City Destinations Alliance
The alliance of Tourist Boards, Convention Bureaux and City Marketing Organisations in Europe
We are the 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.
GDS-Forum & CityDNA Autumn Conference:
Building Blocks for Destination Positive
Valencia, October 3-7, 2023
Every day, we hear about the doom and gloom of global polycrisis. But is there a case to make for more of the right kind of optimism? Can more efficient progress be made if we believe in the possibility of positive change? And how do build towards inspired and engaging collective action, for better cities and destinations? Join us in Valencia for the City Destinations Alliance conference “Building Blocks for Destination Positive” from October 3-7, 2023 as we share and explore the promise of wegeneration in building for Destination Positive.
City Travel Report by CityDNA 2022-2023
The 19th edition is now available!
We are delighted to announce that the 19th edition of the City Travel Report by CityDNA 2022-2023 has been released!
Gathering insights from 115 participating cities, our report illustrates the main trends in city tourism between 2018 and 2022, enabling individual city destinations to benchmark themselves in terms of volume and other parameters, especially key source markets.
Welcoming Wegeneration
CityDNA Strategy 2023-2026
Welcoming Wegeneration is our long-term purpose and vision. It invites broad collective action. DMOs have the unique opportunity to make a real difference, they can connect people, cities and cultures and contribute to the quality of life in European cities. Now it is the time for inspired collective action and meaningful co-creation. This new strategy sets the tone and direction for City Destinations Alliance until 2026.
We call it Welcoming Wegeneration.
Featured Events
#CityDNA events provide members with information, contacts and business leads they cannot afford to miss out on.
Members know best…
CityDNA Live
[BUILDING BLOCKS FOR DESTINATION POSITIVE 🟧🟢]
#Music #Culture & #Community as #BuildingBlocks of #BetterUrbanFutures 🟡🟣🟩🔷 During the City Destinations Alliance conference in Visit València -Spain, #BuildingBlocks for #DestinationPositive, programmed by GROUP NAO, we will... explore #culture and #community as essential foundations and building blocks of better #urbanlife, #shared cityscapes and #DestinationPositive.
In Budapest, local communities are shaping their own city with the #BudapestTuning initiative. Csaba Faix from @budapestbrandnonprofitzrt shares how this initiative invites community ideas for making the #Budapest an even better place – with ideas ranging from music markets to graffiti jams and roller discos. The initiative not only provides funding for ideas, but also mentoring and support throughout.
And from Visit Oslo Anne-Signe Fagereng, we will learn about the art of harmonizing the diverse desires and requirements of creating both liveable and visitable urban communities, when public investments in culture and architecture (unexpectedly?) become significant tourist draws and attractions.
Finally, with findings from his book ‘This Must Be the Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better’, Shain Shapiro from Center for Music Ecosystems will join us to share why #music is an essential #BuildingBlock in #citybranding. www.shainshapiro.com/book.
These are just one of many destination building blocks that we will dive into throughout our #positively loaded programme at the City Destinations Alliance Autumn Conference: "Building Blocks for Destination Positive”.
For the first time, the #CityDNA conference and #GDSForum with Global Destination Sustainability Movement are back-to-back for a full week of events in Valencia from Oct 3-7.
[EUROPE'S TRAVEL LEADERS 🧳] The first episode of the Destination Think Europe's Travel Leaders series is a brief conversation with Elke Dens, Director of Global Programmes at The Travel Foundation, a sustainable travel NGO and Co-Founder of Place Generation.
She shared her ...perspective on long-term, responsible destination development from her role at Visit Flanders in Belgium. “I define success in terms of a journey instead of as a destination,” she said.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why Visit Flanders modified how they measure success.
- About the importance of collaboration with residents and communities.
- How the interconnectedness of tourism can be used to your advantage when trying to make bold changes.
