WELCOME TO THE CITY NATION PLACE ADVISORY GROUP
We’re welcoming the early adopters and disruptors of the place brand industry to join our CNP Advisory Group to work with us to identify the emerging challenges and opportunities for place brand and marketing teams.
Here are just a few of the trailblazing place leaders sharing their insight with us as part of our advisory group...

Get involved
Join an exclusive group of place brand and marketing leaders from cities, nations, and places around the world to discuss the topics at the top of your agenda. You will also have the opportunity to help us shape the direction of the website content and conference agendas - ensuring that City Nation Place provides you with the resource you need to steer and develop your own team.
- Participate in a quarterly 90-minute round table discussion with an exclusive group of place brand and marketing leaders
- Share your views in a quarterly mini-survey on a specific topic of relevance to all place brand and marketing organisations
- Benefit from reduced ticket prices for you and your team to join City Nation Place conferences
- Have the opportunity to become an Ambassador for specific conferences, helping us to ensure the right people attend the event in return for your complimentary attendance.
If you are interested in joining the CNP Advisory Group, please email katie@citynationplace.com to apply– but please note that we will be making sure that we have a balance of representatives from around the world and from tourism, economic development, and place brand-focussed organisation.
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Adriana Acosta is the Marketing and Communication Director of PROCOMER (The Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter) and oversees the strategic direction of the country brand Essential Costa Rica. Adriana has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and advertising, and she had been the head of conception and development of strategies for brands of diverse sectors such as real state, wines and distillates, premium brands, services, and fast-moving consumer goods.
Prior to joining PROCOMER, Adriana as a Marketing Director and Senior Executive, developed marketing strategies, frame and conduct marketing research, develop customer journeys and lead the social media and advertising strategy for different clients and companies. She also explored her entrepreneur side creating and managing her own advertising agency for 8 years.
Adriana is graduate of the Costa Rica University of Communication and Advertising program and has an MBA in Marketing. She has experience developing new business, leading marketing teams, managing the relation with advertising, social media and public relations agencies, commercial partners, press media and events agencies and has served as the spokesperson of different companies.

David Andrews is Director of the Great West Way, a Discover England Funded project to create one of the world’s premier touring routes between London & Bristol. This project has been led by VisitWiltshire where David is also Chief Executive. Previous tourism management and marketing roles include working at The Mersey Partnership and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. Before that David worked in VisitBritain / VisitEngland roles based in London, Singapore, Chicago and Amsterdam.

Camilla Bark is Director of Marketing and Talent Attraction at Invest in Skåne, the official trade and investment promotion organisation for Skåne, the southernmost part of Sweden.
Invest in Skåne help international companies invest and expand in the region, and attract valuable talent to secure a skilled, diverse and competent workforce in Skåne and the Greater Copenhagen region.
In addition, Invest in Skåne has the task of promoting Skåne and the Greater Copenhagen Region internationally as an attractive, dynamic and world-class region for business, research and innovation, and which provides a gateway to, not just the Nordics, but Europe as a whole. Camilla leads a team responsible for marketing, communications, PR and talent attraction/retention. She holds a double Bachelor degree in Business Administration and Human Resources (with a focus on Competence Resourcing) and has several years of experience working with international marketing and branding within B2B as well as competence resourcing and Employer Branding.

David has had a successful career in the private and public sector and is now CEO of The New Zealand Story, an ambitious government-funded organisation marketing New Zealand to the world. He also acts as a consultant and is a director on several boards, including as Chair of The Icehouse. David is an ex-comedian, TV and radio actor, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year, cancer survivor and a published author of the books No.8 Re-wired, No.8 Recharged, A Mild Touch of the Cancer, and Silver Linings. David founded SOS Business, a hugely successful not-for-profit initiative to help cafes and other small businesses during covid-19.

David Gilbert serves as President and CEO of Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, an organization dedicated to making Greater Cleveland the nation’s foremost destination for amateur sporting events and activities, and Destination Cleveland, the region’s destination marketing and management organization. He re-established the Sports Commission in 2000 and assumed his role with Destination Cleveland in 2011. From April 2015 through December 2017, David also served as the president and CEO of the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee for the Republican National Convention.
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission is responsible for attracting, creating, managing, and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events. Since 2000, the organization has attracted over 200 events including the NFL Draft, MLB All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Weekend and NCAA Women’s Final Four in addition to the upcoming 2024 Pan-American Maters Games. These events have contributed more than $820 million in local economic impact.
At Destination Cleveland, Gilbert is responsible for carrying out the organization’s mission to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality by positioning and promoting Cleveland as an exciting, vibrant destination. Under his leadership, visitation and economic impact increased dramatically for nine consecutive years (2011-2019) before the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. During that time, annual visitation grew at a pace greater than the U.S. visitation growth rate.
Gilbert serves as vice president on the board of the International Children’s Games, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and sits of the boards of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board of the Department of Commerce. He was named by Crain’s Cleveland Business as one of Cleveland’s “30 influencers of the past 30 years,” Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2016, he received the SME Cleveland Business Executive of the Year Award.
Gilbert has a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Cleveland State University.

