Inside the Groundbreaking MMGY-R&R Partners Merger

Katie Briscoe, CEO of MMGY Global, says destination marketing is evolving to destination stewardship. “Today’s destination organizations are being asked to do much more than promote travel. They’re navigating policy discussions, resident sentiment, workforce issues, economic priorities and unexpected disruptions, often all at once,” she told Inspired Insights.

If that sounds to you like a bigger job than one organization can handle alone, you’re not alone. It’s the fundamental reason MMGY and R&R partners, two established travel-based agencies, have joined forces to create a tourism powerhouse.

The agencies are coming together under parent company MMGY Global and feature 800 team members with diverse mix of expertise, clients and capabilities. MMGY has specialized in travel and traveler intelligence, while R&R brings more than 50 years’ experience in areas like government affairs, community engagement, and crisis.

Both sides belong under one roof now, says Michon Martin, CEO of R&R partners. “This next chapter is about taking everything we are capable of and making it bigger, bolder, and more powerful. We are custom-building this agency for our clients. And, quite frankly, every brand deserves this level of dedication,” says Martin.

Read on for more thoughts from these women leaders discussing the future of travel and destination marketing.

Destination marketing organizations are facing tighter public budgets almost everywhere. How will this partnership help you deliver more value to DMOs under those constraints?

Briscoe: When budgets tighten, every dollar has to work harder and the value of tourism has to be clear. R&R has deep experience with integrated public education and advocacy efforts, including work surrounding Allegiant Stadium, while MMGY brings traveler intelligence, data and performance marketing expertise. Together, we can help DMOs make a stronger case for tourism investment while connecting strategy, communications and measurement more effectively.

Government affairs and advocacy have been part of R&R's work. How important is that skill set becoming for destinations navigating tourism policy and funding fights?

Martin: It's essential. A destination's growth is shaped as much in council chambers and statehouses as it is in an ad campaign. Most DMOs rely heavily on lodging or transient occupancy taxes. Others use tourism improvement districts, sales tax allocations, membership dues, state tourism grants, and partnerships like Brand USA's matching program. Each source comes with its own rules, its own politics and its own risks. When a legislature looks at redirecting room tax dollars, a destination needs someone who can make the economic case to protect that funding.

Then there's infrastructure. Big growth projects often run on bond financing, public-private partnerships and dedicated tax revenue. Allegiant Stadium is a good example. It required public financing approved through a special legislative session. That isn't a marketing problem. It takes coalition-building, policy expertise and trust with elected leaders.

Air service is another piece. Landing a new inbound route often means building a business case with the airport. It can also mean packaging revenue guarantees or co-op marketing support, and proving to airlines the demand is real.

When you understand how all those dollars and decisions connect, you can pull every lever for growth. Destinations that master this will win.

What's one underserved need in destination marketing today that you think this combined company is now uniquely positioned to solve?

Briscoe: I think the underserved need is helping destinations prove that tourism is valuable not just to visitors, but to the people who live there. DMOs increasingly have to demonstrate how tourism supports jobs, businesses, tax revenue and quality of life while also listening to legitimate community concerns. We now have a much stronger combination of traveler intelligence, destination expertise, public affairs and community engagement to help clients connect those dots.

How does technology come into play?

Martin: Traditional research is broken. By the time a study is fielded, analyzed and delivered, the traveler has often moved on. You end up making today's decisions with last season's insights.

That's why we built Decode Horizon, our proprietary AI tool that predicts human behavior. It already delivers predictive modeling, and now we're making it stronger by fusing it with MMGY's deep travel intelligence, built over decades of tracking traveler behavior. The result is a highly accurate forecast of where consumer behavior is heading before it appears in the data. It's the first tool of its kind in our industry and another example of how we're doing what no other agency can.

For a destination, that changes everything. You can spot a shift in what motivates travelers early. You can adjust your message, your media and your markets before the competition notices. Then you can invest with confidence instead of guesswork.

Why merge now?

Briscoe: Honestly, there was no grand agenda when Michon and I first sat down. We already knew our teams could work well together through clients like the Las Vegas CVA, but what struck me was how aligned we were as leaders. We both believe deeply in independence and in building businesses around clients and people. From there, we started recognizing how complementary the companies were. MMGY brings deep specialization in travel and traveler intelligence, while R&R brings extraordinary strength in areas like government affairs, community engagement and crisis. The more we talked, the more obvious it became that together we could build something neither of us could build alone.

Martin: The timing came down to two things. First, the agency world is changing fast. Holding companies have spent years stitching together agencies in ways that add layers, slow decisions and pull teams farther from the work, and that’s reshaping the whole market. We’ve never been the type to sit back and watch that happen. We knew we had to lead rather than react.

Second, we found the right partner. We've been approached many times over the years, and we always said no. None of those companies felt worthy of our clients or our people. Then we got to know Katie and the MMGY team, and the chemistry was immediate. Our values were aligned before the conversation even started.

Photo Credit: MMGY Global