Dan Peltier

WeTravel finds itself in a competitive payments market. The company had a good first year, and expanding to larger travel companies is likely on its to-do list.

The Los Angeles tourism board is one of the few in the U.S. that could launch a campaign like this and have it ring true to travelers from around the world. Its original "Everyone Is Welcome" message likely had an impact on how other destinations addressed the drop-off in international visitors.

Destinations like Miami and Anaheim aren't turning their backs on the leisure travel business that they grew up on. But they also don't want their leisure reputations to overshadow their new convention center capabilities. That means they and other destinations are following new strategies to grow business travel.

If Interior Secretary Zinke really wanted to score some points for trying to address the National Park Service's maintenance backlog, he wouldn't make it contingent upon helping the oil industry and big business.

While each visitor market is unique, many international travelers in the U.S. last year probably weren't shopping until they dropped because of a stronger U.S. dollar.

Brand USA's content, including films, have generally won praise and performed well with many international travelers. But the competition on streaming services and TVs is fierce, and much of the organization's challenge will be to tell compelling stories that don't read like a tourism campaign.

A genius marketing move or a waste of money that's more flashy than effective? That's the debate that many destination marketers are likely having as they wonder if Tourism Australia's ad will be a huge win or a major interception.

From what we've seen so far, travel brands with Super Bowl teasers are staying away from the culture wars and focusing on sending neutral messages with universal appeal. And while it's important to draw attention to certain issues, it's refreshing to watch light-hearted advertisements, too.

Extreme weather is the new normal. It’s changing destinations for the worse, and it’s not going to get better any time soon.

We'll believe a 2018 U.S. tourism bump when we see it. For now, it's just a bunch of numbers on paper.