How can you tell the best story about your place in the best way? We caught up with Alessio Nesi, Creative Director of BBC StoryWorks, and Samantha Adams, VP of Advertising Sales, to talk about what it takes to market a destination in 2022, ahead of their talk at City Nation Place Global on 10^th November.

Since its launch, the GREAT Campaign has created a wealth of world-class place marketing campaigns - but what's the secret to their success? Before Andy Pike, Director of the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland Campaign, joins us at City Nation Place UK, we caught up with him to understand more about the strategy and vision behind the campaign.

The South Australian Tourism Commission [SATC] wanted to raise questions in the minds of their target groups and to reveal the various hidden gems throughout South Australia - to South Australians and all Australians alike – in order to challenge their perceptions about the State. 

Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia is, coincidentally, shaped like a banana. It’s also a hub for creative and digital industries, and Tourismus NRW e.V. have just launched a new strategy to reposition the region internationally. We caught up with Heike Döll-König, CEO of Tourismus NRW e.V. to discover what the impetus was for the strategy and how they’re moving forwards as a region.

The de Bois report set out 12 recommendations to improve the DMO landscape in England – and the UK government has recently published their response, accepting the majority of Nick de Bois’ recommendations. Ahead of City Nation Place UK, we reached out to Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland, to understand what the broader impact will be across England following these decisions.

As the world went into collective pandemic lockdown, the last thing people stuck inside with their pent-up frustrations needed was a tourism campaign from somewhere they couldn’t go. But with Iceland’s tourism industry and much of the economy on the line, the team at Visit Iceland couldn’t afford to let that stop them. 

We talk a lot about internal collaboration between destination marketing organisations and economic development organisations in order to tell a more holistic story about your place. But how can you go above and beyond that? Here are some of our favourite outside-the-box approaches to collaboration to inspire your next partnership!

How is the world of travel and tourism changing? Before she joins us as one of the City Nation Place Awards judges, Gloria Loree, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer for Destination Canada, outlines how a loyalty programme created the space to re-engage prospective travellers in the country, how Destination Canada are collaborating with their Indigenous Tourism partners, and a few of her personal predictions for the future.

Julie Coker, President & CEO of San Diego Tourism Authority, outlines how they're helping event organizers navigate the new normal post-COVID and what you can do to connect your visitors to the lifeblood of your city.

We know how busy the life of a place brand and marketing leader is. Which is why we reached out to our partners for the 2022 Americas conference to get their top line coverage of the discussion – ensuring you’re up to date on all the latest topics in an easily digestible format.

So with no further ado, here we go…

From a viral karaoke song to a tongue-in-cheek take on the Metaverse, Iceland’s campaigns regularly catch the attention of the world. But what happens behind the scenes to create this success? Sveinn Birkir Björnsson, Director of Global Marketing Communications at Business Iceland, shares his expertise – and gives an insight into what he’d be looking for as a member of our 2022 City Nation Place Awards jury.