Shows
Tourpreneur Tour Business PodcastDemystifying AI for Tour Operators (w/ Janette Roush of Brand USA)All we hear about is AI this, AI that. And yet trying to keep up with all the changes can be overwhelming. Many operators are simply rejecting it outright, or knowingly keeping their heads buried in the sand.So Mitch Bach sat down with Janette Roush, the "Chief AI Officer" for Brand USA, to ask a fundamental question: what are some practical ways a tour operator can get started using AI effectively for their tour business? This isn't a technical, advanced conversation, but rather a clear-eyed overview of the benefits of just getting started and a practical...2025-06-2653 min
The Future of TourismSymposium Special: Exploring Smart Tourism from Aspiration to ApplicationOn this episode of the Future of Tourism podcast, Dr. Phil Xiang from Virginia Tech explores the evolution of smart tourism. This is the final installment of our Executive Insights Symposium series — catch up on previous episodes here: AI governance for DMOs and their leaders with Janette Roush, senior vice president of innovation and chief AI officer at Brand USA Rethinking DMO leadership in a new era of alignment and purpose with Adam Burke, president and CEO of Los Angeles Tourism You can download a report packed with executives’ insights into the transformational forces D...2025-06-1824 min
Hospitality Daily PodcastAmerica's Chief AI Officer for Travel Shares Advice for 2025 - Janette Roush, Brand USA [Greatest Hits]In this episode, originally published December 2024, Janette Roush, the SVP of Innovation and Chief AI Officer at Brand USA, shares her insights on embracing AI in the workplace and how it can drive innovation in the tourism industry.Watch this conversation on YouTubeMentions:Brand USA & AI (including framework for use)Listen to Janette Live From Travel Week: Leadership Alignment with Generative AIConor Grennan, Chief AI Architect at the Stern School of BusinessEthan Mollick, Professor at the Wharton School of BusinessOne Useful Thing (Newsletter by Ethan Mollick)Every (Media company)Udemy (Online learning platform) 2025-06-1746 minThe Future of TourismSymposium Special: AI governance for DMOs and their leadersOn this episode of the Future of Tourism podcast, Janette Roush, senior vice president of innovation and chief AI officer at Brand USA, explores the urgent need for destination executives to review how they strategically implement AI. Learn the opportunities, risks, and methodology behind effective and ethical AI governance for DMOs. 2025-06-0418 min
Destination Discourse31: Is There a Right Way to Roll Out AI? (Janette Roush & Vimal Vyas)In this episode of Destination Discourse, we’re digging into one of the biggest questions facing DMOs today: how should you be rolling out AI in your organization? Should you move fast and figure it out as you go, or slow down, build the right guardrails, and then scale?
To explore both sides, Stuart and Adam are joined by two of the smartest minds in the space:
• Jeanette Roush, whose early experimentation with AI helped shape industry conversations and earned her a new leadership role at Brand USA
• Vimal Vyas, who’s taking a more deliberate approach a...2025-05-2259 min
Fandom UnpackedAI’s Impact on Live Entertainment: Unpacking the Business Effects on Sports, Arts, and Ticketed EventsThe intersection of artificial intelligence and modern fandom is transforming how we discover, experience, and connect with live events. In this enlightening conversation, Janette Roush, Chief AI Officer and SVP of Innovation at Brand USA, shares a treasure trove of insights on the evolving relationship between AI and the live experience economy.Most marketers approach AI with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety – an understandable response to technology evolving at breathtaking speed. Roush dispels common misconceptions, explaining that while today's AI tools aren't perfect, we're merely in the "training wheels" phase of what will eventually revolutionize the en...2025-04-2336 min
Hospitality Daily PodcastMy AI Research Results: 87% of Hospitality Pros Already Use AI (Here's How) - Josiah MackenzieIn this episode, Josiah Mackenzie shares some top takeaways from his latest research, including how 87% of hospitality professionals participating in the study already use AI to improve efficiency, creativity, and guest experience. Listen now for practical examples, underutilized AI opportunities, and actionable insights you can use in your hotel or hospitality business.Also see:AI 2027 ProjectWhat AI Might Bring Hotels in 2025 - Martin SolerAmerica's Chief AI Officer for Travel Shares Advice for 2025 - Janette Roush, Brand USALess Ringing, More Hospitality: AI-Powered PBX To Give Our Teams More Time for Guests - Steven Marais, Noble House Hotels...2025-04-0916 min
Brand USA Talks TravelAI for DMOs: How Travel Organizations Can Leverage AI TodayAI is revolutionizing the travel industry, but are destination organizations keeping up? In this special episode for International Women's History Month, guest host Janette Roush speaks with Esra Calvert, and Signe Jungersted about how AI can enhance strategy, efficiency, and visitor engagement. Learn practical ways to integrate AI into your work and why industry-wide adoption is key to staying competitive.
