It’s safe to say things have changed since 2001. Tom Brady isn’t celebrating his first Super Bowl, Lifehouse’s (remember them?) hit “Hanging By a Moment” isn’t topping charts, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring isn’t giving movie-goers their first taste of Tolkein’s epic world on the big screen (it is being endlessly replayed on our streaming services though).
Over the last 25 years, the world has fundamentally changed for destination marketing organizations (DMOs), as well. Back then, websites were simpler. Sales teams were juggling stacks of paper leads. Marketing was beginning to shift from traditional to digital ... but no one knew just how fast that shift would accelerate.
At the same time, a small group of people shared a belief: DMOs deserved tools built for them and for the evolving world of technology.
That’s where the Simpleview story began.
And today, 25 years later, that belief hasn’t just held true — it’s grown right alongside the DMO profession itself.
The Early Days: When DMOs Began Their Digital Journey
In the early 2000s, DMOs were hungry for better ways to manage sales, marketing, and stakeholder relationships. The tools available at the time? Let’s just say they weren’t exactly built with the future in mind.
In 2001, 220 Solutions was founded, planting the seed for what would eventually become Simpleview. A year later, in partnership with cvbTV, the team launched the first web‑based customer relationship management (CRM) built exclusively for DMOs, marking a transformative moment for the industry and a big step toward modernizing destinations.
Growing with the industry
Becoming Simpleview (2007)
It’s always been our goal to evolve when you need us to. As destinations rapidly expanded their digital presence and expectations rose, 220 solutions and CVBTV merged to become Simpleview. We set a deeper focus on web design, content management systems (CMS), content creation, and integrated marketing.
It was our first major brand evolution. You were growing, and so we had to, too.
Scaling Capabilities as DMO Roles Expand
As it became increasingly more important for DMOs to broaden their influence and impact on economic development, meetings and events, venues, community partnerships, and global marketing, their technology needs became more heavy-duty, and so did our products and services.
In addition to building and evolving our own tools, we acquired the following solutions (to name only a few):
- 2Synergize, LLC, a consulting agency, was created to specialize in the DMO sales industry, with a laser focus on helping destinations gain a competitive edge in the conventions, meetings, and events markets.
- The acquisition of Jackrabbit Systems enabled DMOs to offer direct booking to local lodging partners.
- Eventsforce was acquired to provide DMOs, planners, and marketers with an intuitive, all-in-one solution that scales to meet ever-changing event technology needs.
- MINT+, the world’s largest meetings database, was created in a joint venture with Destinations International.
- Tourism Media, a company very similar to Simpleview in the UK, was onboarded to allow us to grow and support our global customer base.
The industry expanded, DMOs took on more responsibility, and at every step, we built and integrated solutions to help you meet the moment.
A strong industry partner
If there’s one thing we’ve always believed in, it’s that the industry gets better when we all show up for each other.
Over the past 25 years, that’s meant:
- Sponsoring and attending thousands of industry events.
- Supporting national and international DMO associations.
- Partnering closely with leaders and innovators shaping the visitor economy.
We’ve never seen ourselves as “just a vendor.” We’re proud to be part of this community — and even prouder of the relationships, friendships, and collaborations that have shaped the industry we love.
Entering a New Era: Data, Scale, and Multi‑Stakeholder Engagement
Today, we support over 1,000 destinations worldwide, powering digital experiences for hundreds of millions of visitors each year. That scale isn’t just a milestone; it’s a responsibility we take seriously.
Now with Granicus, we are part of an even more holistic and community-wide story.
In 2024, we were acquired by Granicus — a global leader in government experience technology.
This wasn’t just a business milestone for us. It was a strategic and essential evolution to support where DMOs are heading — toward unified, community‑wide engagement that meets the needs of residents, visitors, planners, and businesses.
A lot has changed over the last 25 years. Technology. Tourism. The visitor economy. The DMO role itself. But one thing has stayed rock‑solid: we proudly stand not as a technology provider, but as a DMO partner who has taken the challenging, exciting, and sometimes painful steps necessary to evolve alongside you.
From our first CRM to our latest advances in data and community engagement, every solution has been shaped by conversations with destination leaders, industry partners, and the everyday experts doing the work.
In the end, the future of travel will be shaped not just by innovative tools or shifting trends, but by the strength of the relationships we build along the way. When DMOs partner with organizations that are genuinely invested in their evolving needs — and in the well‑being of the communities they represent — they gain a collaborator committed to earning trust, sharing insight, and navigating change side by side.
As the industry continues to transform, we believe that partners who listen deeply, adapt thoughtfully, and show up consistently will be the ones who help destinations thrive. That’s the kind of foundation that doesn’t just support growth; it sustains it.
