Field Notes

Featuring Melissa DeFreest, VP of Tourism – Somerset County, NJ Recorded live at the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association Conference in Atlantic City, this episode of Field Notes features a wide-ranging conversation with Melissa DeFreest, Vice President of Tourism for Somerset County. As New Jersey prepares for a historic convergence—America’s 250th Anniversary and the 2026 FIFA World Cup—Melissa breaks down how Somerset County ...

Featuring Daniel Klim, CEO – New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren sits down with Daniel Klim, CEO of the New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association, live from Atlantic City during the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association Conference. With 2026 on the horizon—including the FIFA World Cup, America’s 250th Anniver...

Live from the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association Conference in Atlantic City, this episode heads to Elizabeth, NJ to talk with Jennifer Costa, the force behind one of New Jersey’s fastest-rising destination brands. Jennifer’s path is anything but traditional—international diplomacy, federal service, construction, development—and those experiences shaped her into the exact kind of innovative, resilient leader a city like Elizab...

Recorded live at the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association Conference in Atlantic City, this episode dives into the strategic power of arts and culture as economic engines. Our guest, Adam Perle, President & CEO of ArtPride New Jersey, explains how creativity fuels tourism, boosts local economies, and defines the authentic character of destinations statewide.

Adam shares wide-angle insights on statewide arts trends, pandemic ...

Live from the New Jersey Travel Industry Association Conference in Atlantic City, this episode features Jim Kirkos, CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup heading directly into the Meadowlands region, Jim breaks down what this moment means for New Jersey tourism, business growth, infrastructure planning, and long-term economic development.

This is not just a mega-event conversation. It’s a blueprin...

Live from the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association Conference in Atlantic City, this episode heads to Cape May County for a conversation with Diane Weiland, a leader whose destination has been riding a nearly uninterrupted upward growth curve for six years.

Diane breaks down the strategic choices behind Cape May’s sustained success, including: • Understanding shifting visitor behavior • Leveraging natural assets without over-eng...

This episode features a conversation with Tammie Horsfield of Sussex County, fresh off winning an Excellence Award for innovative tourism partnerships. We dig into how Sussex County has created a four-season tourism engine, the strong community networks powering their growth, and the unexpected impact of collaboration between agriculture, tourism, and economic development.Tammie brings decades of experience, contagious curiosity, a...

SEO has shifted more in the last nine months than in the previous nine years — and travel marketers are feeling it. In this episode of Field Notes, Eric sits down with SEO expert Casey Yandle to break down:

• What’s actually changed in SEO heading into 2026

• Why “SEO is dead” is terrible advice

• How travel brands should audit their content heading into the new year

• The rise of AI, Reddit, user intent, and what it all means ...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights & Observations for the Travel Marketer, Rachel Normansell from Yodel joins Eric to dig into why events are becoming one of the most important levers for destinations heading into 2026.

From shifting traveler behavior to the rise of AI-assisted trip planning, Rachel unpacks why events can no longer sit at the edges of your marketing strategy—they are the strategy.

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights & Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric sits down with Sara Dyer to unpack Canva’s largest product launch in its history — a complete reinvention of the platform into a full creative operating system. We break down how Canva’s new AI-powered suite is transforming the way destinations and travel marketers create, collaborate, and deploy content at scale… even without a full creative ...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren sits down with Ben Knapp, Brand Strategist at Saffron Brand Consultants, to unpack this year’s City Brand Barometer—a deep dive into why some cities rise in global rankings while others fall behind.

Ben shares powerful insights on:

• The evolution from place branding to placemaking

• How cities can close the perception–reality gap

• ...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren takes us inside his keynote talk delivered in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio. With spooky season as the backdrop, he leads travel marketers through a journey that compares reading the jungle to understanding the shifting marketing landscape—where AI is no longer “new,” it’s “normal.”

Eric explores how AI is reshaping content discovery, why tr...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Strategies for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren takes the stage in Flint, Michigan, to deliver his keynote “Brand as Signal.” The talk explores how travel brands can adapt and lead in a rapidly shifting marketing landscape dominated by AI. With billions of weekly queries happening on ChatGPT and platforms like Google Gemini, the rules of visibility are being rewritten. Eric breaks down...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric sits down with Shannon Gray, Provost of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Marketing College and founder of Gray Research Solutions. Together, they dive into:

Shannon’s journey from anthropology into travel marketing research.

What makes Marketing College such a unique program for tourism professionals.

How community, innovation, and mentorship sha...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights for the Travel Marketer, Eric sits down live at the STS Connections Conference with Chris Landry, President & CEO of the Louisiana Travel Association.

Chris shares his perspective on Louisiana’s unique travel identity, the evolving role of AI in marketing, and why hospitality is the ultimate differentiator in tourism. Topics include:

🌴 What hosting a major conference means for Lake Char...

In this episode of Field Notes: Insights for the Travel Market, Eric sits down at the STS Connections Conference with Jordan Basham, creator of the Instagram account Where to Geaux.

Jordan shares her story of starting as a Baton Rouge foodie posting takeout boxes during COVID, growing into a full-time influencer, and launching her own social media agency. Together, we dig into:

✅ How DMOs and brands can effectively work with influe...

As a travel marketer, the AI landscape is shifting fast and last week’s update to ChatGPT might be the biggest change yet. In this episode of Field Notes, Eric Hultgren breaks down what GPT-5 means for you and your DMO team, and how to turn this leap in AI capability into a competitive advantage. We’ll walk you through a set of high-impact prompts you can start testing today in GPT-5 or A/B against other models like Claude or Perpl...

In this episode of Field Notes, host Eric Hultgren sits down with Emily Clay from Advance Travel & Tourism to explore the world of eco tourism. With a deep background in sustainability, Emily shares insights into how destinations can identify and amplify their eco-forward efforts in ways that are both authentic and effective.

The conversation covers:

• What initially drew Emily to the topic of eco tourism

• How travel marke...

In this episode, Eric Hultgren is joined by Bart Thau, Vice President of Marketing at Advance Travel and Tourism, for a thought-provoking conversation about the evolving role of AI in digital marketing and what it means for those working in the travel space. They explore a couple of recent headlines out of Google’s AI division and unpack what marketers should pay attention to (and what they shouldn’t overreact to).

From the acceler...