AI in 2026 for destinations: cutting through the noise
Destination marketers need clarity on AI adoption, traveler behavior, and the practical moves that matter next.
This recap summarizes a recent webinar led by Marina Petrova, CEO and Co-Founder of Intentful, on February 25, 2026. The source page also includes the complete session recording.
How AI understands your destination brand
AI is surrounded by hype right now, but for Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), the essential change is recognizing how AI systems interpret a brand. This is no longer just a search issue.
- AI reads code, not visuals: AI systems are not interpreting your polished photography or campaign creative. They rely on the HTML beneath the page.
- Modular websites create blind spots: Many DMO sites use modular, widget-driven content blocks. These layouts can make pages look empty to AI systems when the surrounding context and hierarchy disappear.
- Structure comes before content: Before rewriting your website copy, make sure your web development team is improving the page architecture for AI readability.
- Long-form content performs well: Given today’s website constraints, long-form formats such as blogs are a practical priority. AI systems can parse and pull information from them more easily.
- Your brand exists across many sources: AI stochastically (randomly) draws from thousands of third-party sources to describe your brand. Accurate, consistent representation needs to extend across partner websites, publishers, and earned media, not only your owned site.
The rise of interactive destinations
AI platforms are starting to monetize large user bases, and the advertising environment is changing quickly.
- A new advertising environment: ChatGPT has introduced ads. Today they are impression-based, but targeting is shaped by conversational context without giving advertisers access to user data.
- From broadcast to conversation: Traditional advertising talks to customers. AI is pushing the model away from simply collecting impressions and toward live, two-way interactions with customers.
- Intentful's Generative Response Ads: Intentful began the move from talking at customers to engaging with them directly. The company has launched Generative Response Ads, also known as interactive ads, with multiple DMOs. The work is still early, but it is described as a game changer for shortening the path to engagement and action. Intentful has a global patent pending for this invention.
Making sense of Agentic AI
Agentic AI is getting major attention, but the useful work is in separating what is real from what is hype.
- Assistants compared with agents: An AI assistant, such as a standard website chatbot, answers direct prompts. An AI agent operates independently and carries out multi-step actions for you.
- The three requirements for agents: Effective agents need Knowledge, meaning access to context and data; Skills, such as formatting, rewriting, or coding; and a defined Assignment.
- Begin carefully and keep security first: Agentic AI is still in its earliest stage. Start with simple two-to-three-step assignments that can make everyday workflows easier. Be careful with the internal data access and permissions you provide.
Your 2026 action plan
- Make structure and readability a priority: AI is not evaluating the visual layer of your website; it is reading the code behind it. Work with your web development team or agency to confirm that AI systems can actually understand your site structure.
- Get ready for interactivity: Start adapting your digital strategy so it can support conversational, interactive engagement across every channel.
- Test safely: Do not dismiss AI agents, but approach them deliberately, with privacy and data security as strict requirements.