer different levels of marketing benefit at different investment thresholds.
The CEO’s engagement with co-op marketing programs involves: approving the company’s overall co-op marketing investment strategy across destinations, reviewing the performance of significant co-op investments in terms of occupancy impact and revenue return, engaging DMO and tourism board leadership on the design and targeting of co-op marketing campaigns, and ensuring that the company’s co-op investments are strategically aligned with its revenue management priorities for each market.
The EA coordinates the CEO’s co-op marketing engagement by scheduling the annual co-op investment strategy review with the VP of marketing and the revenue management team, managing the meeting calendar for any CEO-level co-op program discussions with DMO leadership, and ensuring the CEO receives periodic performance reports on major co-op investments. These performance reports should present co-op marketing ROI in terms the CEO can use in board discussions: incremental occupancy lift, revenue per available room (RevPAR) impact, and comparison of co-op marketing cost efficiency versus owned or paid media alternatives.
When co-op marketing programs are underperforming, the CEO’s engagement with the DMO partner on program design or targeting adjustments may be necessary. The EA coordinates these performance discussion meetings by ensuring the CEO has current performance data before the meeting, that the VP of marketing is included in the conversation, and that the discussion produces specific commitments on program adjustments with defined timelines for implementation and reassessment.
Tracking Tourism Board Reporting Cycles
Tourism boards, including state tourism offices, regional tourism alliances, and national tourism agencies, often require member or partner organizations to submit periodic reports on their properties’ performance data as a condition of partnership participation or as part of the data-sharing arrangements that underpin cooperative destination marketing. These reporting obligations have specific submission windows, data format requirements, and data accuracy expectations that must be managed as seriously as any regulatory reporting obligation.
The EA builds and maintains a tourism board reporting calendar that captures: each tourism board or organization that requires reporting, the specific data elements required in each report, the submission deadlines and the internal teams responsible for data compilation, the format and submission process for each report, and the consequences of late or inaccurate reporting (which may range from relationship damage to loss of co-op marketing eligibility).
Tourism board reporting typically involves occupancy data, average daily rate (ADR), revenue per available room, meeting and group business volumes, and in some cases visitor origin and traveler profile data. This data originates in the company’s property management systems and is compiled by the revenue management or finance teams. The EA coordinates with these teams to ensure that tourism board report data is compiled on schedule, reviewed for accuracy before submission, and submitted on time.
The CEO receives a periodic summary from the EA on tourism board reporting status: which reports have been submitted in the current period, whether any submissions are pending or at risk, and whether any tourism board has flagged questions or issues with submitted data. This summary keeps the CEO appropriately informed without requiring personal involvement in the report compilation and submission process.
When tourism boards request customized data pulls or supplemental analysis beyond standard reporting, the EA coordinates the response by identifying the internal team best positioned to provide the requested information, managing the preparation and review of the response, and ensuring the tourism board contact receives a prompt and professional reply. Responsiveness to tourism board requests reinforces the company’s standing as a valued and cooperative destination marketing partner.
Managing Media Fam Trip Logistics
Media familiarization trips (fam trips) are organized visits for journalists, travel writers, social media influencers, and content creators to experience the company’s hotels and the surrounding destination. They are among the most cost-effective tools in destination marketing because they generate editorial and influencer content that carries more credibility with travelers than paid advertising. For hospitality company CEOs, fam trips represent both a marketing investment and a relationship-building opportunity: the right media engagement during a fam trip can result in sustained editorial coverage that drives meaningful occupancy impact.
The CEO’s engagement with fam trip logistics is selective. For the most significant media visits, including tier-one travel journalists, major digital media editors, or high-profile influencer visits, the CEO may want to meet personally with the visitors, host a meal or reception, or provide a brief interview. For routine fam trip programming, the CEO’s engagement is limited to awareness and oversight rather than direct participation.
The EA manages the CEO’s fam trip engagement calendar by tracking which fam trips are scheduled across the company’s key properties, identifying which visits warrant CEO-level participation, scheduling the CEO’s engagement activities for priority visits, and preparing the CEO with background on the media visitors and their coverage interests before any direct engagement.
