City Destinations Alliance
The alliance of Tourist Boards, Convention Bureaux and Destination Management Organisations in Europe
We are the European knowledge sharing alliance for cities and urban regions. While working on the DNA of our cities, we are committed to a sustainable, inclusive and responsible visitor economy that benefits people, planet and prosperity.
We are much more than a network. We want to publicly advocate for our common goals while still learning from each other.
Our vision is for all cities in Europe to flourish as great places to live, work, meet and explore. As a community of DMO professionals, our promise to each other is to always be curious and forward-thinking, share our inspiration and never stop learning.
Highlights
The reference for Leisure, Meetings Industry and City Marketing in Europe.
Moving Together
CityDNA Autumn Conference, Verona, October 19-21, 2026
Join us to explore how mobility, accessibility, data, AI and business events are reshaping city destinations. Discover how cities can respond to changing visitor flows and move forward together with greater alignment and collective purpose.
CityDNA Committees
Help Shape the Future of CityDNA:
CityDNA is launching six new standing committees, giving members a direct role in shaping the Alliance’s priorities. Bring your expertise, connect with peers across Europe and help turn shared knowledge into action over two years.
The CityDNA Tórshavn Declaration
From Shared Priorities to Action
The CityDNA Tórshavn Declaration is a collective strategic framework developed with and for members. It captures the key priorities shaping the future of Europe’s city destinations and translates them into concrete areas of action.
The Score is Not the Story
VivaCITY Whitepaper from CityDNA & Simpleview
What’s Beyond the Sustainability Score? In a time when certifications and indexes dominate the sustainability narrative, this whitepaper invites destination leaders to look deeper—beyond metrics and toward meaningful, transformative strategies.
Climate Change and the Future of Tourism
Trend Room Whitepaper
The Whitepaper written in collaboration with ETFI is based on findings from a scenario workshop that explored how the impacts of climate change will transform the travel landscape of urban tourism destinations in the long term of 5 to 10 years by means of future scenarios (2035 is taken as time horizon).
City Travel Report by CityDNA 2024-2025
A New Era of Recalibration for European City Tourism
The City Travel Report by CityDNA provides a vital perspective on the volume of urban tourism in Europe, enabling individual city destinations to chart trends and to benchmark themselves in terms of volume and other parameters, especially key source markets. It presents compelling evidence of the economic significance of contemporary urban tourism. Put simply, cities are the dominant geographical focus of European tourism, especially the lucrative (and therefore much sought after!) short break and congress and/or conventions segments.
Featured Events
#CityDNA events provide members with information, contacts and business leads they cannot afford to miss out on.
Members know best…
The CityDNA Knowledge Groups play a strategic role in helping us develop new ideas, products, insights and solutions in the areas of City Cards, Marketing & Communication, Meetings Industry, Research & Insights, Sustainability, Tourist Information Centres or Trends. They are incubators of new ideas and an important source of insights and expertise.
When it comes to looking at the future, the constantly evolving CityDNA Summer School is a unique opportunity for young professionals just entering the Meetings Industry to spend three days with some of the biggest names in our business, to understand the nature of the Meetings Industry, and acquire practical marketing skills. An unforgettable career-defining experience!
By providing data, we can benchmark the performances of our destinations with bednights and in meetings statistics, as well as the financing and spending structures of our organisations. For the 50% of our members who do not have their own research departments, City Destinations Alliance can provide a unique & essential source of information.
City Destinations Alliance knows that we, as members, have specific interests and provides us with the opportunity to have our own platforms, events and forums. CityDNA also helps us members to align our own strategic agenda with whatever demands, challenges and opportunities tomorrow will bring.
Every year, we have more and more City Cards specialists participating in the City Cards Expert Meeting and strengthening the network. Through best practices and knowledge exchange, these meetings allow CityDNA member destinations to fine-tune their City Cards product, the associated communication and sales strategy, with the goal of managing the destination in a sustainable way.
