Visit Sacramento adopted D/AI Destinations to measure the impact of their efforts with real data. The platform validates the city’s reputation, including its growing food reputation, tracks engagement through sentiment and geospatial insights, and shows how tourism benefits extend beyond downtown—strengthening transparency, community involvement, and strategic planning.
The opportunity
Transforming perceptions into proof
Visit Sacramento had been investing heavily in community engagement, focusing on strengthening local involvement, public perception, and regional initiatives to build stronger ties with residents while positioning the city as a welcoming, vibrant destination.
These efforts were central to their mission, but one challenge remained: how do you measure something as intangible as community connection or reputation?
One of its most significant projects has been its “America’s Farm-to Fork Capital” initiative which has been instrumental in the region’s culinary evolution. Because of their growing recognition in the agriculture and culinary space, Sacramento was selected to host Terra Madre Americas, the North and South Americas edition of Italy’s world-renowned Terra Madre Salon del Gusto.
While the team sensed this momentum, they needed credible, data-backed evidence to further demonstrate the extent of the city’s growing appeal.
It was equally vital to ensure that the benefits of tourism extended beyond the city centre and the main attractions. Visit Sacramento wanted to demonstrate how tourism and reputation gains were resonating across the wider region—strengthening community involvement and ensuring that growth was broad, inclusive, and meaningful.
Why choose Data Appeal
One platform, multiple perspectives
D/AI Destinations is a platform from Data Appeal that combines geospatial intelligence, sentiment and popularity analysis, and market insights—helping destinations track visitor preferences, monitor event impact, evaluate reputation, and support sustainable, responsible tourism—all in real time.
Unlike traditional data providers, it doesn’t just deliver raw numbers: with a user-friendly platform, including indexes such as Sentiment Score, Popularity Index, and Sustainability Index, plus AI-powered assistance, it transforms vast, complex data into decision-ready insights.
With coverage of over 250 million points of interest in 180+ countries and the ability to analyse reviews from 130+ global sources, Visit Sacramento saw in D / AI Destinations a solution that could:
- Put metrics behind community engagement.
- Validate Sacramento’s food and dining reputation with hard data.
- Offer a regional view, making it possible to highlight the benefits of tourism across every neighbourhood and community.
- Provide insights they could easily share with stakeholders—from internal teams to elected officials and community members.
”This is data we plan to share with our entire organization, as well as with our key stakeholders—elected officials, community members, and others.
Sonya BradleyChief Inclusion and Community Engagement Officer, Visit Sacramento
Data Appeal’s solution
Analysing millions of reviews to measure engagement and reputation
With D / AI Destinations, Explore Edmonton has been able to strengthen their internal processes, deliver better insights to stakeholders, and support more responsive, data-informed planning.
The platform’s ability to combine timely data with flexibility and granularity has truly set it apart, offering both a high-level overview and detailed, segment-specific insights.
This has enabled the team to benchmark sentiment by traveller type, filter searches and bookings by origin market, and break down performance by neighbourhood or point of interest.
Explore Edmonton now examines more detailed metrics—like sentiment shifts, visitor preferences, and perception across different segments—allowing them to uncover deeper insights that inform more precise, data-driven decisions.
The platform’s Flights and Destination modules have become essential tools for reporting, market monitoring, and strategic conversations. While much of the platform’s use remains internal, there’s significant potential to share insights externally, particularly with business improvement areas and tourism operators.
The results
Stronger insights, broader impact, clearer story
Since implementing D / AI Destinations, Visit Sacramento has transformed the way it measures, understands, and communicates its impact:
- Tangible evidence of success: Engagement, social impact, and reputation can now be measured with hard data—removing guesswork and replacing it with quantifiable insights.
For example, overall sentiment during the Terra Madre Americas week reached a strong 83.3, up 2 points from last year, with a notable +5 increase in the Hospitality & F&B sector.
Sentiment, Sept 22–29, 2025 (week of the event), compared with Sept 22–29, 2024. Source: D / AI Destinations
- Improved transparency: Visit Sacramento can now openly share insights with officials, stakeholders, and the wider community
- Food destination validation: What residents and visitors have been saying anecdotally is now supported by metrics, giving Visit Sacramento a stronger narrative for marketing and promotion.
- Broader community involvement: By using regional data, the organisation can showcase how tourism benefits extend across the Sacramento area, helping involve more communities in the tourism economy.
- Credibility with stakeholders: Sharing actionable data with elected officials, partners, and community members reinforces Visit Sacramento’s role as a trusted, data-driven DMO.
- Stronger foundations for strategy: With ongoing monitoring, the organisation now has a framework to continuously improve, adapt, and prove the value of its efforts to both visitors and residents.
”We’ve had anecdotal experiences showing our reputation as a food destination is improving. Now we can use numbers to validate that story.
Kait LynchDigital Operations Manager, Visit Sacramento
Photo credits: Visit Sacramento
