When a destination proudly hosts giant vegetable contests and bog snorkelling championships, you know you’re not dealing with a boring tourism brief.

In this episode of Destination Unknown: A Destination Website Podcast by DestinationCore, host Neil Prentice is joined by Will Wright and Jay Pratt to tackle one of the most common - and most misunderstood - requests in destination marketing: “We need our website to be more bookable.”

After a return visit to Malvern’s giant vegetable competitions and a detour into the wonderfully odd World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Llanwrtyd Wells, the team get practical about what bookability really means for a destination website, why payments are such a sticking point, and the different technical and strategic routes DMOs, BIDs and place partnerships can take.

Drawing on years of working with destinations of all sizes, they break “bookability” down into clear, usable concepts - from simple embedded widgets through to full availability search across multiple providers.

In this episode, we explore:

• What “bookability” actually means for a destination website: checking price and availability for specific dates, even if payment happens elsewhere

• Why most destination organisations can’t (and usually shouldn’t) become full tour operators - including package travel regulations, insurance and PCI compliance

• The difference between truly bookable OTAs (like Expedia or Booking.com) and destination sites that act as smart facilitators and signposts

• Two main approaches to bookability:

  • Embeddable booking widgets (e.g. GetYourGuide, FareHarbor, Viator, rail and ticketing partners) that let users search, select and pay without visually leaving your site

  • Aggregated availability search, where your site queries multiple booking systems to show what’s available for chosen dates, then passes users through to providers to complete the transaction

• How embedded widgets can keep users on your site, support better visitor journeys and even generate affiliate revenue for the destination

• How aggregated search can support direct bookings for members, strengthen the value of partnership schemes and reduce reliance on online travel agencies

• The operational realities destinations need to plan for: managing provider sign-up, keeping data accurate, and deciding how far down the booking journey you realistically want to go

• Why booking technology providers need to modernise, and what destinations should be asking for from their partners

• How bookability connects back to your core objective: moving people from browsing to visiting, with as little friction and distraction as possible

If you’re being asked to “make the site more bookable” - whether you’re planning a new platform or evolving an existing one - this episode will help you define what that really means, choose the right level of ambition for your destination, and design booking journeys that genuinely support both your visitors and your local businesses.

When a place hosts giant vegetable growing contests and chaotic football matches that run across town, you know you’re in the right podcast.

In this episode of Destination Unknown: A Destination Website Podcast by DestinationCore, host Neil Prentice is joined by Will Wright and Jay Pratt to unpack one of the biggest topics in digital - artificial intelligence - and what it really means for destination websites, tourism marketing teams and place partnerships.

Fresh from revisiting Royal Shrovetide Football and discovering the “Olympics of the vegetable world” in Malvern, Worcestershire, the team turn to AI and machine learning: what these tools actually do, how they intersect with search, and where they can genuinely add value for visitors and stakeholders.

Drawing on years of building high-performance destination platforms, they demystify the jargon and focus on practical questions DMOs, LVEPs and BIDs are asking right now: Should we be using AI on our site? How? And where’s the line between clever automation and overkill?

In this episode, we explore:

• What AI and machine learning really are in the context of destination and tourism websites

• The rise of AI as a channel: Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs), and how they change search behaviour

• Why your website needs to act as a content hub - with well-structured, high-quality content that AI tools can actually find and understand

• The role of CMS and headless architecture in distributing destination content to multiple channels, including AI assistants

• When it makes sense to automate tasks (such as answering common questions or generating itinerary ideas) and when human judgement still matters more

• How to respond when stakeholders say “we need AI” without a clear use case

• Practical watchpoints around accessibility, audience readiness and not leaving less tech-confident users behind

• Future opportunities for destinations as AI matures - and why this is an evolution, not the death of the destination website

If you’re being asked how AI should feature in a new or existing destination website, this episode will help you move the conversation on from buzzwords to a clear, grounded view of where artificial intelligence can make a genuine difference - and where your efforts are better spent elsewhere.

When an entire town turns a football match into a two-day rolling scrum across three miles, you know you’re in the right podcast. In this episode of Destination Unknown: A Destination Website Podcast by DestinationCore, host Neil Prentice is joined by Will Wright and Jay Pratt to dive into one of the most powerful topics in digital place marketing: personalisation for destination websites.

After a quick detour into the wonderfully chaotic world of Royal Shrovetide Football in the Peak District, the team get practical about how DMOs, LVEPs, BIDs and place partnerships can use personalisation to turn large, unwieldy websites into focused, user-friendly experiences.

