What If the Most Important Voice in Tourism Hasn’t Spoken Yet?

You’re not too loud. You’re not too much. And no, you’re not imagining it.

You’ve just been in rooms where safe ideas are rewarded, and bold voices are filtered out.

You’ve been told to wait your turn. To soften your message. To “build your credibility” while others take your ideas and run with them.

But what if we stopped waiting? What if the loudest voice in the room wasn’t the most rehearsed, but the most real?

The future of tourism doesn’t belong to the polished performers. It belongs to the ones willing to shake the table.

So if you’ve been sitting on a truth that needs to be heard, consider this your invitation.

DESTICON 2025 RETURNS WITH A CALL TO ACTION:

“HONEST CONVERSATIONS. BETTER TOURISM.”

[PLANET EARTH] — The tourism industry is at a turning point. And this fall, DestiCon 2025 is bringing together the voices ready to face it.

Streaming virtually on September 18–19, 2025, this year’s theme—“Honest Conversations. Better Tourism.”—is more than a tagline. It’s a movement. A collective call for tourism leaders, marketers, and changemakers to step into conversations that matter—and stop settling for the ones that don’t.

Hosted by tourism strategists and Destination Innovate Co-CEOs Jennifer Barbee and Kristen Cruz, DestiCon 2025 promises two half-days of real talk, actionable strategy, and a renewed focus on what the industry could be—if we’re brave enough to build it.

“We created DestiCon because too many important conversations were happening behind closed doors—or not at all,” says Barbee. “This event gives people permission to say what they’ve been thinking, and find smarter, more human ways forward.”

Confirmed sessions include:

• The DestiCon Roast: The Most Outdated Tourism Strategies (Live Takedown)

• Nobody Reads Your Blog: The Death of Travel Content (And What’s Next)

• Why Your Destination’s Social Media Is Embarrassing

• Travel Is Political—Stop Pretending It’s Not

• Would You Visit Your Own Destination? If Not, Fix It.

Attendees will also experience the signature Chaos Session—an off-the-record, unrecorded after-hours gathering designed for honesty, vulnerability, and peer-to-peer realness.

🎤 New Voices Wanted

If you’ve never spoken on a stage before—but have something honest, powerful, and needed to say—this is for you.

DestiCon is actively seeking first-time speakers ready to challenge outdated thinking, share lived experiences, and disrupt with truth, not fluff.

Not “stage ready”? That’s okay. Every selected first-time speaker will receive prep support, feedback, and personal coaching, including from Jennifer Barbee, whom the legendary Les Brown trained.

We don’t care about titles. We care about truth.

So if you’ve been holding back, This is your mic. And we’re ready to hear from you.

Pre-Reg is open. Join the list, stay in the loop. ;-). DM me(us) if you have something you'd like to share at DestiCon!

No buzzwords. No gatekeeping. Just the future of tourism—built on truth.