From 1999 Mr Lubi has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs holding various positions. He started at the Press and Information Department and later worked at the Foreign Economic Policy Department. He was an Economic Adviser at the Estonian Embassy in London 2002-2006. After returning from London he worked as a Director of the General Affairs Division in the EU Department. In August 2009 Mr Lubi took up the position of Economic Adviser at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, DC. In 2011 he was seconded to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in Estonia. In 2013 Mr Lubi took up office in New Delhi as the first residing Estonian Ambassador to India. His co-accreditations also included Myanmar and Sri Lanka. After 3 years he was seconded to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications as a Vice Minister for Economic Development. Since 2021 Mr Lubi has been the Ambassador of Estonia to the United Kingdom.

HE Nouf Mohamed Al-Boushelaibi is delivering transformative marketing and communications projects for Abu Dhabi.

As the Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Al-Boushelaibi’s mandate is to share Abu Dhabi with the world, delivering and enabling excellence in integrated communications and unified storytelling for DCT and its stakeholders.

To deliver on this mandate, Al-Boushelaibi continues to transform DCT’s marketing and communications across local and global markets, through innovative and cutting-edge campaigns. She is committed to equipping the next generation of Emirati’s with the skills and expertise they need, creating a diverse, high-performing team.

Under her leadership, she has guided the organisation and destination rebrand, unifying culture and tourism marketing and communications in the emirate, and successfully launched Experience Abu Dhabi brand, positioning the emirate globally as a unique and enriching cultural and entertainment destination.

Before joining DCT Abu Dhabi, Al-Boushelaibi was a board member of Experience Hub, and Director of the Destination & Marketing Management Department at Miral where she shaped the corporate narrative and culture, drove the global destination strategy and oversaw the overall Visitor Experience strategy for Yas Island. Previously she was Head of Corporate Communications for Abu Dhabi’s Water & Electricity Regulation and Supervision Bureau where she pioneered a consumer centric approach to the organisations strategy and communications. Al Boushelaibi also worked with Mubadala under the Aerospace Division.

She has a master’s degree in Business Information Technology from DePaul University in Chicago and also completed the Global Change Agents and Women in Leadership Executive Course at Harvard Business School. She also has a bachelor’s in Business Administration, with a concentration in Information Systems from Boston University.

Nakyoung Kim is a city branding specialist and the Chief of the Brand Planning Team of Goyang city, Korea.

She believes that city branding is not just about city logos and slogans, but all the works that improve the competitiveness of a city and the value of citizen’s lives, and that the ultimate goal of city branding is to create a sustainable and livable city.

In addition to managing city branding, she has a 4-year career of destination marketing experience at MICE industry department. During this time, she ran the Destination Competitiveness Forum with Goyang CVB and she contributed to the designation of the Goyang International Meeting Complex Zone by the government. After transferring to the city branding department, she is in charge of the World Cities Forum.

In recognition of her contribution to fostering the MICE industry, she received a commendation from the Governor of Gyeonggi-do.

She holds a BA in English Language and Literature in Korea and a Master’s Degree in Events Management from Bournemouth University, UK.

Sirpa Tsimal is an economic development and foreign direct investment specialist. Currently, she is Director for Investment Promotion at Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE), where she leads the Global Marketing team.

At S-GE, Sirpa focuses her work on emerging technologies and ecosystems such as AI, blockchain, health and robotics in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Switzerland. Sirpa is a board member of the Home of Blockchain initiative, on the steering committee of the Swiss Biotech Report, and on the advisory board of CityNationPlace. She is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Sirpa has 18+ years of experience working with and leading international teams in marketing communications, business development, market entry and strategic innovation projects. Prior to S-GE, Sirpa was the founder of The Location Lab, an innovation consultancy, and co-founder and Managing Partner at TSIMANN LLC, a communication agency in New York/Washington DC. Sirpa worked as a consultant for various economic development agencies such as BaselArea and Health Industries South Australia. She also ran and scaled the mentorship program at two health tech accelerators, in New York City (ELabNYC) and in the State of Connecticut (ABCT).

Sirpa graduated from the University of Zurich in 2003 with a master’s degree in communication sciences, international law and social anthropology.

