Afternoon General Session

Lead with Love

Al Hutchinson, AVH Enterprise

Tourism is about more than hotels and campaigns — it’s about people. In this keynote, Al Hutchinson will share how leading with love has shaped his career and fueled his work to make Baltimore a destination that feels like home. Through personal stories and lessons learned, Al will encourage industry leaders to build meaningful connections, focus on relationships, and embrace the idea that destination marketing must be bigger than business — it’s about building community and inspiring hope, even in challenging times.

The New Rules of Business Success: Becoming THE Destination

Job Schallert, Destination Business Expert

Becoming a tourist Destination and a successful independent business was never easy, but it has become more complicated in 2025. It is no longer enough for an owner of a business to generate solid income, be profitable, and be sustainable long term, but now, communities and businesses must withstand the constant changes of the world around them which are happening at light speed. Success today takes more than meeting your customers at your community or your door and providing good products and services. The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of potential customers out there who don’t know you exist.

Today, every business must be a Destination to every consumer. Every community needs Destination Businesses that generate their own tourism traffic. In this keynote speech, Jon Schallert explains how his proprietary, 14-step Destination Business strategy forms a business model that works in any location – large city or small rural town, regardless of the demographics of the area. Audience members will also learn:

• Concrete steps in driving customer traffic, increasing sales, and targeting your best customers for less money.
• The single most important question that every consumer asks herself, and how you must answer it to be successful

This programming is sponsored by The Schallert Group