Listen to the podcast: https://buff.ly/3LG4hX6
#CityDNA
[BUILDING BLOCKS FOR DESTINATION POSITIVE 🟧🟢]
Shifting towards #PositiveImpact and a new #PurposefulBusinessModel for #associations & #destinations 🟣🔶🟦 But where do you start? At City Destinations Alliance conference #BuildingBlocks for #DestinationPositive, programmed by ...#GROUPNAO, the new #InternationalAllianceforImpact will help us get started on working with #impact.
In a workshop led by Solange Cleutjens from I amsterdam Convention Bureau and Gemmeke De Jongh from Visit Flanders, we will dive into new #PurposefulBusinessModels, #legacy planning, and taking the very first steps of formulating your #ImpactIntensions. Feeling like an #ImpactRooke? Not to worry, our two speakers will inspire the discussions with plenty of examples of #bestpractice and ongoing #programmes.
These are just one of many destination building blocks that we will dive into throughout our #positively loaded programme at the City Destinations Alliance Autumn Conference: "Building Blocks for Destination Positive”.
Check the programme: https://buff.ly/3RCNXdi
For the first time, the #CityDNA conference and #GDSForum with Global Destination Sustainability Movement are back-to-back for a full week of events in Valencia from Oct 3-7.
[EUROPE'S TRAVEL LEADERS 🧳]
🐘 The elephant in the room: that's what travel leaders from across Europe met to discuss earlier this year at CityDNA International Conference held in Sofia. With the climate emergency being one of several elephants present, and arguably the largest,... there was a lot to talk about.
At that event, Rodney Payne from Destination Think sat down with several bold travel leaders one-on-one to better understand what is being done and what is holding them back.
We've gathered the best of what we've learned from that experience and are proud to introduce a new series of interviews on the Travel Beyond podcast: Europe's Travel Leaders.
The first episode of this new series drops tomorrow.
#CityDNA #WorldTourismDay #TheElephantInTheRoom
[WORLD TOURISM DAY🌍] Happy #WorldTourismDay!
September 27 is the day to celebrate the power of #tourism to promote understanding and bring people together.
Let’s continue unlocking the potential of our sector drive #sustainable development for a fairer world.
Join the livestream on... “Tourism and Green Investments” now: https://buff.ly/3rls5bX
#CityDNA #UNWTO
[PRESS RELEASE 📣] /// DRIVING POSITIVE IMPACT: City Destinations Alliance Autumn Conference 2023 will stack the Building Blocks of Destination Positive ///
From October 3-7, 2023, the GDS-Forum and City Destinations Alliance Autumn Conference will unite forward-thinkers and visionaries in ...pursuit of sustainable urban tourism and experiencing with positive impact for urban destinations.
Read the press release: https://buff.ly/461SlHb
#CityDNA #DestinationPositive Visit València -Spain
[BUILDING BLOCKS FOR DESTINATION POSITIVE 🟧🟢]
#HumanCentric AI for #BetterCities? 🟢🟧🔷 Can AI be used to tap into the essence of a city, namely the people? Is there such thing as a community algorithm? During the City Destinations Alliance conference in Visit València -Spain ...#BuildingBlocks for #DestinationPositive, programmed by GROUP NAO, we will be exploring #humancentric AI–based solutions for better urban futures. Co-Founder of Urbanistai, Damiano Cerrone is reshaping the way we use AI to co-design and co-create better #UrbanFutures, enabling comprehensive, participatory urban planning integrating multiple different AI technologies.
This is just one of many destination building blocks that we will dive into throughout our #positively loaded programme at the City Destinations Alliance Autumn Conference: "Building Blocks for Destination Positive”.
Be sure to register for your spot here: https://buff.ly/44ecWHl
For the first time, the #CityDNA conference and #GDSForum with Global Destination Sustainability Movement are back-to-back for a full week of events in Valencia from October 3-7.
[TIC EXPERT MEETING ℹ️] Tickets to attend the 10th TIC Expert Meeting in Bologna Welcome on November 23-24, 2023 are selling fast!
The theme of the event will be "Act responsibly from your TIC: Responsibili-TIC ".
Be quick & secure your seat now: https://buff.ly/44x5w1o ...
#CityDNA #CityDNATouristInformationCentres