Jean Scheltema is Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer at Wesgro: the Official Tourism, Trade, Investment, Film Promotion Agency for Cape Town and Western Cape.  She has 18 years' experience in strategic direction and marketing - overseeing approaches to enhance competitiveness and improve efficiencies. She champions transformative initiatives by aligning business strategy with innovative thinking.

Jean is an Oxford Said Business School Graduate, a Board Member at Silicon Cape, with significant time spent in the private sector before moving into the public sector.

She has won multiple local and global awards over the past decade for tourism, investment promotion, digital strategy and innovation. Wesgro became the first Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency to market a tourism destination in the Metaverse under Jean’s leadership. She has also driven the development of the Western Cape’s “Made in the Cape” region of origin exports brand, which uses product to tell the story of place and connects international buyers to the CapeTradePortal.com – a virtual matching platform, which has been locally and internationally lauded as an example of trade innovation.

Jean leads the Marketing, Research as well as the Policy and Advocacy units within Wesgro. She is also responsible for the data science capability, implementing a fully data-led approach to the mandates of the organisation. She has experience in managing complex stakeholders and delivering effective strategies that enhance the competitiveness of a destination. She has taken on the roles of IT Steering Committee Chairman, Member of the Global Tech Positioning project with the Western Cape Government and is the creator of Pioneers Magazine, profiling innovative tech companies in the Cape.

She has a passion for work that creates meaningful change.

Master in Marketing with a mention in Information Technology from ESAN University, Master in Marketing Science from ESIC Business & Marketing School (Madrid, Spain). Currently she works in the Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Exports and Tourism - PROMPERÚ, managing the Peru country brand and sector brands with the aim of positioning the country at a national and international level, articulating with public-private actors. She has more than 10 years of experience in communication and advertising campaigns, branding and customer loyalty, achieving institutional objectives.

Caroline Boccarosse is Director, Advertising Sales, Western Europe for BBC Studios, the international commercial arm of the BBC.

Caroline joined the BBC’s London team in 2022 after 3 years working at the BBC in the U.S., where she led partnerships for clients based in the Midwest region. In her current role, Caroline oversees partnerships across multiple categories, including travel and tourism.

Prior to joining the BBC, Caroline worked at some of the world’s leading news media brands including the New York Times and the Washington Post, , developing experience across branded content, digital, programmatic, audio, TV, and print media.

Alex Beard lives content. A content strategist with over 12 years experience in broadcast, marketing and social media, she has led on multi-media campaigns for big brands across the world, for example Hyundai, Blancpain and Brand Scotland. She has a specific love of travel and tourism campaigns, finding the niche wonders of destinations and translating them for global audiences. Alex has a wealth of storytelling experience, from presenting charting podcasts to building successful social campaigns. Alex has extensive experience working across all content mediums, including her own social following @TheAlexBeard.

Sam is a leader specialising in the travel and tourism sector. Sam has spent the last 16 years developing and implementing strategies to drive and grow tourism globally. Within that, Sam has been responsible for identifying key global source markets for destinations, developing overarching strategies and overseeing the tactical delivery to drive incremental visitation. Sam has significant experience in nurturing and developing successful integrated teams across PR, trade, social media, creative, digital media and media planning all geared towards delivering stakeholder value and sustainable growth through innovative, integrated programming. During Sam’s career he has worked with some of the biggest and most diverse DMO’s and tourist boards such as Brand USA, European Travel Commission, Saudi Tourism Authority and South Africa Tourism.

Adam Burke serves as President & CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, the official, non-profit tourism promotion organization for the City of Angels. With its mission to “improve the quality of life for all Angelenos through the economic and community benefits of tourism,” Los Angeles Tourism is proud to represent over 1,100 Member businesses across the local travel & tourism sector, which is one of the region’s largest contributors to employment, business sales, and tax revenues.

With more than 30 years of travel & tourism industry experience, Burke previously served as Senior Vice President, Customer Loyalty for Hilton Worldwide with global management responsibility for the award-winning Honors customer loyalty program. He joined Los Angeles Tourism in 2016 as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer.

Burke is actively engaged in advocating for the nation’s tourism sector and has been appointed by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to serve on the United States Travel & Tourism Advisory Board. He also represents the U.S. as a Vice Chair of the World Tourism Alliance, in addition to serving on the Governance Committee of U.S. Travel Association, and the Board of Trustees for the Destinations International Foundation.

