Destination marketing organisations juggle a wide software stack: a website and CMS, a member and stakeholder CRM, an events calendar, and — increasingly — a visitor-facing product that drives real engagement and spend. That last category is where digital passports, savings passes and loyalty networks live, and it's the one most likely to move the numbers a DMO reports to its board and stakeholders.
This guide compares the leading options in 2026, sorted by the job each does. Some drive one-off visitor experiences, some capture ongoing repeat visitation, some keep spend local, and some run the back office. Knowing which outcome you're chasing is the whole game.
Quick comparison: four jobs a DMO stack does
The tools below fall into four buckets: coalition loyalty networks that reward participation and drive repeat, year-round visitation (Loop); digital passes and savings passports for packaged, often time-boxed visitor experiences (Bandwango); local gift cards and card-linked loyalty that keep spend inside the region (Miconex); and DMO CRM, CMS and events platforms that run the organisation and the website (Simpleview, Moonstride, Timely and similar). Most DMOs run more than one — the point is to be clear on what each is responsible for.
1. Loop — coalition loyalty network
Loop is a coalition loyalty network for destinations and tourism regions. It turns a whole region into one "earn here, spend there" network: a visitor joins once and earns across every participating business, then redeems anywhere in the network. Unlike a pass that's used once, Loop rewards ongoing participation — visits, reviews, referrals and content — which is what turns a one-time visitor into a repeat one and produces organic word-of-mouth.
For a DMO, the pay-off is the two outcomes that are hardest to get from a single-use pass: sustained cross-visitation across local businesses, and first-party data the region owns. It's the modern form of coalition loyalty. Loop is best for regions focused on year-round repeat visitation and an owned visitor audience they can market to directly. See the full guide to loyalty and visitor engagement for DMOs.
2. Bandwango — digital passes & savings passports
Bandwango is a destination experience engine built around the mobile pass. DMOs use it to launch fully branded digital passports and savings passes — bundling attractions, retail and restaurant deals, and check-in challenges into one pass visitors can buy or claim. Its Experience Builder makes launching a pass fast, and it provides live reporting on how users engage, check in and redeem. Visit Seattle's Perks Pass is a well-known example of the savings-passport format.
Bandwango's strength is packaged, curated visitor experiences — especially time-boxed passes, pre-paid activity bundles, and seasonal campaigns that give visitors a reason to explore during a defined window. Where it differs from a loyalty network is duration and intent: a pass is typically used within a trip, whereas a coalition loyalty program is designed to bring the same visitor back over months and years. The two can complement each other. We compare them directly in Loop vs Bandwango, cover the format in what is a digital passport?, and list other options in Bandwango alternatives.
3. Miconex — local gift cards & card-linked loyalty
Miconex, the Scottish fintech behind the Town and City Gift Card, is also relevant to regions. Its gift card keeps visitor and local spend inside a place by giving people a local currency redeemable across participating businesses, and its Mi Rewards product adds card-linked loyalty — points earned automatically on a linked debit or credit card, feeding a monthly prize draw and local offers.
Miconex's strength is a proven instrument for retaining spend locally with minimal friction. The trade-off, as with any card-linked or gift-card model, is that it rewards transactions rather than the broader participation (reviews, referrals, content) that builds an owned audience and organic reach.
4. DMO CRM, CMS & events tools — Simpleview, Moonstride, Timely
The backbone of most DMOs is a destination marketing platform: a visitor-facing website and CMS, a member and stakeholder CRM, a business directory, and an events calendar. Simpleview (now part of Granicus) is the category leader, "built by the industry, for the industry," with a tourism-specific CRM and CMS. Moonstride offers marketing and CRM tailored to DMOs, and events tools like Timely plug an events calendar into the DMO website.
These platforms are essential for running the organisation, publishing content, and managing members — but they aren't visitor loyalty engines. They face the stakeholder and the web visitor, not the returning customer earning rewards across a region. They pair naturally with a passport or loyalty product that owns the visitor-engagement layer.
How to choose
Match the tool to the outcome. If you need a website, member CRM and events calendar, a destination marketing platform like Simpleview is the backbone. If you want a curated, often time-boxed pass that packages experiences and deals for a trip, Bandwango is purpose-built. If you want to keep spend inside the region with a familiar instrument, a Miconex gift card is proven. And if your priority is year-round repeat visitation, sustained cross-visitation across local businesses, and first-party data the region owns — rewarding participation rather than a single transaction — that's the job a coalition loyalty network like Loop is built for. The strongest DMO stacks combine a back-office platform with a visitor-engagement product; the decision is which engagement outcome matters most.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a digital passport and a loyalty program for a DMO?
A digital passport (like Bandwango's) packages attractions and deals into a pass a visitor typically uses within a trip. A coalition loyalty program (like Loop) rewards ongoing participation across a region to bring the same visitor back over time and to build an owned audience. Passes drive a visit; loyalty drives repeat visitation.
What software do DMOs use?
Most DMOs run a destination marketing platform for their website, CRM and events (Simpleview, Moonstride, Timely), plus a visitor-engagement product such as a digital passport (Bandwango), a local gift card (Miconex), or a coalition loyalty network (Loop). The stack depends on which visitor outcomes the DMO prioritises.
Is Bandwango a loyalty program?
Not exactly. Bandwango is a digital pass and savings-passport engine focused on packaged, often time-boxed visitor experiences and check-in challenges. A loyalty network like Loop is designed for repeat, year-round participation and cross-visitation. They can complement each other.
How do DMOs capture first-party visitor data?
Any product where a visitor signs up and interacts — a passport, a gift-card program, or a loyalty network — can capture first-party data. A coalition loyalty network captures the richest ongoing picture because it tracks repeat visits and cross-visitation across many businesses over time, all owned by the region rather than a third-party platform.
About Loop
Loop is a coalition loyalty network for destinations, precincts, BIDs, tourism regions and hospitality groups. Instead of every business running its own card, Loop turns a whole place into one "earn here, spend there" network — rewarding participation (visits, reviews, referrals and content), driving repeat visits and cross-visitation, and capturing first-party data the organisation owns. See how Loop works →
See Loop for your region
If repeat visitation, cross-visitation and owned visitor data are your priority, see how a coalition loyalty network works for a DMO or tourism region. Book a demo.