I Think Tourism Might Be Boring Itself to Death

I mean… have you sat through a deck lately?

Because if I hear “vibrant, authentic, welcoming” one more time, I’m going to assume we’re all trapped in some kind of industry escape room, and the safe word is differentiator.

At this point, I could write your campaign.

You could write mine.

We could swap logos and no one would notice until Q3.

And it’s not because people aren’t trying.

That’s what makes it so painfully awkward.

You can feel the effort. But mostly… you can feel the fear.

There’s a strategy. There’s a framework. There are at least 14 people who touched it, and one of them made a Google Doc comment that changed everything.

And somehow… we still land on:

“Come visit 🙂”

Meanwhile, the traveler is fully unwell.

• They’re booking a treehouse because someone named @snackqueen92 said the vibes were “illegal.”

• They’re flying across the country for a sandwich. (trueeeee!)

• They’re making $2,000 decisions based on a comment thread and a feeling in their chest.

And we are out here leading with… convenience.

Which is great.

Also not a personality.

And this is the part that gets me.

We know better.

We know people remember weird things. We know they remember the one place that made them feel like they were in on something. We know that standing out matters.

There’s a whole psychology thing, the Von Restorff effect, basically, your brain grabs the thing that’s different and ignores the rest.

So when everything sounds the same…

your brain just quietly exits the chat.

But then we get in a room.

And the room does what rooms do.

Somebody says, “I love it, just one thought…” Someone else says, “Can we soften that?” And there’s always one person who says, “I’m just thinking about how this might land…”

And next thing you know, the idea has been gently escorted into a neutral, well-lit space where nothing controversial...or memorable, can happen.

And I get it.

Tourism has a lot of eyes on it.

Stakeholders. Boards. Politics. Funding.

There’s a whole ecosystem that makes “just go for it” feel like a risky personality trait.

So the work gets… agreeable. And agreeable is great.

If your goal is to get through the meeting.

So if we’re tired of hearing the same language, seeing the same work, watching the same results… here are a few ways out that don’t require a rebrand, a task force, or a 47-slide deck:

1. Say something a little too specific

Not offensive. Not reckless.

Just specific enough that it couldn’t belong to anyone else.

Because right now, a lot of this sounds like it came from a dropdown menu.

2. Ask “would anyone repeat this?”

Not in the meeting.

Later. To someone else. Unprompted.

Because that’s the bar now.

If it doesn’t travel, it doesn’t matter.

3. Let one idea keep its personality

Just one.

Let it be a little odd. A little sharp. A little “huh.”

You don’t have to bet the whole brand on it.

But give people something to grab onto besides “welcoming.”

Cause, you guys, we’re putting out a lot of very nice work.

But the traveler is making chaotic decisions based on the promise of serotonin.

That gap is getting wider.

And at some point, this isn’t going to be a creative conversation anymore; it’s going to be a relevance problem.

Because if everything we produce keeps getting safer, smoother, and more agreeable…

we’re not just avoiding risk.

We’re training ourselves to be ignored.

I’m Jenn Barbee. And, I've spent the last 30 years obsessing over the tourism market, so you don't have to.