Burke is passionately committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive travel and tourism community, serving as the Board Chair of Tourism Diversity Matters, a national non-profit organization created to provide industry leaders with the tools and resources needed to develop more effective, long-term DEIA strategies.

Locally, Burke serves on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, and the Board of Directors of the CalTravel Foundation, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, and Sister Cities of Los Angeles, as well as the Advisory Board of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission.

Siw is the CEO of Oslo Business Region and board member of Oslo Architecture Triennale. Oslo Business Region builds the startup ecosystem to create more startups and scaleups that solve local and global challenges. OBR attracts investments, talent and provides insight about the ecosystem in Oslo.

Siw is passionate about startups, place branding, city development, leadership, design, patterns and art. Prior to Oslo Business Region she had various roles in the fashion and media industry from Norwegian Fashion Hub to Katachi Magazine. Born in South Korea, raised in Norway, and educated in Oslo, Singapore and London.

David Downs, CMInstD

Genetically Modified Optimist

 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, and the Hi-Tech Trust. 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.

Meaghan Ferrigno is Destination Canada’s CFO & Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO), a role which positions Destination Canada as an Insight Driven Organization, curating industry data to optimize both supply- and demand-side decisions.

She leads Destination Canada’s data strategy to help maximize the competitiveness and resilience of the Canadian tourism sector, making good information and analysis broadly available to tourism partners, businesses, local communities and government.

From her past roles, Meaghan brings an exceptional range of expertise in data-enabled competitive strategies and business agility. She is a certified CPA, CMA who holds an MBA in Management Technology from SFU’s Beedie School of Business as well as PMP and agile designations.

One of her most important and current priorities at Destination Canada is to build and launch the Canadian Tourism Data Collective, in partnership with Statistics Canada, other major data providers, and many industry businesses. This national platform harnesses the power of tourism data, to generate a source of long-term collaborative advantage, drive innovation for Canada's hosting economy, empowering decision-makers across public and private sectors.

Meaghan joined as the Crown corporation’s CDAO in August of 2021.

Luuk works for the municipality of The Hague as City Branding Program Manager. His background is in the field of public administration and urban development. In his current job, Luuk and his colleagues, help to apply The Hague’s brand values in initiatives coming from inside and outside City Hall. They also carry out projects to strengthen the image of The Hague and city pride. They work closely with our destination marketing organization: The Hague & Partners.

How to engage citizens in our marketing campaigns and events is something we do more and more often. The authenticity of the message helps others to see The Hague as the brand it is. After a master’s degree Business Management at the Erasmus University, I joined multinationals like Nestle, Unilever and Mars Inc. Nowadays I am working as Head of Development at the Hague & Partners responsible amongst other things for partners, branding and events.

Jeremie is a global expert in destination strategy and branding, with more than 20 years of experience in various strategy, consulting and entrepreneurial roles.

At Resonance, Jeremie leads the destination strategy practice. He led the team that developed new destination brands and campaigns for Brussels, Houston, Christchurch, Baltimore, Hershey Harrisburg, and Roanoke.

Previously, Jeremie held senior positions at Matte Projects in New York and Interbrand and FutureBrand in Paris, working brand strategy and activations for iconic consumer, lifestyle and tourism brands.

Jeremie has also been appointed by the French Prime Minister as a Foreign Trade Advisor, to volunteer his experience in growing France’s competitiveness.

A global adventurer, Ted believes travel makes us kinder, smarter and overall better human beings. With over 25 years in the hospitality and tourism industry, he's covered a lot of ground and has extensive knowledge and experience in global travel marketing, data, analytics, branding and media. His goal for Zartico is to work with communities to improve the lives of its visitors and residents, as well as, our own employees.

Prior to joining Zartico, Ted led the global product development, marketing and sales of ADARA’s analytics products for destinations, airlines and hotels. Prior to ADARA Ted was the VP of Business Strategy for MMGY Global.

Mr. Sullivan’s goal is to change the KPIs of community measurement in the tourism and economic development industry to help destinations embrace the opportunity to make life better for all who live and visit the region.

