If you’re looking for the City of Tomorrow, then you need look no further than Helsinki. Laura Aalto, CEO at Helsinki Marketing, shared with us how they built a brand on a foundation of innovation and openness, and what’s next for the trail blazing city.

Azerbaijan took the world by storm with their 2018 “Take Another Look” campaign which encouraged travellers to see the nation’s wonderful diversity. We reached out to Fidan Aliyeva, Azerbaijan Tourism Board, to understand the key to their successful design identity and how an organisation that is still forging its path adapted to the new challenges of COVID-19.

In late 2017, Cape Town announced that the city was facing ‘Day Zero’ – or the day when Cape Town would become the first major world city to have to turn off the taps. We reached out to Tim Harris, CEO at Wesgro, the trade and tourism promotion body for the Western Cape, to discover how the region is responding to the pandemic and to understand how their experience of the drought has influenced their response to COVID-19.

How can destinations begin their recovery? With the summer season looming for many destinations, and business-almost-as-usual resuming, we reached out to our panel of place branding experts to understand what the next steps should be for places looking to restart their economies.

The marketing benefits of digital and social media channels are a fact at this point. You’re not the only one telling your story though. Anyone with their own Twitter, LinkedIn or TripAdvisor account is sharing your story too – and it might not be a story you're proud of. So how do you manage your digital place reputation?

Tourism destinations are anxious for the return of international travellers during the second half of 2020. As we begin planning for the future, we’re happy to share new research looking at post-COVID attitudes of Chinese travellers.

Just as tourism teams are looking to “reset” with a more sustainable approach, place leaders and economic development teams are reconsidering approaches to placemaking. There is a need to reinvent our public spaces to rebuild the attractiveness of places – and to reconnect communities that have been living in isolation for upwards of three months.

Over the years, we've been privileged to see some of the best and brightest of place marketing and place branding and place marketing campaigns from around the world, and as we gear up for the 2020 City Nation Place Awards, we wanted to share some of our personal favourites...