It’s time to be bolder, to be more confident about the contribution of place branding work, to ask the difficult questions, and to provide stakeholders with a better understanding of impact. City Nation Place's Director, Clare Dewhirst, explores why place brand and marketing teams should stop relying on marketing performance indicators to demonstrate the value of their work.

Reputation Lab's new research links a country’s reputation to two key factors affecting finances: borrowing costs and global willingness to support it.

Whoever controls the narrative of a place’s pasts also controls the futures that place is capable of imagining for itself. Increasingly, though, the ‘past’ is being defined by LLMs, input from the communities themselves – and this risks replicating global bias and erasing local narratives and voices. N/LF’s Caio Esteves outlines why we shouldn’t be aiming to rank better in AI results but instead challenging the very worldview that defines these structures.

What truly drives destination decisions in 2026? In this expert analysis, Danny Cohanpour shares exclusive insights from Trove’s latest Planner Survey and how destinations can make sure they're top of the list for event planners choosing their next location.

Misinformation is one of the biggest challenges facing place branding teams. CNP's Director, Clare Dewhirst explores why place branding is essential to meeting the challenges of AI head-on - and why knowing your "why here" is the key to discoverability. 

By aligning regenerative business models with shifting behaviours, destinations can spread tourism's benefits more fairly, retain more value locally, and strengthen climate resilience where it matters most. Here's how.

We need to stop thinking of place branding as an initiative or project, but as an institution or essential piece of good place governance. Here's how.

Tourism is no longer driven by desire alone, but by policy, geopolitics, access, and alignment. BRASH’s Tom Miller unpacks the trends shaping the future of travel in 2026 and beyond.

Over the past five years, the world has seen an unprecedented acceleration of geopolitical tension, technological disruption, and societal transformation. Bloom Consulting’s Jose Torres looks ahead to 2030 to identify how place brand teams can effectively shape how nations and cities are perceived in the new world order.

The most successful mega-developments don’t apply the brand at the end. They build with it from the start. BRASH's Guillaume Cocken shares what the new era of city-making means for place branding, and how cities across Saudi Arabia are embodying these new principles.

The competitive advantage of the future will not belong to those who predict what will happen, but to those who adapt most quickly to what no one predicted. N/LF's Caio Esteves explores how place leaders can adopt a new mindset to deal with contemporary challenges. 

The business case for sustainability is accelerating and plain to see. But it requires a shift in thinking. The Travel Foundation's Georgina Davies unpacks compelling reasons to invest in sustainable practices beyond consumer demand - because the real drivers are opportunity and risk.

How can a country actively manage its reputation? Fernando Prado Abuín explores how you can understand and influence the factors that shape international perceptions, and which channels matter the most to your place brand strategy.

In times of turbulence, your diaspora is a vital strategic asset to your place brand strategy. Katherine Fitzpatrick and Dr. Martin Russell outline how you can engage your diaspora to deliver mutually beneficial success.

Universities and colleges are reimagining their role not just as educators, but as civic partners and economic engines. Invest Ottawa’s Lindsey Fair explores how economic development organisations can partner with their post-secondary academic institutions to unlock new sources of innovation, talent, and long-term resilience.