He is a popular International speaker and contributor to industry publications and conferences. He educates the destination industry to embrace their inner geek, love of travel experiences and the utilization of data to make better, more impactful decisions. Ted just moved from London to Cape Cod with his wife Emily, their daughter Coley attends DePaul University in Chicago, and they welcomed their second daughter Izola to the world three years ago.

Whether he's 'working' or not you can find him in a quaint pub in Ireland, Orleans, Madrid, Slovenia or anywhere really... making friends with the locals and adding a bit of color to his stories for the benefit of those who are listening

Konrad leads Brand Finance’s place branding and soft power practice. He liaises with clients, directs consulting projects, and is responsible for the creation and promotion of the annual Global Soft Power Index, Nation Brands, and City Index studies.

Konrad has extensive experience in advising clients in the fields of place branding and public diplomacy. Before joining Brand Finance, he worked at the Polish Embassy in London where he developed and delivered successful marketing communications campaigns as well as media relations programmes of official engagements by the president, prime minister, government ministers, and the ambassador.

In his role at Brand Finance, Konrad has advised a variety of place branding organisations, including the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign, Austrade, and Cape Town Tourism.

Before moving on to grow the place branding practice, Konrad was the Communications Director of Brand Finance and Managing Director of Brand Finance’s PR agency – Brand Dialogue for 5 years. He has a proven track record in executing integrated communications strategies, having been responsible for publishing nearly 100 industry and country reports on the world’s most valuable brands on an annual basis.

Konrad has qualified with the Professional PR Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). He studied European Studies MA at King’s College London and the Humboldt University in Berlin, and International Relations with Political Science BA at the University of Birmingham.

Artur joined Brand Finance in 2018 after graduating from the King's College London in Political Economy. Artur is the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Artur is fluent in three languages - English, Russian and Ukrainian. Artur has experience in valuation, strategy, market research analysis for clients including Chevron, Iberia, Etihad, and stc. Artur also has experience in Brand Finance’s sports services offering, in particular, measurement and return on investment projects with global clients like Formula 1. Currently, Artur leads place branding projects at Brand Finance, in particular, the Global Soft Power Index and Brand Finance City Indices.

Master in Marketing with a mention in Information Technology from ESAN University, Master in Marketing Science from ESIC Business & Marketing School (Madrid, Spain). Currently she works in the Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Exports and Tourism - PROMPERÚ, managing the Peru country brand and sector brands with the aim of positioning the country at a national and international level, articulating with public-private actors. She has more than 10 years of experience in communication and advertising campaigns, branding and customer loyalty, achieving institutional objectives.

David Downs, CMInstD

Genetically Modified Optimist

 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, and the Hi-Tech Trust. 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.

Enver was appointed CEO of Cape Town Tourism in 2013. Enver has been involved in various
ground-breaking projects, including pioneering the first ever Responsible Pricing policy for the
tourism industry in Cape Town, conceptualising the first Mobile Visitor Information Vehicle in Africa
and implementing the first-ever integrated management system in a tourism organisation. His current
focus is to work alongside his team and stakeholders, driving innovation and transformation though
campaigns that raise Cape Town's profile as a leading and accessible global destination.

Steve Duncan is Managing Director of C Studios (www.c-studios.com), the marketing communications agency for places. With over two decades of expertise in place marketing, Steve has collaborated with cities, regions, countries, research parks, and real estate developments across virtually every major world region to reach executives and skilled talents.

A vocal advocate for digital place promotion, Steve has authored multiple studies on investment promotion, talent attraction and digital marketing. Those include "What Talent Wants: Capturing What Europe's Workforce Seeks in Jobs & Locations," “Winning Strategies in Investment Promotion Marketing,” and "The State of Digital Advertising in Economic Development." His speaking roles on these core topics have featured at City Nation Place Global, FDI Leaders Network, IEDC Annual & Leadership Conferences, MIPIM and various client stakeholder events.

At C Studios, Steve leads a team specializing in elevating place brands globally, focusing on strategy and implementation for international talent attraction, investment promotion, and trade promotion initiatives. Previously, he spent 19 years with Development Counsellors International (DCI), the New York-based leader in marketing places. His strategic approach and innovative thinking have made him a trusted advisor to organizations like Costa Rica's CINDE, Austrian Business Agency, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, Luxembourg Let's Make It Happen, EDB Singapore, Invest Alberta, and Invest Puerto Rico.

