Expanding the B2B Approach in Destination Marketing

For an industry built on connection, meetings marketing has a blind spot. We’re still talking to the same audience we were 25 years ago: meeting planners.

And while planners remain critical, they are not the only—or even the primary—driver of whether meetings happen in the first place.

If destinations want to grow their meetings and group business, the path forward isn’t doubling down on what worked in the past. It’s a broader, more intentional approach to B2B that influences the full business travel ecosystem.

The B2B Blind Spot: Why Destination Marketing Is Missing the Real Decision Makers

The decision to host a meeting is shaped by a myriad of influential voices. By executives. By finance. By business leaders asking a different question altogether: “Is this meeting worth having?”

But most destination marketing strategies are still built around influencing planners after the decision-making process has already started.

1. We’re Entering the Conversation Too Late

Most DMOs have built their entire meetings strategy around a singular focus: generate RFPs from planners. The challenge is that by the time an RFP is issued, the most important decision has already been made.

The meeting is already approved.
The budget is already allocated.
The destination shortlist is already forming.

If you’re only showing up at that stage, you’re not influencing the decision; you’re competing in it, often with the odds stacked against you. And in that environment, the conversation defaults to what it always has:

That’s a race to the middle.

2. The Real Trigger for Consideration Is Growth

At a recent U.S. Travel Group Travel Network meeting, one insight stood out: The #1 trigger for meetings consideration among executives is new growth opportunities.

That insight aligns with something we’re seeing across our client work: executives don’t “buy” the financial ROI narrative the industry has relied on for years. But they do respond to what we call human ROI:

These are harder to quantify but far more influential in the decision to meet. And they are only realized in one environment: in person.

Why the Business Travel Ecosystem Matters

The demand is there. According to U.S. Travel, group travel as a whole generates $319 billion in annual economic impact and more than 3 million jobs—and business events alone account for $126 billion.

As rapid technology advancement renews the importance of in-person engagement, the category is expanding. But the growth isn’t happening the way it used to. It’s not just about large conventions or citywide events. It’s happening across:

The opportunity is broader and more fragmented than ever. Which means destinations can no longer rely on planner-focused marketing alone to drive growth. The business travel ecosystem now extends well beyond the planner audience, and destination marketing strategies need to evolve with it.

The Industry Misalignment

This is where the industry disconnect becomes visible.

I had the opportunity to speak at the Destinations International 2026 CEO Summit in Newport Beach with more than 65 destination leaders in the room.

We talked about a challenge that every single one of them recognized immediately: the midweek gap. And more importantly, what’s causing it.

For years, we’ve seen a persistent misalignment—but not in the way most people think.

Both sales and marketing are ultimately focused on the same audience: the meeting planner.

Sales is focused there because planners are the ones sending RFPs. Marketing is focused there because they are hoping the marketing will lead to more RFPs, which it doesn’t. So both teams are optimizing for the same moment: when the RFP is already in market.

The result? We’re not influencing the decision to meet. We’re only responding once it’s already been made.

Which means the broader business travel ecosystem—corporate transient, executive decision-makers, and the attendees themselves—never gets the same level of strategic attention. Not the same investment. Not the same innovation. Not the same energy.

And after 15 years of building and running what’s evolved into Go Fish Tourism + Business Events, I can say this clearly: We still haven’t solved it, but we are working on it.

How to Expand Your B2B Approach

Expanding the B2B approach means expanding who destination marketing is built to influence.

That means expanding beyond planners to engage the full business travel ecosystem:

Because each of these audiences plays a role in the final outcome. And right now, most destinations are only actively engaging one of them.

Leverage Leisure to Shape Perception

Engaging the full business travel ecosystem and its distinct audiences is more important than ever, as the lines between leisure and group travel are crossing. 

At Go Fish Tourism + Business Events, we say: Leisure shapes perception. Perception drives consideration. Consideration fuels group business.

Business leaders and executive decision-makers are also leisure travelers. Instead of making the first introduction cold through a business message, consider that leisure messaging helps create a warmer and more qualified B2B prospect pool. 

While some responses to this shifting tide are to separate leisure and business marketing more aggressively, to silo their approaches and philosophies, we see an opportunity to strategically link them.

From Transactions to Influence

The destinations that will lead in the next phase of meetings growth are not the ones that:

They are the ones that influence decisions earlier. That build visibility and relevance before the meeting is even approved. That leverage their leisure marketing for B2B and strategically link them. That position meetings not as logistical events but as business catalysts. That align sales and marketing around shared audiences, shared visibility, and shared outcomes. That’s the shift from marketing to planners to influencing the full business travel ecosystem.

The Bottom Line for Destination Organizations

In-person meetings aren’t going away. If anything, they’re becoming more valuable. Not because of what they cost, but because of what they unlock.

The question for destination leaders isn’t whether to invest in meetings and group business. It’s whether they’re investing in the right strategy to capture it.

Because if we continue to market meetings the way we always have, we’ll continue to compete the way we always have. And that’s not where the opportunity is.

If you’re ready to reach a broader audience and capture more midweek business opportunities, reach out to us today to learn how to get started.