Dan Peltier

The future of tourism marketing in the United States will be on the ballot in more than three dozen states in one way or another this November. While most voters probably won't realize that, tourism is one of the most important economic drivers they'll be voting for.

Tourism boards are usually behind the scenes of events, but Las Vegas and Nashville's organizations are often front and center in the form of security personnel hired by tourism officials through local police departments. Even if travelers don't realize this, parts of both cities' tourism budgets are very much on the front lines.

For more than a century, Puerto Rico has been divided along two identities – Puerto Rican and American. But Hurricane Maria has forced it to reach a point where its tourism industry must merge the two, and market the destination in a way like many others on the mainland have done for decades if it hopes to become a global success story.

At least Mexico's president-elect, López Obrador, has tapped someone intimately familiar with the travel industry and how it operates locally and internationally. It's more than the United States can say it's done for travel in the past year and a half.

Many travelers are glued to their phones, so why not put them to even greater use? That's what London tourism officials are hoping to do but whether this will actually help disperse tourism throughout the city rather than generate revenue for already crowded attractions remains to be seen.

Skift data show gun violence hasn't led to mass trip cancellations in the United States for international travelers but shootings have definitely caused many to pause and consider whether the U.S. is a safe destination to visit. The country is much safer than many others, but the White House hasn't helped get that message out there.

Iceland doesn't believe it's overrun with tourists but it's also been proactive in managing tourism growth. That's in sharp contrast to many other destinations only focused on higher numbers with no long-term game plans.

Nixing a hotel brand isn't as simple as turning the lights off and calling it a day. There are contracts, owners, and livelihoods at stake and Marriott couldn't cut any of its 30 brands overnight. The company thinks there is plenty of room for its brands around the world, but we'll see what the future holds.

Who can blame travelers for wanting to sit this World Cup out given all the reasons (some valid) they get from news reports every day? FIFA could also have done more to assure travelers from countries like the U.S. and UK that Russia will have the welcome mat rolled out, at least while the matches are being played.

There are limits to how much an airline like United knows about you and that is comforting to some travelers. But putting the data it does have to good use remains a challenge, although we see nothing controversial about wishing someone a happy birthday.