My background is in political science and integrated communication.
I have more than 15 years experience in communication working within different areas - public and digital diplomacy, stratcom, government affairs, media relations, PR, country branding.
Together with my team in 2019 we have launched a new brand strategy and platform - Lithuania Co-Create.

Kristen Reynolds has been at the helm of Discover Long Island, the official regional organization charged with furthering Long Island’s $6.3 billion tourism economy, for seven years. A transplant from Arizona, her experience as a destination leader spans more than 25 years in roles at the state tourism level, in corporate and luxury resorts and as the statewide lobbyist for tourism and economic development advocacy.
Kristen and her team at Discover Long Island work to promote a positive perception of Long Island across the globe, which draws lucrative visitors, stirs business attraction, and drives economic development throughout the region – all for the overarching purpose of improving the quality of life for Long Island residents. During her tenure at Discover Long Island, collaborations with local, regional and state business and industry leaders have led to many national and global awards and enhanced economic vitality.
Kristen serves on the Board of Directors for Destinations International, as the incoming President of the New York State Destination Marketing Organizations (NYSDMO), as a board member of NYSHTA (New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association) and has been named to the Top 50 Women in Business on Long Island’s Hall of Fame, Top 100 Power List of Long Island and City & State’s Top 100 Long Island influencers. She is a graduate from the acclaimed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and is a Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME). Her favorite pastime is discovering Long Island with her blended family and reigniting the passion of Long Islanders for the place they call home.

Clare has been a member of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation team since 2010 – an organization tasked with the revitalization of Calgary’s Rivers District. Together with her team, they have successfully led the rebranding of Calgary's East Village, a 49 acre brownfield site that has attracted more than $3 Billion in private investment, transforming the area into one of the City's most vibrant neighbourhoods.
As VP of Marketing and Communications, Clare leads the corporate communications and public engagement strategies. In addition to the ongoing effort in transforming East Village, she oversees strategic communications in the delivery of the broader Rivers District Master Plan, a 20-year master plan for Calgary’s emerging Culture and Entertainment District, including project communications for the BMO Convention Centre Expansion, 17th Avenue Extension, and new Event Centre.

Amanda Lumley is Chief Executive of Destination Plymouth. She has a wealth of experience in tourism from leading UK national attractions such as Chester Zoo and Leeds Castle, to regional tourism partnerships Visit Essex, Visit Kent and most recently Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City where she was involved in the Mayflower 400 programme for over 9 years.
As well as being the voice of the city’s visitor economy, she leads on the city’s Visitor Plan, strategic issues including branding, marketing and digital strategy, events, major development projects, public space and place making.
Amanda is Immediate Past President, a Director and a Fellow of the Tourism Management Institute, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Co-Chair of the Great South West Tourism Partnership.

Liina Maria is the Member of the Board in Enterprise Estonia responsible for all the international services the government agency offers: tourism, attracting talent and foreign investments, export but also promoting Estonian digital nation and our first in the world e-residency programme. As all of the services are very much dependent on strong nation brand then as a keen brand enthusiast and proud Estonian Liina Maria is actively also involved in Estonian brand developments. Previously Liina Maria has been the Director of Estonian Tourist Board, promoter of digital society of Estonia, CEO of a film studio project and has long-term experience in banking.

Claire is Head of Marketing for Brand Scotland at the Scottish Government. Brand Scotland is a strategic marketing and communications partnership that brings together the communications efforts of the Scottish Government and key partners in building Scotland’s global brand and reputation. Brand Scotland is very proud to have won Best Communications Strategy – Place Brand at the most recent City Nation Place Awards in 2022.
Prior to this, Claire spent 7 years leading award-winning behaviour change campaigns for the Scottish Government across climate change, health, road safety and justice, and also has extensive agency experience having spent 5 years as Account Director at one of Scotland’s leading advertising and creative agencies.
Claire is also vice Chair of the Marketing Society Scotland Advisory Board.

Øyvind Såtvedt is the managing director of Oslo Region Alliance, which consists of the City of Oslo and 64 neighbouring municipalities. The Oslo Region Alliance organizes campaigns to attract international investors and talent to the Oslo Region, and was together with Oslo Business Region awarded the City Nation Place “Place Brand of the Year” award in 2015. Øyvind is a political scientist, has worked as consultant and researcher, and was chief of staff for Oslo’s Governing Mayor from 2000 to 2007. He lives in Oslo with his wife and two children.