Fam trip logistics coordination more broadly involves the marketing team, the property general managers, and the DMO or tourism board partners who often co-sponsor or co-organize fam trips with hotel companies. The EA does not manage the operational logistics of fam trip programming directly but serves as the coordination point for anything that requires CEO decision input: budget approvals for significant fam trip investments, invitation decisions for CEO-hosted events, and sign-off on any editorial access commitments that may have brand or communications implications.
According to McKinsey research on destination tourism investment, destination marketing investments that include coordinated media engagement programs consistently generate higher conversion from destination awareness to actual bookings than media spend alone, particularly in leisure and drive-to markets. The CEO’s personal engagement with tier-one media during fam trips is one of the most direct ways to elevate the quality of coverage generated.
Preparing Board Presentations on Destination Marketing Investment Performance
Board presentations on destination marketing investment performance answer the question every board member eventually asks: what are we getting for what we spend on destination marketing? This question requires an answer that connects marketing investment to occupancy outcomes, RevPAR performance, and revenue impact in a way that is credible, evidence-based, and comparable to alternative uses of the same capital.
The CEO’s board presentation on destination marketing investment typically covers: the total destination marketing investment portfolio by market and program type, the performance metrics associated with each major investment category (co-op programs, DMO partnerships, fam trip programs), the occupancy and RevPAR impact attributable to destination marketing activity versus broader market trends, any significant changes in DMO or tourism board program offerings or investment terms, and the company’s destination marketing investment strategy for the coming period with any proposed changes in allocation.
Attributing occupancy impact to destination marketing is methodologically complex. Hotels operate in markets affected by many factors simultaneously: economic conditions, competitive supply changes, airlift and transportation access, event calendars, and broader travel demand trends all affect occupancy independent of destination marketing investment. The CEO’s board presentation needs to address attribution with intellectual honesty while making a clear case for the value the company’s destination marketing investments are contributing.
The EA coordinates the production of the destination marketing board presentation by managing the backward-planning timeline from the board meeting date. The marketing team provides campaign performance data and co-op program results. The revenue management team provides the occupancy and RevPAR analysis. The finance team provides investment cost data and budget context. The CEO reviews and approves the final presentation. The EA owns the coordination calendar that delivers all of these inputs in time for CEO review and board distribution.
For how board reporting on hotel operations and revenue performance connects to destination marketing performance, see operations reporting coordination. For how capital investment decisions in destination marketing connect to broader capital project governance, see capital project oversight.
Building the Annual Destination Marketing Coordination Calendar
The annual destination marketing coordination calendar integrates all of the functions described in this article into a unified view that gives the CEO and the marketing leadership a clear picture of the full year’s partnership reviews, co-op program cycles, tourism board reporting obligations, fam trip seasons, and board reporting dates.
This calendar is most useful when it is built at the beginning of each year in coordination with the VP of marketing, the revenue management team, and the finance team. It should align destination marketing coordination milestones with the hotel company’s broader revenue management planning calendar: co-op investment decisions should be made before the destinations’ marketing campaign planning windows close, tourism board reporting should be scheduled to inform board presentations rather than lagging behind them, and fam trip seasons should be planned in coordination with the property general managers’ occupancy expectations for each period.
The EA maintains and updates this calendar throughout the year, adjusting when DMO or tourism board program timelines change, when significant media visits are added, or when board reporting needs shift. They use the calendar to send advance preparation reminders to internal stakeholders, to ensure the CEO has adequate briefing lead time before each major engagement, and to identify scheduling conflicts before they affect the company’s participation in time-sensitive destination marketing opportunities.
Destination marketing coordination is one of the most relationship-intensive areas of hospitality executive leadership. The CEO who maintains strong, well-prepared relationships with DMO and tourism board leadership, who makes co-op marketing investment decisions based on current performance data, and who presents to the board with a clear and credible account of destination marketing return is operating the partnership ecosystem that drives long-term occupancy performance. The executive assistant managing the coordination infrastructure behind all of that engagement is a strategic contributor to the company’s revenue outcomes.