Destination Roadmapping

Your town is friendly. But does someone who’s never been there feel it?

Being welcoming to people you know and helping a visitor feel comfortable are different things. A shop where nobody looks up, directions that require local knowledge, or a tradition newcomers don’t know how to join can leave visitors feeling overlooked, even when everyone means well.

In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky explores the everyday interactions that shape a visitor’s sense of welcome, why good intentions don’t always translate into a good experience, and one question that can help your community notice what newcomers need.

Because “we’re friendly” is something a community says about itself. “I felt welcome there” is something a visitor gets to decide.

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A new streetscape will bring more visitors. A bigger festival will generate overnight stays. A new attraction will increase local spending.

Maybe. But what makes you so sure?

Communities often approve tourism, downtown, and event investments based on expected outcomes that no one has seriously examined. And then, somewhere between the first enthusiastic meeting and the final funding decision, assumptions start sounding like facts.

In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky Soderberg explores why a successfully completed project doesn't necessarily deliver the economic results used to justify it, what happens when expectations don't match reality, and why the cost of a questionable investment goes beyond the money spent.

Before your community commits the resources, there's one question worth asking: What are we assuming will happen, and do we have good reason to believe it?

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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Are you creating solutions or just making the symptom look better?

In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky looks at what happens when short-term fixes quietly become long-term strategies. A program, event, or initiative may improve the numbers without actually accomplishing the change you targeted. 

Before you keep funding something because “we’ve always done it,” ask a better question: What did this actually change?

Because sometimes what looks like a solution is just a very well-funded bandage.

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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Sometimes a good project doesn’t fail because it was a bad idea. It fails because the conditions it needed were never put in place.

In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky looks at the gap between what communities build, fund, or launch and the results they expect those investments to produce.

From trails and downtown improvements to events and visitor experiences, the real problem may be less about the project itself and more about the pieces around it that were never connected.

Before you scrap the idea, add another project, or spend more money, it may be worth asking a better question: What had to happen for this to work and which parts never did?

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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Small towns rarely suffer from a shortage of ideas.

The problem is what happens when every new idea gets added to the pile and almost nothing ever comes off.

In this episode, Vicky talks about why “good idea” does not automatically mean “do it now,” how communities end up buried under their own enthusiasm, and why real prioritization requires being willing to say, “Not now.”

Because adding is easy. Choosing is the work.

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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Do you have any idea what tourism success could look like in your community five years from now?

Far too often, we measure progress by what we started, what we built, what we promoted, or funded. Unfortunately, activity does not always guarantee results. 

In this episode, Vicky encourages communities and tourism leaders to think beyond their wish list and ask the tougher question: What will change for visitors, businesses, and residents?

Because 5 years is way too long to work hard without knowing if you actually made it anywhere.

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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What if your tourism champion walks out the door? Vicky tackles the silent risk lurking behind over-dependence on one champion in this episode of Destination Roadmapping. She addresses lost relationships, undocumented history, shaky partnerships, and stalled initiatives to reveal how a strong individual can mask an inherently weak system and what communities should know before that knowledge leaves with them. 

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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Does your event actually justify a hotel stay or are you simply wishing attendees will transform a completely feasible day trip into an overnight excursion?

On this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky explains exactly what compels visitors to stay overnight, including robust evening programming and Sunday activities, hotel information, and weekend itineraries that encourage guests to experience more than just your event.

If overnight hotel stays are part of your economic impact strategy, you need to motivate visitors to stay AND offer them something worth waking up for.

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Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, we’re putting a few tourism sacred cows on trial.

Just because a historic site, museum, monument, or local landmark has appeared in every brochure for twenty years does not mean visitors still see it as a must-see.

We’ll look at how to separate community importance from actual visitor appeal, what visitor behavior can tell you, and how to decide whether an attraction needs stronger interpretation, less promotion, or a different role altogether.

Plus, you’ll get a simple four-question test to use on every item on your “Things to Do” list.

Because tourism marketing is not a participation trophy—and your strongest experiences are the ones that deserve the spotlight.

Thanks for listening!

Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

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What do the things that we celebrate say about who we are as a country? 

In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky explores national holidays, whether they’re days of independence, memorial days, or commemorations of service, civil rights, labor, history, or identity. She then challenges communities to consider how and why they engage with them. 

Why do some holidays evolve into big community events, while others are virtually nonexistent on the local calendar? What do those decisions say about a community’s values, history, and evolving identity? 

It’s not about adding more events to your calendar. It’s about knowing why you celebrate what you celebrate, and what guests and visitors learn about you from how you celebrate. 

Thanks for listening!

Look for new episodes each Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime...

Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn