Leveraged correctly, an international mega-event is more than just a blip in the calendar: it’s a strategic opportunity to shape perceptions of your city or country. Ukraine used the 2024 Summer Olympics as a platform to promote ‘Volia,’ the Ukrainian philosophy of perseverance and triumph over challenges. When Wales made the FIFA World Cup Finals for the first time in 64 years, the Welsh Government rapidly turned around a campaign to introduce Wales to the world. And the Croatian National Tourist Board turned a viral photo from the 2018 World Cup into an extended PR campaign that boosted awareness of the country and generated international headlines in key markets.

However, mega-events also serve as an opportunity to connect with both your residents and your diaspora. Sports events in particular are powerful drivers of community. Whether you’re a fan of the sport or not, most people dust off their national pride to cheer on their team – particularly as they approach the finals. And this affinity for the home team often extends long after someone last physically resided in your place.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicking off today, we reached out to five of our expert partners to get their advice on how places can leverage events to engage their diaspora.

Engage early and plan long-term.

Major global events like the World Cup offer a long runway and lasting legacy. The destinations that benefit most engage early, sustain momentum, and align efforts well beyond the spotlight.

Diaspora communities are not just audiences. They are advocates, investors, mentors, and connectors who can amplify impact across tourism, business attraction, community programs, and legacy development. When intentionally engaged, they help translate global attention into sustained local value.

This is especially critical for secondary destinations, which may not host headline moments but can convert exposure into long-term gains. The goal is not short-term activation. It is early, sustained engagement that positions diaspora as partners in delivering enduring place outcomes.

David Peacock, Senior Advisor, The Future Tourism Group, Granicus Destinations

Your diaspora is more than just a guest list.

Most places treat their diaspora as a guest list. That's the mistake. Your diaspora isn't just the ancestral homeland crowd, it's anyone who's lived, studied, or worked there. They become your loudest influencers.

Recurring world events: Olympics, World Cup, Expos are forcing functions, not photo ops:

• Segment beyond sentiment: founders, fund managers, engineers, tastemakers, alumni.
• Give each cohort one specific ask: investor intro, talent referral, signal story.
• Convene a pre-event coalition before the cameras arrive.
• Measure deals closed and talent returned. Not impressions.

Brand Living turns diaspora into advocates — that's how we activated Michigan, Toledo, Calgary, Aria/Las Vegas, Fulton County and Fiji.

Matthew Kruchko, Head of Global Operations, Gravity Global

Give your diaspora a role, not a message.

Major world events give place teams a rare window of attention, but diaspora activation works only if built before the moment, not during it. Segment first: diaspora are several audiences: investors, visitors, talent, advocates, each tied to a different objective. Equip them with shareable content, hosting toolkits, introductions. Give them a role, not a message. The event is the trigger; infrastructure converts pride into pipeline. Tourism Ireland's "cousin in Limerick" play for Ryder Cup 2027 is the visible and relevant example.

Place teams that treat diaspora as a distribution network, not a sentiment, carry the result long after the event.

Steve Law, Strategy and Project Manager, TOPOSOPHY

Leverage your location data to identify and engage your diaspora.

A major world event happens in a specific venue, but the opportunity is much wider than that. For diaspora communities, it is not just about watching the event, it is about feeling part of something bigger than themselves. Place teams should tap into the emotional aspects, through imagery and real stories that create excitement before, during, and after. This can turn a global moment into a homecoming. When someone feels proud of where they are from and sees their home country celebrated on a world stage, that is a powerful motivator. Building out your location data and attribution capabilities helps you find those communities, reach them, and then measure whether the activation actually worked.

Evan Saunders, SVP of Travel, Azira

If you tell an authentic story, your diaspora will already reflect your narrative.

The diaspora doesn't need to be activated, it is already the supra-territorial network of a place wherever it goes, carrying its culture, memory and sense of belonging. But diaspora can also mean uprootedness, and those who have been uprooted rarely owe anything to the place left behind.

Major events are windows of attention, and places that depend on them to activate their diaspora are confusing visibility with belonging.

What a place can do is cultivate its identity with honesty in its everyday life, not only when the world's cameras are on, and when that happens, the diaspora carries that narrative without needing to be summoned.

Caio Esteves, Managing Partner, N/LF