How DMOs Can Communicate Their Value to Gen Z Meeting Planners

The latest generation of meeting and event planners out there don’t know your destination marketing organization (DMO) even exists. But don’t be too alarmed. These planners aren’t overlooking DMOs because they don’t need your help. 

They often need more help than their seasoned colleagues, but overlook DMOs because they’re starting the planning process elsewhere (here’s looking at you, ChatGPT).

Many destination organizations provide complimentary services that directly support meeting success, such as venue sourcing, site-visit coordination, and local vendor connections. But if those services are buried under broad “meetings services” language or hidden behind a general contact form, planners may never realize how much help is available to them.

You don’t need to attempt to convince Gen Z and novice planners to stop using social media, AI tools, or sourcing platforms. You need to make your DMO visible and feel like one of the most useful tools in their meetings and business event planning process.

Go Fish Tourism + Business Events, along with our clients, is conducting proprietary research on Next Gen and Gen Z Meeting Planners.

Our team is continually reviewing the research needed to support our clients’ future needs. If there’s something you’re looking to research deeper, let’s have a chat!

How Gen Z Meeting Planners Research Destinations

Gen Z planners and younger industry professionals are entering business events with a digital-first playbook. They’re accustomed to finding information instantly, comparing options independently, and validating decisions through multiple sources before ever reaching out to a human.

This planning behavior reflects a larger shift in how audiences search for information. Sprout Social’s Q2 2025 Pulse Survey found that 41% of Gen Z turns to social platforms first when looking for information, ahead of traditional search engines at 32%.

Younger business event planners are also incorporating AI into the planning process. A recent PCMA survey found that more than 90% of meeting planners surveyed were using AI in some way to plan events, including for content, destination summarization, logistics, marketing, data analysis, and attendee communication. 

For DMOs, that means your first impression may not happen in a sales conversation. It may happen through a Google result, an AI-generated answer, a LinkedIn post, a short-form video, a planner resource page, or a recommendation from a peer. If your DMO’s value is not clear in those first-impression moments, planners may assume they can move faster on their own (and they will).

How DMOs Can Increase Visibility Before the RFP Stage

The reality that younger planners are starting in new spaces makes early visibility essential. If they’re building shortlists before speaking with destination representatives, DMO marketing has to show up before the RFP stage, not just once the planner is ready to submit an inquiry.

So, how can you meet them where they’re at? Your value should appear across the digital spaces where younger planners research. That includes:

And the content itself needs not just to promote the destination but also to help the planner make progress. 

Think value-adds like a “New to Working With a DMO?” resource, a complimentary services landing page (cross-promoted on social or via email), a downloadable site-visit planning checklist, or a short video explaining how RFP support works with the DMO.

The content should be easy to scan, clear, and specific about what the planner receives. The less a planner has to infer, the more likely they are to see the DMO as useful.

How DMOs Can Better Support Meeting Planners

Traditional destination marketing often leads with features: walkability, hotel inventory, convention space, off-site venues, dining, accessibility, and attractions. Those details still matter, but younger planners also need to understand how the DMO helps them use those assets to create successful outcomes (there’s the shift).

A walkable district is not just a destination feature. It reduces transportation complexity. 

A strong vendor network is not just a local advantage. It helps planners move faster and source more confidently. 

Destination collateral is not just a marketing asset. It helps drive attendance and makes the event easier to promote with less lift on the planner.

These outcomes are important because Gen Z and novice planners may not be evaluating the destination only on what exists. They’re also evaluating the level of support they will receive.

Show them how your destination team can reduce friction, clarify options, and help bring a stronger recommendation to their stakeholders.

Why Local Expertise Still Matters in Event Planning

AI and self-service tools can help planners gather information quickly, but they cannot replace the local insights and judgment of a destination team.

A planner can use AI to generate a list of venues. A DMO can explain which venues actually fit the meeting program’s group type, room block, flow, attendee profile, and transportation needs. Similarly, a planner can search for restaurants. A DMO can recommend reliable local partners for a specific group size, budget, sustainability, or accessibility requirements. A planner can compare hotels. A DMO can help interpret compression dates, district dynamics, and real-time availability.

That human advantage should be more visible in DMO marketing. Younger planners may be digital experts, but that does not mean they want a faceless process.

In fact, Freeman’s 2025 Gen Z research found that 91% of Gen Z respondents consider in-person events one of the best ways to build social and interpersonal skills. That finding is essential for DMOs because it shows younger professionals still crave human connection. The key? Making that connection accessible, useful, and worth the planner’s time.

What Younger Event Planners Expect from Destinations

Younger planners are entering the industry at a time when events are expected to do more than fill rooms. Attendees, sponsors, boards, and internal stakeholders increasingly want programs that feel connected to the host destination, are aligned with organizational values, and are mindful of community and environmental impact.

Skift Meetings’ 2025 Megatrends report identified several shifts shaping business events, including AI-powered event technology, authenticity over aesthetics, sustainability in action, mental health as a priority, multigenerational audience strategies, and local inspiration. 

The alignment happens naturally with the DMO’s role. A destination organization can help planners identify community-based venues, diverse-owned vendors, CSR opportunities, local speakers, neighborhood experiences, cultural institutions, accessibility resources, and sustainability programs. Plus, young planners will appreciate that working with the DMO itself means directly utilizing local resources.

This service story is especially relevant for younger planners who may be responsible for creating events that feel more purposeful and locally grounded.

How Destination Marketing Must Adapt for Gen Z Planners

If younger planners are underutilizing DMO services, the answer is not simply more promotion. It’s clearer positioning across the full planning journey—and knowing where to show up.

Make the DMO easier to understand, easier to trust, and easier to engage by:

A younger planner should not have to understand the DMO model already to benefit from it.

How to Make DMO Services More Visible to Meeting Planners

For Gen Z planners, the DMO should not feel like an extra step (or a forgotten puzzle piece). It should feel like a magical shortcut.

DMOs already provide many of the services planners need most. The next step is making those services impossible to miss.

At Go Fish Tourism + Business Events, we help destination organizations clarify the value of their meetings, build planner-first content strategies, and strengthen their visibility before the RFP stage. If your DMO offers strong support but planners aren’t seeing it, contact us to learn how to build a business events strategy around how young planners actually search, learn, and decide.