A journalism graduate from Pennsylvania State University, Steve has dedicated his entire career to place marketing, continuously adapting strategies to meet the evolving digital landscape. His experience spans lead generation, public relations and advertising, all aimed at enhancing a destination's findability, credibility and lovability among decision-makers in an increasingly online world.

When not working to put places on the map, Steve is usually trying to put himself somewhere on it. He has cycled some of the world's most famous passes and mountain roads, is a wine enthusiast that has tasted grapes on four continents, and is known to get up before dawn to capture the perfect sunrise photo.

Kash Miah is the VP Marketing at CrowdRiff, where he leads a team focused on positioning CrowdRiff as the go-to visual content source for campaign ideas, social media marketing as well as UGC and custom short form video for destination marketers.

Since 2003 Mr. Torres has been advising Countries in the field of Nation Branding and City Branding, working directly with heads of state, directors of National Tourism Organizations and Investment Promotion Agencies.

His clients include Countries, Regions and Cities such as Australia, Brazil, Cleveland, Costa Rica, Finland, Jamaica, Oman, Poland, Riyadh, South Africa, Stockholm and many others spread across all five continents.

Mr. Torres collaborates directly with the World Economic Forum in the matters of Nation Branding and is a guest speaker in some of the most prestigious universities in USA and Europe, such as NYU, HARVARD, the London School of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics and many others, being interviewed by The Economist, BBC, Guardian and CNN.

He is the co-author of the recently published textbook Nation and Place Branding: An Applied Approach to Building the Image of Countries, Regions, and Cities, author of the Nation Brand Builders and co-author of several academic papers covering Nation and City Branding.

Bloom Consulting lead manager on the first-ever study on the impact of Nation Brands and City Brands on local and global economies.

Find out more on Bloom Consulting website: www.bloom-consulting.com

Jason is a research, communications and reputation strategist with 15 years' global experience providing strategic council to public, private and non-profit clients regarding their reputation strategies, competitive positioning, stakeholder engagement, marketing and communications.  Jason consults with clients on their reputation measurement and evaluation programs, and how they can optimise their marketing and communications programming for the greatest reputational impact.  

Dr Natasha Grand Norman is the Director of Institute for Identity (INSTID), which she co-founded in London in 2012. She is a proponent of the people-focused approach to place branding that upholds place’s way of life rather than infrastructure. Trained in national identity (a Lord Dahrendorf Scholar at LSE), Natasha leads INSTID’s qualitative research and speaks at conferences and in the media from the anthropological angle of the place branding field. She has been both a recipient and a judge at City Nation Place awards, and is a longstanding member of The Place Brand Observer Expert panel. Natasha has run projects across 3 continents with the combined population of 20+ million people.

Mary is an expert in place marketing and branding with a wealth of experience working with destinations and place-associated organisation such as airlines, airports and hospitality across Bahrain, the city and county of Limerick, Oman, Qatar, the UK, Slovenia, Croatia and more. She is experienced at working in complex stakeholder environments and within governments across Tourism, FDI, travel, hospitality, and talent attraction. Mary’s background is integrated and she support places with everything from: brand strategy and identify; full funnel advertising and lead generation campaigns; marketing consultancy and culture change. Mary was proud to be a judge of  the prestigious National Business Awards, City Nation Place Awards and the World Media Awards.

Rebecca is the former Director of The New Zealand Story. Over a transformative seven-year period, Rebecca shaped and enhancing the country's international brand, fostering global recognition, fuelling export success.

The NZ Story nation brand programme yielded remarkable outcomes, with over 60% of exporters actively engaged and a consistent upward trajectory in key perception indices, culminating in record-breaking results during the 2020/21 period

Rebecca is an experienced leader in global brand strategy, reputation management, marketing, and communications propelling significant brands to achieve global and domestic recognition, driving commercial growth. Rebecca has held pivotal roles such as Director of Brand Reputation & Communications at Fonterra Dairy Co-Op, CEO at Apprentice Training NZ, and Chair of Wools of New Zealand along with executive leadership roles in the banking, telecommunications, tech and manufacturing sectors.

