Maria Lypiatska, Head of BRAND UKRAINE and Strategic Communications Advisor for the MFA, outlines how they’re telling Ukraine’s story to the world during a war and shares lessons from crisis communications that hopefully you’ll never need to use.

Talent attraction is the global challenge right now. Katie Ralston Howe, the Director of the Workforce Division at North Dakota Department of Commerce, joined us to explore how they’re engaging their community in a strategy to attract new residents to the state.

Rural destinations are facing a potential renaissance. Idanha-a-Nova's Mayor Armindo Jacinto sat down with us to explain how a clear place brand strategy overturned decades of population decline and positioned the region as a place of opportunity and prosperity.

We've collated insights from our speakers across four of the key themes weaving throughout the conferences: how organisations are re-thinking after the crises of the past few years; collaboration between key stakeholders; quality of life for your residents; and developing a sustainable strategy that will continue to deliver returns.

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.

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.

Barcelona has a long history of successfully leveraging events to develop sectoral strengths. As the newly confirmed hosts of the America’s Cup, we talked to Pau Solanilla, Commissioner for City Promotion for Barcelona City Council, to discover how the event forms part of their blue economy proposition and what they’ve learned in the process.

Vancouver Island recently announced that they are transforming their tourism marketing organisation into a social enterprise. We caught up with Anthony Everett, CEO at 4VI, to discover what prompted the change and how they’re navigating the challenges along the way.

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.

Your diaspora can be a hugely positive force in how you build your reputation and amplify your values. We spoke with Diane Edwards, President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation [JAMPRO] and one of our 2022 City Nation Place Awards judges, to understand how they engage the Jamaican diaspora in the economic development of their home nation. 

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’re delighted to have Liina Maria Lepik, Director of the Estonian Tourist Board, as one of our judges for the City Nation Place Awards. Ahead of the judging, we caught up with her to understand how Estonia’s place brand connects different stakeholders under a single brand vision, and how they’re talking about their sustainable values.

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.

Before he joins us in Pittsburgh for City Nation Place Americas on May 11-12^th, Adam Burke, CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, shares how they’re collaborating with stakeholders across the city to deliver a greater quality of life for their residents.