Background/Objectives: Destination Development, Management, and Marketing Organizations (DDMMOs) have the power to influence perceptions and behaviors regarding both actual and virtual travel in the rapidly changing landscape of digital environments. Within newly emerging Metaverse platforms, their websites can serve as critical touchpoints that enhance destination attractiveness and enable visitors to engage in valuable experiences. In this vein, this research attempts to determine if DDMMO website quality and destination image can influence users’ intention to virtually visit a place by using a Metaverse platform. Methods: Users who navigated a European DDMMO website were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire, and 318 responses were collected. Then, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research hypothesis. Results: The results show that website interactivity and affective destination image had a direct positive impact on a user’s intention to use the Metaverse platform. Furthermore, indirect impacts of website design and usefulness and cognitive destination image were detected. Conclusions: DDMMOs and destination marketing experts can gain valuable insights from the outcomes of this research. Thus, focusing on the aforementioned website features can help them enhance destination image and attract users to their Metaverse platforms.

The democratization of travel and tourism has led to increased competition among tourist destinations, bringing the importance of destination image to the forefront. At the same time, the expansion of social media made it possible for visitors and stakeholders to collaborate on the creation of the destination image. Thus, both cognitive and affective destination image can be observed in social media and can be found in posts that users upload either in groups dedicated to a specific destination or in posts that use the name of the destination as a hashtag. This study adopts a mixed method approach in order to reveal features of the cognitive and affective perceived destination image and compare them with the projected image. The city of Pafos was chosen as a case study and all the Instagram posts using the hashtags #visitPaphos and #visitPafos (7861 in total) have been collected and analyzed. At the same time, a questionnaire designed and answered by a sample of 108 respondents who are members of Facebook groups acting as forums for holidaymakers in Cyprus. This research attempts to provide practical implications for destination managers and stakeholders to prepare and build their future marketing strategies by gaining a deeper understanding of the impact shared content has on visitor perception.

The need for a consistent marketing evaluation framework has been highlighted by destination authorities, who in collaboration with academia and marketing professionals have sought to formulate methodologies for measuring the impact of their campaigns. Although several attempts have been made, no simple solution has emerged for evaluating destination marketing activities. This study draws on This is Athens & Partners to reveal the interaction that should take place when destination authorities employ external experts to implement and evaluate their marketing campaigns. The collaboration required adopting the appropriate destination marketing evaluation methodology, which is presented. The adapted methodology, formulated through consultation, resulted in the selection of the advertising tracking survey as the data collection method and the adaptation of a measurement instrument. The research findings show that destination marketing can positively influence the funnel process potential travelers consider when deciding on a travel destination, only when digital tools are combined with effective strategic marketing planning and, more recently, with references to resilience and sustainability. Insights from this paper regarding the importance of establishing an informative evaluation methodology to mitigate potential deficiencies in planned marketing initiatives may prove of added value to destination authorities and stakeholders.

A new way of life and work—digital nomadism—is increasingly appealing to a growing global workforce, while many destinations are beginning to view this form of tourism not only as an economic opportunity but also as a strategic tool for mitigating seasonality and promoting sustainable destination development. This paper aims to identify the key criteria that digital nomads consider when selecting a temporary residence base, contributing to the growing body of research on digital nomadism by analysing the relative impact of various factors influencing destination choice. The originality of this study lies in its mixed-method approach, which combines secondary and primary data through a netnographic analysis of online communities and semi-structured interviews with digital nomads. Findings from the secondary data highlight the cost of living, internet quality, and lifestyle offerings of a destination as the most influential factors in nomadic decision-making. Additionally, primary data further illustrate the hierarchy of digital nomads’ needs and preferences, which are classified and prioritised based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These insights carry significant implications for destination managers and tourism stakeholders. Understanding and responding to the evolving expectations of digital nomads can help destinations not only attract this emerging market segment but also design policies and infrastructure that align with principles of sustainable tourism.