Drawing on years of building high-performance tourism and destination platforms, they break personalisation down into clear, achievable layers - from simple filters through to AI-powered recommendations and community features.

In this episode, we explore:

• What “personalisation” really means in the context of destination and tourism websites

• The difference between passive personalisation (on-page filters, themes, accessibility and sustainability tags) and logged-in experiences with saved preferences

• How AI and machine learning can surface relevant articles, events, offers and businesses based on on-site behaviour - and the risks of over-assuming what users want

• Why context matters: tailoring experiences for different devices, especially visitors using your site on mobile and in-destination

• How to design value exchanges so visitors willingly share information (interests, dates, themes) in return for better recommendations

• Practical ways to introduce themed content (family-friendly, dog-friendly, food & drink, etc.) without needing huge teams or complex tech

• The emerging role of community features and user-generated content as part of a personalised destination experience - and the challenges of moderation and scale

• Why every destination website should offer some level of personalisation, and how to match your ambitions to your budget, resources and brand personality

If you’re planning a new destination website, replatforming an existing site or simply trying to get more from tools you already have, this episode will help you cut through the hype and design personalisation that genuinely serves your visitors - rather than making assumptions for them.

Design, UX, Worm Charming and gravy wrestling… what more could you want from a podcast about destination websites?

In this episode of Destination Unknown: A Destination Website Podcast by DestinationCore, host Neil Prentice is joined by Will Wright and Jay Pratt to unpack one of the most misunderstood topics in destination marketing: the difference between design and user experience (UX) – and why it matters so much for destination websites, tourism boards and place brands.

After a quick catch-up on listener reactions to our Worm Charming story – and a new “weird and wonderful” detour into gravy wrestling in Lancashire – we get into the serious business of how visitors actually experience your site.

Drawing on years of designing and optimising high-performing destination websites, the team explore how great UX quietly shapes user behaviour, while great design makes your place stand out and feel distinctive.

You’ll hear:

• A simple, memorable analogy (involving a coffee mug) that explains design vs UX once and for all

• Why UX is about how your site works – information architecture, wireframes, flows and accessibility – not just how it looks

• How design brings your brand, personality and sense of place to life on screen

• The role of UX in helping users complete key tasks: finding things to do, planning a trip, or moving from browsing to booking or visiting

• Common mistakes destinations make when they prioritise visuals over usability

• Why modern destination websites must be planned more like products and less like static brochures

• How design and UX work together to support your goals as a DMO, LVEP, BID or place partnership

If you’re planning a new destination website, refreshing an existing platform or just trying to brief your designers more effectively, this episode will help you talk confidently about design and UX – and make better decisions that serve both your brand and your users.

What is a destination website actually for – and how do you know if yours is doing its job?

In this first episode of Destination Unknown: A Destination Website Podcast by DestinationCore, we discuss the purpose of destination websites, who typically operates them, and the role they play for organisations such as DMOs, LVEPs, BIDs and Shopping Centres. We look at the value they create for users and stakeholders, the kinds of actions they should be designed to drive, and how they position themselves against OTAs and other travel platforms by focusing on local relevance and inspiration.

We also introduce a recurring feature: a “weird and wonderful” event from the world of destinations. This time it’s the legendary Worm Charming championships in Cheshire, and what this kind of brilliantly niche event says about character, storytelling and giving people something memorable to connect with.

In this episode, we explore:

• What the central purpose behind a destination website should be

• Who typically operates them (DMOs, LVEPs, BIDs, Leisure & Retail centres and place partnerships)

• The value they deliver for users looking for inspiration and planning support

• The visibility, impact and political value they create for stakeholders and partners

• The key user actions a modern destination website should be designed around

• How these sites sit within the wider digital travel landscape alongside OTAs and global platforms

• Ways to use local relevance and inspiration as a core point of differentiation

If you’re responsible for a destination website – or trying to explain its role to colleagues, partners or funders – this episode gives you a clear, practical way to articulate its purpose and why it deserves serious strategic attention.

Destination Unknown is a podcast for anyone responsible for a place website - DMOs, LVEPs, BIDs, local authorities, and destination partners.
Hosted by the DestinationCore team, it’s a practical series focused on what good looks like in destination digital: planning smarter, designing better journeys, structuring content for discovery, using data to prioritise improvements, and exploring where AI can genuinely help (and where it can’t).

Launching January 2026. Follow now and start from episode one.