Janette Roush is SVP, Innovation and Chief AI Officer at Brand USA. Esra Calvert is Chief Insights Officer at Esra Calvert Consulting. Signe Jungersted is CEO and Founding Partner at Group NAO.2025-03-1220 min
Hospitality Daily PodcastAmerica's Chief AI Officer for Travel Shares Advice for 2025 - Janette Roush, Brand USATake our Artificial Intelligence in Hospitality survey In this episode, Janette Roush, the SVP of Innovation and Chief AI Officer at Brand USA, shares her insights on embracing AI in the workplace and how it can drive innovation in the tourism industry.Watch this conversation on YouTubeMentions:Brand USA & AI (including framework for use)Listen to Janette Live From Travel Week: Leadership Alignment with Generative AIConor Grennan, Chief AI Architect at the Stern School of BusinessEthan Mollick, Professor at the Wharton School of BusinessOne Useful Thing (Newsletter by Ethan Mollick)Every (M...2025-01-0446 min
Everything AI in TravelEverything AI in Travel - REWIND with Janette Roush from NYC TourismJanette Roush is the leading voice for AI and Destination Marketing.
That is now 100% official as since we recorded this edition of the podcast, Janette landed the role of SVP, Innovation and Chief AI Officer at Brand USA.
Janette tells it how it is, in simple language so that everyone can easily understand & follow along to get started on their own AI journey.
Making the complex, seem simple is a gift and Janette Roush has it.2024-12-2029 minBrand USA Talks TravelLive From Travel Week: Leadership Alignment with Generative AIJanette Roush offers you an unflinching look at the urgency of learning and leading the way in this era of artificial intelligence, which is evolving at a rapid pace. Janette Roush is Brand USA's new Senior Vice President of Innovation and Chief AI Officer. Believe it or not, this is Janette’s first week on the job!2024-10-2542 minThe Future of TourismThe new electricity: Let’s talk AI in tourism with Janette Roush & Cody ChomiakOn this episode of the Future of Tourism podcast, Janette Roush and Cody Chomiak help demystify AI. Learn to view the technology as easy to approach and understand its impact on our future. 2024-10-1036 min
The Travel Marketing PodcastAI and Destination MarketingIn this insightful episode of the Travel Marketing Podcast, hosted by Propellic, we sit down with Janette Roush, the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Digital at New York City Tourism and Conventions. Janette, a leader in the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) space, shares her innovative approaches to integrating AI into her team's marketing strategies. We discuss the future of destination marketing, the importance of storytelling, and the challenges of measuring the impact of marketing efforts in a city as dynamic as New York. Janette also delves into the evolving role of AI in creative processes and leadership, providing...2024-07-3034 min
Smart Start Radio: Fuel for the Purpose Generation of Meeting PlannersHow To Fight AI Bias: Keep Humans in the LoopLet us know what you think! What do you want to hear about?Continuing our discission of AI with Janette Roush, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Digital for New York City Tourism & Conventions, and Sindhu Srivastava, CEO of We Crush Events and MeaningfulData , in this special mini episode, we explore the issue of bias in AI. To hear the full conversation, listen here: 2024-06-0611 min
Destination Marketing PodcastA Conversation With The #1 AI Thought Leader in Tourism, Janette RoushJanette Roush, executive vice president of marketing and digital at NYC Tourism, has built quite a following sharing her thoughts on LinkedIn about how AI is changing the game for the destination marketing industry. She joins Adam in this episode to discuss how she positioned herself as an AI thought leader and why DMOS must embrace this new technology. They cover how AI has changed over the past several years and how destination marketers can find the best tool to help in their specific job titles.
