Tourism CEO Spent Six Months Driving to One Conference—and Discovered the Future of Travel Along the Way

Most CEOs book a flight when it's time to attend a conference. Stephen Ekstrom packed the car instead.

Over six months, the CEO and cofounder of Learn Tourism, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the tourism industry through education, drove from Sarasota, Florida, to Portland, Oregon, where thousands of destination professionals gathered for the Destinations International Annual Convention. 

But getting to the conference wasn't the goal. 

The journey itself became the conference.

Traveling alongside his 14-year-old niece—whose hybrid education blends online coursework with experiential learning—the pair transformed America's highways into a living classroom. Geography was learned by standing at the rim of volcanoes. Economics came alive through conversations with restaurant owners and ranchers. History unfolded in museums, downtown walking tours, and Indigenous cultural sites. Hospitality revealed itself through thousands of interactions with the people who welcome visitors every day.

Along the way, they visited more than 30 destinations represented by Destinations International members, spending time with destination organizations, community leaders, tourism professionals, small businesses, and residents who proudly shared what makes their communities unique.

Their classroom included seven national parks and countless unforgettable stops: mountain towns, ranches, breweries, farms, lakes, valleys, deserts, glaciers, rainforests, mini-golf courses, family-owned restaurants, roadside diners, and enough local bakeries to inspire an entirely separate travel guide. 

"Tourism isn't just an industry—it may be the world's greatest classroom," said Ekstrom. "Every destination teaches something different. Sometimes it's history. Sometimes it's conservation. Sometimes it's entrepreneurship. More often than anything else, it's empathy."

For Ekstrom, whose organization helps destination organizations educate residents, frontline hospitality employees, travel advisors, tourism ambassadors, and community champions, the road trip reinforced a simple idea: authentic tourism begins long before visitors arrive. 

It begins with informed communities.

"When residents understand the stories, values, and people that make their destination special, they don't just welcome visitors—they become ambassadors for their own communities," Ekstrom said. "That's something you can't fully appreciate from an airport or a conference ballroom."

The trip also demonstrated the growing value of experiential learning. While completing her online curriculum, Ekstrom's niece studied ecosystems by hiking through rainforests, explored geology while standing beside lava fields and glaciers, learned economics from conversations with local business owners, and experienced firsthand how tourism supports communities across America.

Every stop became a lesson.

Every destination became a teacher.

The journey also served as a reminder that tourism extends far beyond iconic landmarks. Some of the most memorable experiences came from recommendations offered by local residents—a family-owned bakery, a hidden hiking trail, a community festival, or an ice cream shop that would never appear in a guidebook. 

"It's easy to measure visitor spending," Ekstrom said. "It's much harder to measure the conversations that change how we see each other. Those moments are tourism's greatest return on investment."

After six months on the road, the expedition concluded in Portland, Oregon, where destination leaders from around the world gathered to discuss the future of destination management, placemaking, workforce development, sustainability, and community engagement. 

For Ekstrom, however, the biggest takeaway wasn't found in a keynote presentation. 

It was discovered somewhere between a glacier, a small-town bakery, a national park trail, and a conversation with someone proud to call their community home.

Courtesy of Stephen Ekstrom, co-founder and CEO, Learn Tourism.

Photos courtesy of Stephen Ekstrom.