Updated October 2026
Why do visitors leave your website to book?
Most destination websites inspire visitors but can't take a booking. A traveler finds your destination through a campaign, reads your itineraries, then leaves for a hotel site, a global booking app, a restaurant reservation tool and a dozen operator websites to arrange the trip.
That gap has three costs for a destination organization:
- Visitors see a fragmented destination. The experience you market is split across platforms that don't know each other.
- Small businesses miss out. Independent guides, makers, cultural groups and family-run operators often lack the booking and distribution tools to reach visitors at all.
- You can't see the result. When the transaction happens elsewhere, you see clicks, not what visitors actually bought.
U.S. hotel guests spend about $106 off-property for every $100 they spend on lodging, before transportation, on food and drink, recreation, retail and other purchases (Oxford Economics for AHLA, 2025; see our hotel industry statistics). That spending is the visitor economy your organization exists to grow. Much of it flows through platforms with no stake in your community.
Is DestinationCommerce just another business directory?
No. A directory lists businesses and sends visitors away. DestinationCommerce is a marketplace: visitors can browse, book and pay for local experiences in one place under your destination brand, and participating businesses manage their own listings, availability and bookings.
Destination organizations usually choose between four types of tools. They solve different problems, and many DMOs use more than one.
| Listings website / CMS | Digital pass or trail | Third-party booking widget | DestinationCommerce marketplace | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main job | Inspire and inform | Encourage visits and check-ins | Show bookable tours from a global catalog | Let visitors book local businesses directly under your brand |
| Can visitors book and pay? | Usually links out | Pass purchase only | Yes, on the provider's platform | Yes, in your marketplace |
| Who chooses what's listed? | You | You (pass partners) | Mostly the provider's catalog | You set the rules; local businesses join |
| Small, independent businesses | Listed | If they join the pass | Only if already on that platform | Can join with their own listings |
| Whose brand does the visitor see? | Yours | Yours | Often the provider's | Yours |
| Transaction and participation data | Clicks and leads | Redemptions | Limited to the provider's reports | Activity across your marketplace |
| Examples | Simpleview CMS, WordPress | Bandwango, CityPASS-style passes | Viator, GetYourGuide widgets | DestinationCommerce |
A website CMS and a pass program are often worth keeping. DestinationCommerce runs alongside them and adds the layer they don't provide: a marketplace where local businesses sell directly to visitors under the destination's identity.
How does a DMO marketplace work?
A DMO marketplace has three roles. The destination organization (or an operator it designates) runs the marketplace, local businesses sell through it, and visitors buy from it.
- You set the framework. Your organization defines the marketplace's identity, who can participate, the quality standards and the commercial terms.
- Local businesses join and manage their own offerings. Each participant gets its own tools to manage listings, pricing, availability, bookings and messages with visitors. Your team doesn't maintain inventory.
- Visitors discover and book in one place. Tours, cultural attractions, wellness, recreation, dining experiences, transportation, hotel amenities and local services sit in one visitor-facing marketplace, with one checkout.
- You see what's happening. Reporting shows participation and transactions across the marketplace, so you can show how visitor spending reaches local businesses.
DestinationCommerce supports the full operational workflow: participant onboarding, listings, bookings, payments, direct messaging between visitors and businesses, and marketplace administration.
How does it help local businesses reach visitors?
DestinationCommerce gives smaller local businesses the booking and distribution tools that larger operators already have, inside a channel visitors trust: the official destination brand.
- A trusted storefront. A listing in the destination's own marketplace carries the credibility of the organization behind it.
- Low effort to join. Businesses manage their own listings through their own portal. No website build or booking-software contract is needed to start selling.
- Fair visibility. Your rules decide how participants are presented, not a global ranking algorithm that favors the biggest catalogs.
- Direct contact with visitors. Built-in messaging lets a business answer questions and confirm details before and after a booking.
Can it spread visitor spending across the destination?
Yes. That's one of the main reasons destination organizations run a marketplace. When neighborhood food tours, cultural centers, outfitters and wellness practitioners sit beside the headline attractions, visitors find and book more of the destination.
Ways destination organizations use a marketplace to spread spending:
- Feature neighborhoods and regions beyond the main visitor corridors.
- Promote cultural and community programs alongside commercial experiences.
- Fill shoulder and low seasons with themed collections and packages.
- Package experiences from several businesses into one bookable offer, such as a heritage day or a culinary weekend.
- Support convention and group visitors with curated pre- and post-event experiences for attendees.
Who runs the marketplace: the DMO, a contractor or a DMC?
