AI Opener: VisitBalaton365's AI journey
On an international stage, in English: VisitBalaton365 DMO's practical AI journey at the AI Opener Bootcamp in Edinburgh, to inspire other European destination management organizations (Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh).
AI Opener Bootcamp (23–24 September 2025)
Adam Schmutz's (VisitBalaton365) English-language talk at the AI Opener Bootcamp, aimed at sharing VisitBalaton365 DMO's practical AI experience with other destination management organizations. Context: the Lake Balaton destination spans 180 settlements, 3.2 million visitors and more than 9 million guest nights (2024). The talk was built on two main pillars. (1) Preparing the teams (AI education and internal integration): monthly AI sessions, SOPs co-created with AI, an internal AI toolkit, a prompt library, and a “role evolution” framework for the optimal distribution of human and AI tasks. (2) Enriching the digital presence (data for AI search engines and visitors) – in partnership with Visible Tourism: mapping Lake Balaton's uncharted hiking and cycling routes, 360° Street View content for the main attractions, sorting out admin access to Google Business Profiles, and turning static listings into a dynamic marketing tool. The message: DMOs can make their destination visible to both AI search engines and visitors through hands-on internal capability-building and concrete work within the Google ecosystem.
“Sharing practical experiences and ongoing initiatives to inspire fellow Destination Marketing Organizations.” VisitBalaton365 makes the destination visible to AI search engines and visitors through internal AI capability-building and concrete work in the Google ecosystem.