A Conversation with Travel & Tourism Marketing Expert Steve Defontes, Founder/President, Big Idea Advertising, New York/Miami
Unless you’re immersed in the travel and tourism industry daily, you might not realize that significant change is occurring, driven by millennials and Gen Z seeking new adventures—the kind their parents likely didn’t experience. Their role in changing the sector is evident by the new terminology they’ve normalized. Just a few years ago, it’s doubtful most travel and tourism brands would need to know how to create authentic, shareable experiences that resonate with Gen Z and millennials, who prioritize social media influence and sustainability in their travel choices.
A study from digital travel publication Thrillist surveyed 2,000 people and revealed that 72% of young adults don’t see travel as a getaway but as a means of self-expression, a way to engage with their passions, and a way to discover new ones.
Given all that, it’s clear that travel and tourism brands are challenged to keep up with everything happening right now. In our recent interview with Steve Defontes, founder and president of Big Idea Advertising, the New York/Miami-based marketing agency specializing in the travel and tourism sector. The agency’s clients include the tourism bureaus of St. Maarten and Anguilla, among others.
We discussed the travel preferences and trends of Gen Z and Millennials and Steve’s insights into how these younger generations approach travel planning and what destinations appeal to them most.
Q: Are there any tropes you see in travel & tourism marketing overall that you think should be erased from the category’s marketing playbook entirely?
SD: Most destination advertising comes out of the television commercial playbook, showing a montage of vignettes that are meant to appeal to everyone – a resort, a dinner out, an entertainment venue, an adventure sport, a spa experience, a beach, and a happy guest. It’s true that every destination has various experiences for different travelers, and people want to do a wide range of things when traveling. But I think today’s tourism marketing needs to be hyper-focused on appealing to one group of people at a time with experiences that are authentic, cultural, and unique to the destination. People want to see the experiences they can’t get anywhere else. Social media and digital personalization are valuable tools for hyper-focusing the content to the audience.
Q: Google’s Gemini AI tool has gotten some attention in the travel world. What do you see as AI’s effect on travel and tourism? How should brands in the sector be thinking about vis-a-vie AI?
SD: AI is having a critical impact in every industry and will continue the trend of putting people in charge of their own travel decision-making. This is a trend that started with the internet and the advent of OTAs Online Travel Agents, such as Expedia and Booking.com, that puts travelers in the driver’s seat of comparing and booking their own travel plans. AI provides even greater ability, not to cede that decision-making to an automated travel agent, but to explore everything there is to do within a destination and immediately add it to their itineraries or figure out what to do while on-site at the destination. AI can be a powerful tool for providing information on the authentic experiences travelers are seeking. Travel and tourism brands should develop their own AI companions for travelers and work to ensure critical information is online for major AI tools to pick up.
Q: Turning to Millennial and Gen Z travel, what factors do you think are driving the trends in these demographics?
SD: You cannot underestimate the power of social media in driving travel trends. People cultivate their ‘tribe’ online, following friends and influencers who share their passions – fitness, fashion, cuisine, wellness, music, family, etc. Their social feeds highlight aspects of destinations that resonate with their interests, inspiring them to recreate and share these experiences, creating a continuous cycle of inspiration and connection. Additionally, group travel is booming, with more fitness, wellness, and personal development retreats popping up in both popular and off-the-beaten-track destinations.
Q: How are they affecting brand marketing?
SD: Tourism brands need to showcase more than standard resort marketing. Richer storytelling is required, particularly in social media, to connect with people via their unique interests. Influencers and user-generated content continue to be vital to helping people understand how they can experience the destination from a place of authenticity and credibility that feels less like advertising.
Q: So, how can brands adapt their strategies to appeal to this demographic?
SD: Key events have the power to draw audiences to destinations, especially when they resonate with the local culture. St. Maarten’s SXM Festival is a prime example, an internationally acclaimed electronic music celebration that brings together top DJs and vibrant young audiences, spotlighting the island’s dynamic music and nightlife scene. The island also hosts the Heineken Regatta, the largest sailing event in the Caribbean, which attracts a sporting and sailing audience from around the world.
Meanwhile, luxury spas on the island of Anguilla offer rejuvenating Anguillian salt scrub treatments, reflecting the island’s rich history of salt picking. Guests can even partake in salt-picking tours to experience this age-old tradition firsthand.
Q: What brands are launching innovative travel campaigns targeting these trends?
SD: The shift from spring-break destination to sports destination in Miami is palpable, with stars like Lionel Messi and a host of events like Copa America and the upcoming World Cup (2026) helping to drive sports tourism. Notably, Miami Beach ran a campaign that pointedly asked spring breakers not to visit as the destination shifts its target audience towards sports, arts, and cultural travel. A similar but tongue-in-cheek campaign from Oslo tells travelers not to come while simultaneously touting Oslos’ reasons to visit as ‘flaws.’
Q: What’s the biggest challenge you see brands in the travel & tourism category facing in 2025? How should they overcome those challenges?
SD: Brands in the travel and tourism category face many challenges, including sustainability, over-tourism, and climate change. Competition is one of the biggest challenges. People are motivated to travel more than ever. Millennials and Gen Z favor experiences over things, and the pandemic realignment towards exploration, freedom, remote work, and increased travel extends to the other generations as well. So people are taking more trips. At the same time, they seek unique experiences and places they’ve never seen before. That levels the playing field between famously well-traveled and over touristed destinations and under-the-radar, small, and less well-known destinations.
Even the unique experiences need to be shareable, visually stunning, and irresistibly photogenic to resonate. People aren’t finding these places by accident—they’re being lured by viral images and social media posts, sparking curiosity and inspiring them to seek out these spots for themselves. Many travelers are inspired by one of these videos, images, or influencers and decide to travel to a destination because of it — not the other way around.
