58: Are DMOs Really Serving Residents?

In this episode of Destination Discourse, Stuart and Adam are together in person in Myrtle Beach for the very first time, recording live from the Grand Strand. Stuart uses the conversation to think out loud about the last few episodes and where DMOs go from here, especially when it comes to who we really exist to serve and how that should shape the future.This is a reflective, slightly uncomfortable, very real conversation about focus, audiences, and how we spend both time and money. Stuart drops the Qui Gon Jinn line, “Your focus determines your reality,” and then applies it to the DMO world, questioning whether we are truly resident focused, or if that has become an easy narrative to justify our existence.Along the way, Adam puts Stuart on the spot and makes him rank order the audiences a DMO serves, forcing a candid conversation about residents, visitors, the business community, and elected officials, and what it would mean if we were honest about who gets priority.In this episode, Stuart and Adam discuss: Recording together in Myrtle Beach for the first time How the last few episodes have shifted Stuart’s thinking about the future of DMOs The gap between what DMOs say and what they actually do Which audiences DMOs serve and how to rank them Whether “we serve residents” is mission or marketing Why DMOs really serve the business community and elected officials today The argument for keeping visitors as the primary focus How resource allocation reveals true priorities The tension between political reality and long term brand building What it looks like to future proof the DMO model Key themes and ideas: Your focus determines your reality Stuart borrows the Qui Gon Jinn quote to frame the entire episode. If our focus is residents, our work, structure, and budget should prove it. If our focus is visitors, that should be just as clear. Either way, our calendars and our budgets tell the truth. Who do DMOs actually serve? Stuart challenges the increasingly popular “we exist to serve residents” story, asking whether it is always honest or whether it sometimes becomes a convenient narrative that plays well with elected officials. He argues that in practice most DMOs are primarily serving the business community and policymakers, whether they admit it or not. Putting the audiences in order Adam turns the tables and makes Stuart rank the audiences DMOs serve. Residents, visitors, local businesses, and elected officials all make the list, but the real value is in the debate about who should come first if you want a healthy, growing destination. Visitors as the primary focus Stuart makes the case that the visitor should still sit at the center of the DMO universe. If you attract the right visitors, deliver great experiences, and generate sustainable economic impact, you create the conditions where residents, businesses, and elected officials all benefit. Time and money as the real scorecard The conversation comes back several times to how DMOs spend their time and money. Strategy decks and mission statements are one thing, but line items and calendars are the real indicators of what a DMO believes its job to be. Rethinking the future of DMO work Building on the last few episodes, Stuart shares how his own thinking is evolving about the role of DMOs in a future that will look very different from today. The episode ends less with easy answers and more with a challenge for leaders to get honest about their priorities and design their organizations around that reality. Who this episode is for: DMO CEOs and executives wrestling with resident first narratives Board members and elected officials who want clarity on what a DMO actually does Marketing and community teams trying to balance political pressure and long term strategy Anyone who feels the DMO model is changing and wants language to talk about it Use this episode as a prompt to look at your own organization and ask: if someone only saw how we allocate our budget and time, who would they say we really serve?