After more than three decades in Florida tourism, Experience Kissimmee President and CEO DT Minich has plenty to look back on and plenty he still wants to accomplish. His recent induction into VISIT FLORIDA’s Florida Tourism Hall of Fame recognizes a career that has included leading three destination marketing organizations—Lee County, St. Pete-Clearwater and now Kissimmee—helping position the latter as the “Vacation Home Capital of the World” and mentoring the next generation of tourism professionals. Recommend caught up with Minich to talk about the lessons he’s learned along the way, how family travel has evolved, what he’s learned from visiting 47 countries and why he remains as passionate about tourism as when he first entered the industry.
Recommend magazine: You’ve just been inducted into VISIT FLORIDA’s Florida Tourism Hall of Fame after more than three decades in the industry. When you look back at the beginning of your career, did you ever imagine tourism would become your life’s work?
DT Minich: When I first started my career as a travel trade intern, I was eager to learn where the journey would take me. But once I became involved in tourism, I knew very quickly that it was where I belonged and that it would become my life’s work.
Early in my career, I made a conscious effort to gain experience across different areas of the DMO business. I wanted to understand not only how destinations were marketed, but also how tourism supported local businesses, created opportunities for communities and shaped the experiences people had when they traveled.
More than three decades later, I still feel fortunate to work in an industry that connects people with new places and experiences. Tourism has given me an incredibly rewarding career, but it has also allowed me to pursue something I have always loved personally, sharing the joy of travel with others.
Recommend magazine: You’re the only tourism executive to have led three Florida destination marketing organizations. What did each destination teach you, both professionally and personally?
DT Minich: Each destination had its own identity, opportunities and challenges, so each required a different approach. Professionally, that taught me to listen before developing a strategy. You have to understand the community, the tourism product and what truly distinguishes the destination.
Personally, leading three organizations taught me to remain adaptable. You cannot assume that an approach that worked in one destination will automatically work in another. You have to stay curious, respect the character of the community and be willing to evolve for the community and for the traveler.
Recommend magazine: When you arrived at Experience Kissimmee in 2014, vacation homes were still largely a supporting lodging option. What made you believe they could become a defining part of Kissimmee’s identity, and was there resistance to that idea at the time?
DT Minich: When I joined Experience Kissimmee in 2014, Kissimmee already had approximately 10,000 vacation homes. The product was here, and it was clear that we had an opportunity to do much more with it.
Vacation homes were especially well suited for families and groups traveling to Central Florida. They allowed people to stay together while having more space, privacy and flexibility, all while remaining close to the theme parks and other attractions. I believed that combination gave Kissimmee a meaningful point of distinction in a very competitive tourism market.
We began placing greater emphasis on vacation homes in our marketing and looking more closely at their value to both travelers and the local tourism economy. In 2018, we trademarked Kissimmee as the “Vacation Home Capital of the World.” That gave us a strong and specific identity that we could call our own, while positioning vacation homes as a defining part of the Central Florida experience rather than simply another lodging option.
One of the greatest challenges was education, particularly within the travel trade. At the time, many travel advisors and industry partners did not realize that vacation homes could be booked and commissioned the same way as hotels. There was a perception that they were more difficult to find or reserve, so we had to help the industry better understand the product and how it could benefit their clients.
Today, Kissimmee has more than 30,000 vacation homes, ranging from 2-bedroom condos to 15+-bedroom mansions. That growth has transformed the range of accommodations available to travelers, especially families, multigenerational groups and people celebrating special occasions together. It has also validated our belief that vacation homes could become a central part of Kissimmee’s and Central Florida’s identity.
Recommend magazine: What does the growth of vacation homes tell us about how families want to travel today, and how should advisors be thinking differently about accommodations when they’re booking those clients?
DT Minich: The growth of vacation homes reflects how family travel has changed. A family trip may now include grandparents, parents and children; several families traveling together. These travelers want time together but also want flexibility. A vacation home can provide separate bedrooms, a kitchen, a private pool, game rooms, themed bedrooms and shared areas where everyone can gather.
Travel advisors should begin by asking who is traveling, how long they are staying and how they plan to spend their time in the destination. Rather than immediately determining the number of hotel rooms a group needs, they can consider the full range of accommodations available and recommend the option that best fits that family’s priorities.
It is also important for advisors to know that professionally managed vacation homes are bookable and commissionable. Understanding the product allows them to offer clients more choices and provide a recommendation tailored to how the family wants to experience the trip.
Recommend magazine: After more than 30 years in tourism, what do you know about leadership today that you wish you had known when you first became a destination leader?
DT Minich: To me, leadership has always been about listening, building trust and giving others the confidence to contribute. I have been fortunate to have mentors who challenged me, supported me and helped me recognize opportunities throughout my career. Their example taught me that the best leaders do more than guide an organization. They invest in people.
It is important to surround yourself with talented people, seek out different perspectives and create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas.
Leadership is an ongoing learning process, and you become stronger by remaining open to what others can teach you.
Recommend magazine: You’ve visited 47 countries yourself. How has being a traveler influenced the way you think about the destinations you’ve been responsible for promoting?
DT Minich: Travel has been important to me since childhood, and visiting 47 countries has influenced how I think about the visitor experience.
As a traveler, I know that people remember more than the attractions they visited. They remember how a destination made them feel, the people they met and the unexpected moments that became part of the story they brought home.
That has reminded me that destination marketing is only the beginning of the relationship. Marketing may inspire someone to visit, but the experience they have once they arrive determines whether they return and recommend the destination to others.
My own travels have also made me more aware that every visitor has different interests and expectations. Our role is to show travelers the possibilities and help them discover the experiences that will be most meaningful to them.
Recommend magazine: Of everything you’ve accomplished throughout your career, is there one achievement, or perhaps one moment that never made the headlines, that means the most to you personally?
DT Minich: Being a mentor has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. I have had the opportunity to work with talented people across all three destinations I have led, and it has been meaningful to support them as they developed their skills and pursued new opportunities.
Mentorship is often found in small moments. It may be a conversation, an introduction, thoughtful advice or simply encouraging someone to take a chance on themselves.
Seeing former colleagues grow into leadership positions, take on new challenges and begin mentoring others gives me a tremendous sense of pride. Awards and professional milestones are meaningful, but knowing that I helped someone along their journey is especially personal to me.
Recommend magazine: The Hall of Fame naturally invites you to look back, but you’re still very much in the middle of the work. What do you still want to accomplish?
DT Minich: The Tourism Hall of Fame is an incredible honor and an opportunity to reflect, but I have more to contribute.
Tourism continues to evolve, and destinations are navigating new traveler expectations, new technologies and new opportunities for responsible growth. I want to remain engaged in those conversations and share what I have learned throughout my career.
I also want to continue supporting the next generation of tourism professionals. Whether I am working directly in the industry, mentoring future leaders or traveling and experiencing destinations for myself, I plan to remain connected to tourism for as long as I can.