Jess Radford is the Acting CEO of Brand Tasmania, leading the organisation’s mission to define, amplify, and leverage Tasmania’s unique identity as a driver of social, economic, and cultural growth.

Brand Tasmania works closely with the community, using research-driven insights and engagement to develop projects that bring the brand to life across government, business, and society while addressing policy challenges and harnessing Tasmania’s distinct competitive advantages.

With a passion for Tasmanian-ness, Jess specialises in uniting diverse stakeholders, co-designing strategies, and shaping narratives that foster sustainable, thriving communities across the state. Her work ensures that Tasmania’s brand is a tool for meaningful action.

With almost a decade’s agency experience before moving into the public sector, where she worked across Scotland’s three national public bodies leading the ground-breaking collaboration Brand Scotland, Cat now heads up the global brand, creative, content and partnership marketing of VisitScotland. She also holds the position of non-executive director for Scotland’s digital academy CodeClan and has sat on advisory boards for Marketing Society of Scotland and City Nation Place. Cat is a highly motivated strategic leader with experience across traditional and digital channels, complex stakeholder management and a track record of delivering award-winning results.

David Downs, CMInstD

Genetically Modified Optimist

 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, and the Hi-Tech Trust. 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.

Ryan Short is the co-founder of CivicBrand, a place branding consultancy specializing in engagement-led projects across the United States. Over the past 17 years, Ryan has guided CivicBrand’s team in crafting strategies that elevate communities through place branding, placemaking, and destination marketing. His work has impacted cities, towns, and regions nationwide, helping them become more vibrant, equitable, and loveable places.

Ryan is also the host of the Eyes On The Street podcast, where he explores the intersection of community, culture, and design with thought leaders and changemakers. He is the author of the upcoming book THE CIVIC BRAND: The Power and Responsibility of Place Branding, set to release in summer 2025.

Passionate about the profound role place plays in shaping our lives, health, and happiness, Ryan advocates for a people-first approach to branding and placemaking. He is committed to ensuring that place branding not only fosters connection and identity but also champions sustainability and equity for the betterment of both people and the planet.

Brisa is a seasoned place brand strategist with an extensive track record of successfully leading place branding, planning, and community engagement projects. Her commitment to the vitality and identity of places is not just a profession but a passion. In her capacity as lead strategist at CivicBrand, Brisa assumes a pivotal role in steering the community engagement and brand strategy process. Her expertise lies in collaborating with communities to craft and share their unique stories, inspiring residents, investors, and visitors alike.

Anu Syrmä is the Director for Brand, Marketing and Communications for Helsinki Partners, a company owned by the city of Helsinki, attracting international visitors, talent and investments to Finland’s capital. Before joining Helsinki, Anu has worked in various leadership roles doing international sales and marketing eg. for brands Reima, Nokia, Coca-Cola, L’Oréal.

Global Communications Manager at Slovenian Tourist Board

With over 15 years of expertise in media, TV production, PR, and acclaimed marketing projects, she thrives on creativity and remains attuned to emerging trends in communication strategies. At the Slovenian Tourist Board, she's deeply engaged in promoting Slovenia as a premier tourist destination, collaborating with international journalists, preparing press trips, and contributing to numerous creative projects, making her role nothing short of a dream job.

Teerasil Tapen has been with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) since 1992. His current position is Deputy Governor for Digitalisation, Research and Development. His experience includes digital marketing, overseas tourism, tourism policy and planning, and human resource management. Teerasil has an M. Phil. Development Study from Massey University, New Zealand, and B.A. Hons. in Political Science from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

Mr Per Grankvist is the Chief Storyteller of Sweden's biggest government-funded innovation program, Viable Cities, with the mission to help 23 cities achieve climate neutrality. The program is recognized as one of the world's most innovative and influential initiatives of its kind and has inspired the EU to set the goal of making 100 cities climate neutral. 

In an age where discussions around climate transition have become polarized, and factual arguments no longer matter as much, Mr. Grankvist is developing a method for explaining what quality of life will look like in a climate neutral city. His work has been featured on BBC, in the Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Süddeutsche Zeitung among others. In 2022 he was invited to present his work at the UN Stockholm+50 conference as well as in the British Parliament.