City Destinations Alliance is a member organisation. It is with us members and by the members. Through its strategy, CityDNA explores a more sustainable tomorrow together with a great purpose and appetite for experimenting in the visitor economy that contributes to a better life in the city. This knowledge is essential in my daily job!
Knowledge exchange and best practices’ sessions are core activities in City Destinations Alliance: from meetings statistics to legacy or ambassador programmes, we are always kept up to date by the best examples in Europe and from around the world.
City Destinations Alliance is the only organisation to gather all CEOs of European destinations to discuss the latest market trends and new developments in policy, strategy and operations. But more important: it gives me a network of persons with whom I share challenges and endeavours, be it sustainability challenges, citizens support or how to measure the broader pros and cons of tourism. In short: This meeting is on the very top of my list.
CityDNA Live
![[PRESS RELEASE 📣] /// 40th CityDNA Summer School in Dijon Celebrates Four Decades of Talent Development ///
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[PRESS RELEASE 📣] /// 40th CityDNA Summer School in Dijon Celebrates Four Decades of Talent Development ///
City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA) has concluded the 40th edition of its renowned CityDNA Summer School in Dijon, welcoming 49 students from 16 countries across Europe. Since Read more1987, more than 2,200 business events professionals have taken part in the programme, building knowledge, confidence and connections at the start of their careers...
Read the press release: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/40th-citydna-summer-school-in-dijon-celebrates-four-decades-of-talent-development/
#CityDNA #CityDNASummerSchool #BusinessEvents #PeerLearning #MeetingsIndustry
[CITYDNA TIC HOSTMANSHIP AWARD 🏆] One week left to nominate!
Is someone in a CityDNA member city’s Tourist Information Centre making a real difference to the visitor experience? TIC Managers have until September 30 to nominate one non-managerial colleague whose innovative project Read morecould inspire TICs across Europe.
The winner will receive a fully covered trip to Valencia, including a two-day study stay at the Valencia Tourist Information Centre on November 17-18 and free participation in the CityDNA Visitor Experience Expert Meeting on November 19-20. They will also present their project to fellow professionals, with coaching and support from the CityDNA Visitor Experience Knowledge Group.
👉 Read the guidelines on the CityDNA Intranet and send nominations to Camille François at camille@citydna.eu by September 30, 2026.
#CityDNA #CityDNATICHostmanshipAward #CityDNAVisitorExperience #VisitorExperience
[CITYDNA SUMMER SCHOOL 🎓] 📣 Save the date for the 41st CityDNA Summer School!
In 2027, the CityDNA Summer School heads to Sofia for another edition dedicated to learning, exchange and connection across Europe’s city destination community.
A week to strengthen knowledge, Read moreshare perspectives and build the relationships shaping the future of the visitor economy.
📍 Sofia
🗓️ August 23-27, 2027
More details will follow, for now, mark the dates and get ready for #CityDNASummerSchool 2027! 🎓
#CityDNA #DestinationManagement #BusinessEvent #CityTourism #ProfessionalDevelopment Visit Sofia
[MOVING TOGETHER 👣] Better data. Smarter decisions. New questions for DMOs.
At #CityDNAVerona2026, data and AI come together from two different angles.
📊 The City Travel Report by CityDNA 2025-2026 brings the latest evidence and trends shaping city tourism across Europe, Read morehelping destinations understand what is happening and make more informed decisions.
🤖 The Role of DMOs in an AI-Driven World looks ahead, exploring future scenarios and how destination organisations can prepare for the opportunities and choices AI brings.
And on Day 2, The Intelligence Layer asks the next question: AI is here. Do we move with it, or around it?
From evidence to intelligence, Verona will explore how destinations can understand change, and respond to it with purpose.
