The Destination Management Cycle featuring Maura Gast - Future of Tourism Ep. 19

The Future of Tourism Podcast

Candid Industry Conversations

A series of candid conversations with industry leaders, luminaries and visionaries about the challenges and opportunities facing the travel and tourism industry today.

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Future Tourism Group

Hello. I am David Peacock, senior advisor to Future Tourism Group at Simpleview. I am excited to share with you a series of interviews with industry leaders, luminaries, and visionaries in candid conversations about the challenges and opportunities facing travel and tourism today and in the future.

Simpleview has worked with a group of beta partners around the world to develop and test a program designed to measure the holistic digital footprint of a destination, across all stakeholders, and to develop automated tools for destination digital reputation management.

Now, more than ever, it is the time for our industry to band together and face the challenges of the present in order to chart a more positive and productive future.

We have asked a series of chief executives and leaders in the industry to weigh in on the challenges we face right now and to share their thoughts on what the future holds.

Tune in for thoughtful discussions about sustainable tourism, destination development, transformative placemaking, stakeholder engagement, community alignment, and more.

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The Future of Tourism: The intersection of city, citizen, and tourism as told by Gdańsk

2 minute read

Tourism leaders everywhere talk about alignment with residents, but far fewer build the systems that make it real. On this episode of the Future of Tourism podcast, Łukasz Wysocki, CEO of the Gdańsk Tourism Organization, unpacks how the destination rewired tourism to function less like marketing and…

The Future of Tourism: What Helsinki and Gothenburg teach us about real sustainability progress

2 minute read

This conversation was inspired by the "Score is Not the Story" whitepaper that emerged from the VivaCITY program. As destinations worldwide grapple with the political complexity and accelerating demands of sustainable tourism, few cities offer clearer roadmaps than Helsinki and Göteborg —two Nordic…

People, alignment & purpose: building belonging networks at the Certified Tourism Ambassador Summit

4 minute read

I recently had the privilege of joining an exceptional group of destination leaders and Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) program managers in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the 2025 CTA Summit — a gathering that quietly but powerfully reminded us what the real operating system of tourism looks like…

The Future of Tourism: Jack Johnson reflects on advocacy, credibility, and what comes next

1 minute read

As Jack Johnson, chief advocacy officer at Destinations Internationals, steps into retirement — he joins the Future of Tourism podcast for a candid, wide-ranging conversation on the ideas that shaped his career and continue to shape the industry. From his roots in public service to his leadership…

Resilience and recovery: The role of tourism tech in times of disruption

1 minute read

If you take a wide view of the past 25 years, it’s hard not to be amazed by tourism’s tenacity. The industry has weathered the September 11 attacks, the SARS and MERS outbreaks, a global financial collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, a world marked by war, geopolitical tension, and economic…

Symposium special: Exploring smart tourism from aspiration to application

1 minute read

This is the final installment of our special three-part series inspired by the Executive Insights Symposium — a gathering of some of the brightest minds in destination marketing and management. Catch up on previous episodes here: AI governance for DMOs and their leaders with Janette Roush, senior…