In The Spotlight

Vilnius caught the attention of the world with their innovative strategies to support their citizens and businesses throughout the pandemic. We reached out to the Director of Go Vilnius, Inga Romanovskiene, to understand more about their place branding strategy - and to discover the secret to using humour successfully in your marketing.

Data is at the heart of an agile brand strategy. Khaled Tash, Deputy of Marketing & Communications for INVEST SAUDI, shared with us how the Kingdom is building an investment brand and using comprehensive data reporting to demonstrate the tangible results and to refine their approach.

Nine months on from the start of a global lockdown, the path for recovery is still very much unclear. But many places are making strong headway into their recovery strategies. Laurence Garino, Head of Monaco’s Welcome Office, shared how the Principality is adapting to support their residents and businesses during the crisis.

What does digital transformation actually look like in the destination marketing and investment promotion space? Emma Håkansson, Head of Destination Development for the City of Helsingborg, Sweden, explained how they transitioned from tourist information centres to a digital-first approach.

COVID-19 has accelerated the need for robust digital transformation, and investment promotion agencies around the world have been re-evaluating their strategies to ensure they’re still able to reach their investors – even if they’re still halfway around the world. We reached out to Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli, CEO at Invest Kuala Lumpur, to understand how the digital strategies they’d implemented have continued to adapt and evolve to meet the needs of this new pandemic world.

Between Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, how are international perceptions of Great Britain faring? We spoke with Dan Ramsay, the new director of the GREAT Britain campaign, to discover what the future is for the GREAT brand platform and what the key is to the campaign’s longevity.

Is collaboration the key to recovery, and in the even longer-term, to being a good global citizen? We spoke to Ivan Eskildsen, Minister of Tourism for Panama, to understand how their new strategy connects tourism with conservation and how Panama is planning to work with their neighbours to create a cohesive cultural heritage strategy.

We’re facing one of the greatest global health challenges of the last one hundred years – but how can we promote social and mental wellbeing during a year of uncertainty? We spoke to Dana Young, CEO and President at Visit Florida, to understand how lessons learned from their continued fight for survival allowed the organisation not only to thrive during the pandemic, but to support the wellbeing of their employees throughout the stress of the last six months.

Pittsburgh is revolutionising their talent attraction strategy – and having the hard conversations about racism and inequality. Alison Treaster, Senior Director of Talent, at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, shared how the Pittsburgh Passport initiative is connecting to talented individuals around the world and helping the region move towards a more equitable future.

In many ways, cities are living, breathing entities – and they’re evolving just as we are. We reached out to Jonathan Woetzel, Director of the McKinsey Global Institute, to understand how the crises of the 21^st century are shaping the development of our cities.

One of many unexpected aspects of 2020 has been the urgency of creating a solid foundation of domestic tourism. We reached out to Olga Gončarova, Head of the Domestic & Inbound Tourism Department at Lithuania Travel, to understand how they’ve pivoted their strategy to suit the pandemic-era.

Around the world, destinations have shifted to hyper-local focus as they plan for recovery. We spoke to Lisa LaVecchia, CEO at Destination Ontario, to understand how she anticipates the tourism industry evolving and what they're doing to prepare.

While most of the world looks to domestic tourism to shore up their tourism economy, this simply isn’t a viable solution for many destinations that rely heavily on international travel. Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing Director at the Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation, explained how the islands prepared for their July opening and how they are anticipating their strategies evolving in  the wake of COVID-19.

Kaunas, Lithuania, has been named one of the European Cities of Culture for 2022. Tadas Stankevicius, Director at Kaunas IN, shared with us how they’re leveraging culture to nurture civic pride and to drive their recovery after COVID-19.

Closing the narrative gap between your identity and your perceived identity is a challenge for many places. Nick Hill, Chief Executive, Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development, shared with us how they're working to change perceptions with a new brand playbook - and how they're putting sustainable destination management at the core of their strategy.