Any of the three. DestinationCommerce lets a destination organization run the marketplace directly, appoint a designated operator, or partner with a local destination management company (DMC) that already has supplier relationships.
| Operating model | Good fit when |
|---|---|
| The DMO or CVB runs it | You have staff to manage participant relationships and want full control of the visitor experience |
| A designated operator runs it | Your structure or contract favors an independent operator under your brand and guidelines |
| A local DMC partner runs it | A DMC already curates the destination's suppliers and can operate the marketplace day to day (how DMCs use DestinationCommerce) |
In every model, the destination organization keeps control of the marketplace identity and the participation guidelines.
Can a nonprofit DMO earn revenue from bookings?
Whether a nonprofit DMO can earn booking revenue depends on its structure, contracts and local law. Many destination organizations can earn marketplace revenue, and where it's permitted, that revenue can support marketplace administration, local business promotion, destination marketing or other approved community programs rather than organizational profit.
For context, destination organizations are funded mainly from public sources. Destinations International found that roughly 92% of funding for destination organizations comes from the public sector, such as occupancy taxes, public grants and sales tax allocations (Destinations International, 2022). Tourism improvement districts are a growing supplement: more than 210 TIDs in the U.S. raise over $540 million for tourism promotion (Choose Chicago, 2026).
Marketplace revenue doesn't replace that funding. It is a supplemental, activity-based source tied to the value the marketplace creates for local businesses. DestinationCommerce works on commission: participating businesses keep the majority of each sale, and the commercial terms are agreed with the marketplace operator.
Does a destination marketing platform replace our website or CRM?
No. DestinationCommerce runs alongside your existing destination website, CRM, marketing systems and pass programs. You can launch a pilot in about a month without a large integration project, link to the marketplace from your site and campaigns, and keep the tools your team already uses.
DestinationCommerce is built on DropDesk, an established, AWS-hosted, no-code platform for real-world commerce. Your team configures the marketplace; you don't need developers to run it.
How does a marketplace prepare your destination for AI trip planners?
AI trip planners such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Mode can only recommend and book what they can read: structured, current and bookable information. A marketplace turns local businesses' offerings into exactly that kind of data, with consistent descriptions, prices, availability and locations.
Structured data generated by marketplace activity also supports clearer reporting today and gives your destination a foundation for future AI-enabled discovery and visitor services. That visibility covers activity on the platform, not transactions that happen elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
Can a DMO or CVB run a bookable marketplace?
Yes. A destination marketing organization, convention and visitors bureau or tourism board can run a branded marketplace where local businesses sell experiences and services directly to visitors. With DestinationCommerce, the organization sets the identity, participation rules and commercial terms, and businesses manage their own listings, availability and bookings.
How is this different from a destination directory or a city pass?
A directory lists businesses and links visitors elsewhere to book. A city pass bundles a set of attractions into one purchase. A DestinationCommerce marketplace lets visitors book and pay for individual experiences from many local businesses in one place, under the destination's brand, and gives the organization data on what visitors buy.
Who operates the marketplace?
The destination organization can run it directly, appoint a designated operator, or partner with a local destination management company (DMC). In each model, the destination organization keeps control of the marketplace identity and participation guidelines, while DestinationCommerce provides the technology for onboarding, listings, bookings, payments and reporting.
How are DMOs and CVBs funded?
Most U.S. destination organizations are funded mainly by public sources, especially hotel occupancy (bed) taxes, plus tourism improvement district assessments, grants, membership dues and sponsorships. Destinations International (2022) found that about 92% of destination organization funding is public. Marketplace revenue, where permitted, is a supplemental source, not a replacement.
How do local businesses join, and what does it cost them?
The marketplace operator invites or approves local businesses under its participation guidelines. Each business gets its own tools to manage listings, pricing, availability and bookings. What businesses pay is up to the marketplace operator: you can let businesses list for free and earn only a commission on bookings, or charge a listing or participation fee. Many destination organizations start free to bring small businesses on board.
Does DestinationCommerce replace our website or CRM?
No. It runs alongside your existing website, CRM, marketing systems and pass programs, and can launch without extensive integrations. You link to the marketplace from your site, campaigns and visitor guides, and your current tools stay in place.
How can a tourism board prepare for AI trip planners like ChatGPT?
Make your destination's offerings structured, current and bookable. AI assistants recommend what they can read and act on. A marketplace gives every participating business consistent listings with descriptions, prices, availability and locations, which is the kind of data AI trip planners and search engines can use.
How long does it take to launch?
A pilot marketplace usually launches in about a month. Your organization provides three things: the local businesses you already have relationships with, your brand assets, and the commercial terms for participants. DestinationCommerce handles the platform setup and business onboarding tools.
Bring your destination's businesses into one marketplace
DestinationCommerce gives your destination organization a branded, bookable marketplace for local businesses, run on your terms and alongside the tools you already use.
Talk to us about your destinationRelated: What is destination commerce? · Local partner marketplace for hotels · DMC software · Hotel guest spending research