“I think it’s about finding the work that you hate the most...2024-05-3145 minSmart Start Radio: Fuel for the Purpose Generation of Meeting PlannersExploring the Digital Frontier: The Role of AI in Event PlanningLet us know what you think! What do you want to hear about?In this episode of Meeting of the Minds, Smart Meetings sits down with Janette Roush, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Digital for New York City Tourism & Conventions, and Sindhu Srivastava, CEO of We Crush Events and MeaningfulData, to explore the potential of AI in the events industry. From predictive models to large language models, they discuss how AI can revolutionize event planning, offer practical advice for planners looking to integrate AI into their workflow, and address important considerations such as bias and responsible...2024-05-0243 min
Experience This! Travel Industry Insights and OpinionsExperience This! Show #39, Season 2, Show #9: The Future of SearchExperience This! Show #39 is one of our best yet. Today I heard three phrases I haven't heard before:SGE: Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) is a new approach to search results. It's an experimental search experience that uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) to provide users with quick and clear overviews of search topics—without having to click on individual webpagesSTS: Strategic Text Sequences. OK, what?Harvard researchers introduce Strategic Text Sequences (STS) to influence LLM-driven search, especially in e-commerce. STS strategically inserts token sequences into product information, boosting visibility and rankings. The framework ar...2024-04-3055 min
Travel Tech InsiderSeason 1 FinaleThe season finale is here! Episode 10 wraps up with some special guests to help us check in on the latest goings-on among all the hot topics we covered in Season 1. Cliffhangers abound...What's next with NDC, loyalty program changes, regulatory trends, and all things AI? Luxury and Zillennials, venture capital funding (or lack thereof?) and the future of destination marketing are all looking a little different from when we covered them just months ago.Thanks to Friends of the Pod Janette Roush, Daniel Green, Tiffany Funk, Bobby Demri, Michael...2024-03-121h 19The Future of TourismThe future of AI: expanding applications we're just beginning to graspDavid Peacock interviews Janette Roush, executive vice president of marketing and digital for New York City Tourism + Conventions, and Paul McLeod, director of analytics at Simpleview, about the current landscape of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Roush has spent decades in industry-leading organizations and modern media agencies. McLeod is a maverick in the data and insights space and runs Simpleview’s internal think tank known as “Insights Group.” Together, they discuss why AI is on everyone’s radar, where the technology is going, and the positive — and negative — applications of it.2023-10-0538 min
The Architects of Destination AdvocacyA.I. For AdvocacyAs a listener of the show, we talk tales of advocacy of both the past and present but today is one hypothetical for a near-term future. This isn’t going to be your typical talk around A.I that we have heard in our sector but instead, all about understanding how A.I can be used for Destination Advocacy. To talk through these possibilities, I’m happy to welcome to the show, Janette Roush, Executive Vice President Marketing and Digital of NYC Tourism + Conventions.NYC Tourism + ConventionsDestinations InternationalThe Architects of Destination Advo...2023-07-3025 min
Destination On The LeftInsights from the Travel Unity Roadshow (Part Two), with Nicole MahoneyIn the second of our three-part series from the Travel Unity Roadshow, we ask our seven guests to share their thoughts on how the travel industry can make an impact via the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Rhonda’s conversations with all of these leaders in our industry were truly fascinating, and we’re excited to share them with you. Highlights of this episode include why we should see tour guides for the storytellers they are and how their unique position allows them to be at the forefront of DEI education by expanding the viewpoints in the...2022-05-2528 min
Putting It TogetherJanette Roush, NYC & CompanyJanette Roush, Managing Director of Marketing at New York City's official Destination Marketing Organization NYC & Company sits down to talk about the business of selling a city. We discuss her twenty year history of marketing and advertising Broadway's biggest titles and the role the Great White Way plays in New York's wider tourism world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2020-01-0330 min