Today’s destination data offers more than a foundation for dashboards and reports — it offers a window into understanding the holistic impact of people and places, and a pathway to building better communities.
In recognition of the vital role that marketing agencies play in the stewardship of destinations, Zartico announces that Miles Partnership has become the first marketing agency to complete a certification course for Zartico’s Destination Operating System™.
The agency certification class included 15 members of Miles Partnership’s staff, who participated in two days of in-depth training with Zartico’s education and advisory teams. The curriculum includes instruction on identifying and understanding data trends within ZDOS™, as well as the foundations of communicating data stories, stewardship, and connecting insights to broader destination goals.
Certification for the Miles team creates consistency throughout the agency for data-led strategic planning, destination stewardship, and impactful storytelling with community stakeholders. It’s an important distinction for agencies, who often represent the connection point between a destination’s vision for resident wellbeing and the persona they present to potential visitors.
“Miles Partnership is a longstanding and consistent presence in the destination marketing industry,” said Nicole Brownell, Zartico’s Vice President of Partner Strategy and Experience. “Partnering with a trusted agency like Miles Partnership allows Zartico to further establish the role of data throughout the entire destination ecosystem.”
Zartico and Miles Partnership each partner with 150+ destinations across North America, and about 20 of those are already working with both organizations to market, manage, and improve their destinations. While those shared clients may be the first beneficiaries of this new certification program, the shared vision of democratizing and demystifying data has far-reaching implications for an industry that makes up 10% of the global economy.
“At Miles Partnership, we believe all marketing must be rooted in data, and Zartico's Destination Operating System was designed with this in mind,” said Gray Lawry, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Insights at Miles Partnership. “By curating and combining multiple data sources into one dashboard — and making that data more accessible to all levels of a marketing organization — we can make better data-driven decisions faster, challenge previous assumptions, and, ultimately, do more with the finite resources we have.”
This inaugural agency certification coincides with the successful completion of Zartico’s pilot certification program for destination professionals. Both are a part of the broader educational mission of Zartico, which was founded on values of growth and continuous learning. These certification tracks and others will be a part of the Zartico Academy, a self-service education platform launching later this year.
“Everyone wins when industry leaders are fluent in data literacy, which is at its core about understanding and communicating data,” said Kristin Thompson, Zartico’s Senior Product Education Manager. “We are experiencing a hunger in the industry for data as a part of a daily routine and rhythm, which ultimately creates greater opportunities to understand challenges and discover solutions through the lens of information.”