How Tourism Brand Ambassadors Elevate Your Destination Story

Tourism marketing is most effective when it mirrors the traveler journey—starting with a spark of inspiration, moving through dreaming and planning to the experience itself, and ideally leading to social sharing (online or off). Destinations today are investing more thoughtfully in that final stage: the moment when a visitor becomes something more. Someone who doesn’t just enjoy their trip but tells others about it. Someone who returns, brings friends, and recommends you without being asked.

Some of the most powerful promotion comes from passionate visitors who organically champion your destination. We are seeing more and more that trust is shifting away from previously trusted sources like news media, but in the end, people trust people. Especially people they know.

Brand ambassadors take this idea one step further.

Tourism brand ambassadors are strategic allies—locals, students, repeat travelers, community leaders—who represent your destination with authenticity and purpose. Unlike influencers, their value isn’t in follower count but in trust, proximity, and connection. And unlike passive fans, ambassadors are activated with intention.

Tourism brand ambassador programs can deepen your destination’s story, turning everyday advocates into essential parts of your marketing mix. Destinations around the world are tapping into this strategy to strengthen relationships, spotlight hidden gems, and make tourism feel personal again.

From Enthusiasts to Ambassadors: Defining the Difference

Enthusiastic visitors are the lifeblood of tourism marketing. They write glowing reviews, post vacation photos, and convince their friends to visit. Their support is organic and powerful, but it’s also passive and unpredictable. You don’t control the message, timing, or consistency.

Brand ambassadors, by contrast, are part of a program. They’ve been recruited (or raised their hands), understand your brand values, and have a defined role in helping promote your destination. Their reach might be smaller than a typical influencer’s, but their messages are rooted in personal experience and trusted relationships.

Think of it this way:

• Raving fans are spontaneous promoters.
• Brand ambassadors are strategic storytellers.

Both are valuable. But when you’re ready to harness that passion intentionally—to align it with your goals, campaigns, or seasonal promotions—a brand ambassador program gives you the structure to do so.

A Stakeholder Ambassador Program

Visit Rochester, the destination marketing organization for Rochester, NY, has a formal program to empower locals and those in the industry to champion the destination. The DMO turned a typical “chamber membership” into a full-blown brand ambassador program. The Visitor Industry Council (or VIC) comprises members who meet once a month to discuss exciting happenings in the county, share events, and give feedback on what the tourism office is doing.

The program further breaks down into committees and subcommittees, engaging their members in everything from social media to travel trade outreach and membership engagement. Members also have the opportunity to sign up for “ROC Star” training, to help front-line staff increase their knowledge of the area and help visitors enjoy their stay.

These opportunities for engagement give their membership tangible goals to work towards, access to insider information, and a feeling of being part of a bigger team. It also helps Visit Rochester gather new ideas and get feedback from members of their community.  

The Rise of Local Ambassadors

Along with the evolving role of DMOs as destination managers, in the last 5 years there is renewed value in the voices of locals. Not just those in customer service roles, but in everyday life: students, artists, business owners, and civic leaders who can tell their version of the destination story.

This shift wasn’t about damage control or safety protocols—it was about authenticity. Who better to show what’s special about a place than the people who live there?

Programs that tap into community pride—especially in smaller towns or regions with tight-knit populations—found that local ambassadors tell compelling stories with insider tips that travelers crave. They brought new energy to campaign launches, seasonal guides, accessbility insights, and destination storytelling. And in many cases, they helped destinations reach audiences they hadn’t before.

That idea now informs ambassador strategies for college towns, rural counties, even state-level campaigns that want their messaging to feel neighborly instead of corporate. It’s a reminder that your destination’s most powerful storytellers might already be in your backyard.

Reaching Younger Generations

College towns have a built-in audience of potential ambassadors: students who live, work, study, and socialize there. They have the ability to act as informal tour guides to visiting family and friends – and even their peers. With the right structure, these students can also become one of your destination’s most persuasive and relatable promotional assets.

In a recent visitor attraction strategy for a college town destination—home to a private university and a SUNY college—our team proposed a student ambassador program to do exactly that. The idea: empower college students to act as insiders who showcase the county’s dining, events, hidden gems, and seasonal activities. The program could include perks like gift cards, resume-building experience, social media exposure, or even a student takeover of the DMO’s channels.

The value goes both ways.

• Students get to feel like part of the community beyond campus.
• The destination gains access to trusted voices and a peer network that’s hard to replicate through paid media.

A similar model has already seen success through the Graduate Hotels Student Ambassador program, where college ambassadors created their own content and helped shape perceptions of the brand among their classmates. It’s proof that with the right tools, young locals can become some of your most effective brand storytellers.

Building Your Own Tourism Brand Ambassador Program

Launching an ambassador program doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive—it needs to be intentional. Whether you’re working with students, stakeholders, or local influencers, the strongest programs are rooted in mutual benefit and built for sustainability.

Start with structure:

• What do you want ambassadors to help you achieve?
• Are they amplifying seasonal content?
• Welcoming first-time visitors?
• Sharing experiences that resonate with specific audiences?

Clear objectives will help you decide who to recruit, what to equip them with, and how to measure success.

Essential Elements to a Strong Tourism Brand Ambassador Program

As outlined in this ImagineDC blog post, early steps include outlining goals, building internal alignment, and defining the value exchange: what ambassadors receive in return. That might include exclusive experiences, recognition, perks from local partners, or opportunities to network and grow their own influence.

Strong brand ambassador programs often share a few essentials:

• A home base (Slack, Facebook Group, email list, etc.) for communication and connection.
• Training or onboarding that empowers ambassadors with accurate, up-to-date info.
• A system for gathering feedback and sharing ideas across the team.
• A way to track success, whether that’s visits, shares, leads, or referrals.

Importantly, ambassadors aren’t just mouthpieces—they should feel invested in the story you’re telling. The best programs invite their perspectives, showcase their stories, and evolve based on real-world use. In the end, your ambassadors should feel like they’re part of something bigger.

Resources for Building a Brand Ambassador Program

If you’re ready to build an ambassador program for your tourism organization, you don’t need to start from scratch. The following examples and articles can help shape your approach:

• Tourism Australia’s ambassador program shows how national-level partnerships align with brand identity.
• BrandChamp’s blog highlights case studies across the travel and tourism sector.
• Learn Tourism explores how ambassadors elevate local pride and increase visitor satisfaction.

Discover how to engage your community in tourism marketing. Read our guide on local tourism marketing strategies.