📍 Verona
🗓️ October 19-21, 2026
Explore the programme & register: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/citydna-autumn-conference-2026-verona/
#CityDNA #MovingTogether #CityDNAVerona2026 #DataDrivenDestinations #ArtificialIntelligence #DestinationManagement #CityDNAResearchAndInsights #CityDNATrendRoom
Verona Garda Convention Bureau Destination Verona & Garda Foundation
[PRESS RELEASE 📣] /// Europe’s City Tourism Hits a New Gear: CityDNA’s 2025–2026 City Travel Report Covers 141 Cities, Reveals 4.1% Growth, and Highlights a Strategic Shift Toward Value Over Volume ///
European city tourism kept climbing in 2025, but the headline figure only tellsRead more part of the story. The 22nd edition of the City Travel Report by CityDNA, covering a record 141 European cities, records average city-level total-bednight growth of 4.1% – down from 5.8% in 2024, yet still positive in 107 of the 141 destinations...
Read the press release: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/europes-city-tourism-hits-a-new-gear-citydnas-2025-2026-city-travel-report-covers-141-cities-reveals-4-1-growth-and-highlights-a-strategic-shift-toward-value-over-volume/
#CityDNA #research #CityTravelReportbyCityDNA #bednights
Modul University Vienna
[MOVING TOGETHER 👣] Can tourism offer hope in turbulent times?
Jeremy Smith, Co-Founder of Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, closes the conference conversation with Bringing Together: Can Tourism Offer Hope in Turbulent Times?
A chance to look beyond visitor numbers and Read moregrowth, and ask a bigger question: what role can the visitor economy play in creating more resilient places and a more hopeful future?
A fitting final keynote for a conference about how destinations can move forward together.
📍 Verona
🗓️ October 19-21, 2026
Explore the programme & register: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/citydna-autumn-conference-2026-verona/
#CityDNA #MovingTogether #CityDNAVerona2026 #VisitorEconomy #DestinationStewardship #SustainableTourism
Verona Garda Convention Bureau Destination Verona & Garda
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[CITYDNA TIC HOSTMANSHIP AWARD 🏆] Nominate your TIC talent!
Who in your team is bringing fresh ideas to the visitor experience? 🌟
The CityDNA TIC Hostmanship Award is back for its 11th edition, with a refreshed focus on recognising outstanding innovation and excellence amongRead more staff working in Tourist Information Centres across the CityDNA network.
We are looking for a TIC staff member who has developed or implemented an innovative project or initiative that has made a real difference to the visitor experience – and could inspire other TICs across Europe.
The winner will receive:
✈️ A fully covered trip to Valencia
🤝 A 2-day study stay at the Valencia Tourist Information Centre on November 17-18
🎟️ Free participation in the CityDNA Visitor Experience Expert Meeting on November 19-20
🎤 The opportunity to present their winning project to fellow visitor experience professionals, with coaching and support from the CityDNA Visitor Experience Knowledge Group
📅 Nomination deadline: September 30, 2026
TIC Managers from CityDNA member cities can nominate one non-managerial staff member from their organisation.
👉 Read the guidelines on the CityDNA Intranet and send your nomination to Camille at camille@citydna.eu
Let’s shine a spotlight on the people and ideas shaping the future of visitor experience! ✨
#CityDNA #CityDNATICHostmanshipAward #CityDNAVisitorExperience #VisitorExperience #TouristInformationCentre #TourismInnovation #TourismExcellence
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[CITYDNA 🟠] Yesterday in Berlin, CityDNA’s Inge Bauwens joined the GetYourGuide UNLOCKED SUMMIT panel on sustainable destination growth, alongside Alessandra Priante and Hazel McGuire, moderated by GetYourGuide’s Co-Founder & COO, Tao Tao.
The discussion focused on how DMOs, Read moreoperators and platforms can better align around data, distribution and local collaboration to create long-term value for destinations and communities.
For CityDNA, stronger public-private collaboration is essential to balancing visitor economy growth with liveability, and turning shared insight into practical action.
Thank you to GetYourGuide and the fellow panellists for the exchange!
#CityDNA #VisitorEconomy #DestinationManagement #SustainableTourism #PublicPrivatePartnerships #CityGovernance