How to Talk to Your Policymaker
Tools and tips for engaging policymakers and making travel’s value clear.
Equip your Destination with Strategies to Influence Decision-Makers
Communicating with stakeholders and policymakers requires clarity, consistency and trust. This section provides the tools to help destinations anticipate challenges, strengthen relationships and advocate effectively.
Know Your Challenges
Funding challenges rarely come from one place. They emerge from the political and fiscal realities of local government, where competing needs, ideology and public perception shape decisions more than evidence does. Even with strong proof of ROI, we operate within a system that is complex, reactive and deeply influenced by personalities and local politics. Some leaders oppose public investment in private enterprise on principle, while others favor redirecting travel funds to visible social programs that promise immediate benefit. Understanding these nuances of public governance helps leaders anticipate challenges, position their work as essential to community well-being and make a disciplined case for long-term investment. This is why it is crucial to keep a constant eye on local dynamics, recognizing that political priorities and sentiment can shift quickly and without warning.
Elected officials often move travel-generated revenue into general funds to cover short-term fiscal needs. These diversions may seem practical in the moment but diminish a destination’s competitiveness and rarely get reversed. A sustainable safeguard against this risk is the creation of a Tourism Improvement District (TID), which establishes a dedicated, legally protected funding mechanism tied to industry-generated revenue. Our resources on TID development outline how local leaders can build these structures, ensure accountability and protect promotional funding from future reallocation.
This is the most common and persistent challenge we face. New policymakers often enter office unfamiliar with how destination promotion drives tax revenue and supports the broader economy. Some hold ideological opposition to using public funds for what they view as private business activity. When this lack of understanding leads to reduced or eliminated investment, it sets a precedent that makes future funding harder to secure. The most effective response is early and ongoing education: meet new leaders, build relationships and explain the return on investment in clear local terms. Establishing credibility before budget season or policy debates ensures we remain seen as essential community partners rather than optional expenditures.
This challenge surfaces in nearly every funding cycle. With a finite budget and mounting demands across housing, education and infrastructure, travel dollars are often seen as flexible funds that can be redirected to meet immediate social needs. Leaders who act on these pressures are frequently motivated by genuine altruism or by loud advocacy from other sectors that appear more urgent. New policymakers, especially those elected on promises of reform or shifting community sentiment, are particularly susceptible to this dynamic. While well-intentioned, these reallocations weaken the economic base that sustains long-term community priorities. DMOs that maintain regular dialogue with policymakers and position tourism as a foundational source of public revenue are better equipped to keep their funding protected
Travel promotion is often seen as unnecessary under the assumption that “people will come anyway.” This belief tends to surface during periods of fiscal tightening or shifting public priorities, when travel budgets appear easier to cut than other programs. It overlooks the reality that visitor decisions are driven by visibility, competition and perception. Once funding is reduced, awareness and visitation decline, and the community loses revenue that supports schools, infrastructure and public services. We must continually reinforce that travel promotion is not a luxury but a proven investment that sustains local economies and funds the priorities elected officials care about most.
Understanding: Who, What and Why.
Strong advocacy begins with knowing the people who shape policy. Identify who holds influence in your city or state, what drives their priorities and how your work can align with their goals. Review voting records, public statements and areas of focus to understand where your message will connect. Show how destination marketing supports the outcomes they value most such as economic growth, job creation, small business strength and community development.
Decision makers include mayors, council members, county commissioners and staff who help shape their thinking. Each person brings a unique background, ambition and set of relationships that influence how they view travel promotion. Research them carefully. Learn where they studied, what kind of work they have done and what experiences formed their perspective. Understanding who they are beyond their title helps build genuine connections and trust.
Every policymaker has a list of priorities, often drawn from the issues they campaigned on or the pressures they hear most from voters. Housing, infrastructure, education or fiscal restraint may dominate their agenda. Each of these priorities presents an opening to show how travel promotion supports rather than competes with their goals. Framing travel promotion as a tool that strengthens the economy and public services turns your work into a solution, not a line item to cut.
The reasons they act often tie back to what got them elected. Identify what problem they promised to solve, what groups supported them and why their message resonated with voters. These motivations guide how they approach every funding discussion. Understanding the “why” helps you speak to their values, not just their policy positions. Craft your outreach to show that protecting travel promotion helps them achieve what they set out to do, rather than standing in the way of it.
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