Reimagining customer advisory boards: A creative blueprint for DMO sales leaders

Few opportunities are as powerful — or as underleveraged — as the Customer Advisory Board (CAB). For destination marketing organization (DMO) sales leaders, the CAB is a significant expense in both time and money, but also pivotal in keeping key customers close and co-creating the future of your destination.

If your CAB feels like just another meeting, you’ve missed the mark. The most effective CABs are:

• Immersive and intentional
• Interactive and engaging
• Purposefully designed to deliver mutual value

They’re not just about what your customers can learn from you — but what you can learn from them, and what they can learn from each other.

Let’s explore how to infuse your CABs with creativity, relevance, and impact.
 

Every minute matters

Your customers are busy; respecting their time means creating an experience that’s lean, purposeful, and energizing. Start with intention. Every session should have a clear outcome, steering away from generic presentations and instead focusing on dialogue, discovery, and decision-making.

It’s important to blend strategy with experience — don’t just talk about your destination, let customers live it through immersive activities that reinforce key themes. Facilitation is key: CABs should feel like dynamic conversations, not formal conferences. Skilled moderators can help guide discussions and keep energy levels high.

Be mindful of your customers’ time. While they’re attending your CAB, they’re still managing work responsibilities, so build in space during business hours for them to check emails and take calls.
 

Set the stage for relevance

Before launching your CAB, it's essential to understand what your customers truly care about and what they hope to gain from the experience. Start by asking insightful questions: What do they want to learn about the destination? Which industry trends are capturing their attention? What challenges are they currently facing? Use these insights to shape a meaningful agenda by leveraging survey data to craft breakout topics, choose relevant speakers, and design off-site experiences that will resonate.

It's also important to identify curiosity themes: What are they wondering about? What might surprise or delight them? These elements will help create a CAB that feels personalized, engaging, and valuable.
 

Learning in all directions: A three-way exchange

The best CABs create a triangle of learning:

• Customer-to-customer: Create dedicated agenda time for planners to share best practices, challenges, and innovations. This builds community and trust, and it’s always the most highly rated session.
• Customer-to-destination: Go beyond the obvious. Showcase local stories and experts, hidden gems, and community impact initiatives.
• Destination-to-customer: Let your destination learn from your customers. What do they need from your hotels, venues, and services? What’s missing?
   

Interaction over presentation

CABs should be built around interaction, not information overload. Incorporate small group breakouts that allow participants to dive into specific topics through table discussions to foster deeper engagement and idea sharing during your CAB. Rotating groups can help maximize cross-pollination of perspectives and insights.

Facilitated dialogues go a long way. Bringing in skilled moderators ensures conversations stay focused and that valuable insights are captured. Experiment with creative formats like live polling, fishbowl discussions, or “idea hackathons” to keep energy high and ideas flowing. These interactive approaches encourage participation and make the experience more dynamic and memorable.
 

Make it memorable

Your destination is your brand — use it to create unforgettable moments with your customers face to face. For curated experiences, think behind-the-scenes tours, local maker workshops, or sustainability showcases. Find activities that tie back to learning goals or community engagement and include unexpected moments that spark joy and deepen connection.
 

Co-create the experience

Your local partners play a vital role in shaping the CAB experience, so collaborating with them in meaningful ways can elevate the entire event. Let attendees experience your destination’s service culture firsthand through immersive hospitality, creative activations, and personalized touches that leave a lasting impression.

Collaboration can look like inviting hotels and venues to help shape the agenda or featuring local hospitality leaders in panel discussions.
 

Build the next chapter: Make it a movement, not a meeting

The CAB doesn’t end when the meeting is over. Use post-event surveys to evolve and improve, capturing honest feedback about what worked, what didn’t, and what they suggest for next year.

Other post-meeting strategies include:

• Tracking strategic impact: Find out how the CAB influenced destinations’ strategy, perception, or partnerships.
• Closing the loop: Share outcomes with attendees to show their input mattered — and build anticipation for the next gathering.
• Connecting with your facilitator and team: Capture key takeaways while they are fresh and be sure to follow up directly with any specific customer action items from the meeting.

Customer Advisory Boards are more than a calendar item — they’re a strategic asset. When you infuse them with creativity, honor your attendees’ time, and facilitate reciprocal learning, you build a group of trusted advisors and destination advocates.