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.

The Human Pulse of Place and Purpose

CityDNA International Conference
& General Assembly, April 22-24, 2026

At a time when European destinations are reshaping their visitor economies amid global transformation, the CityDNA International Conference & General Assembly, taking place in Helsinki on April 22-24, 2026, invites members and partners to explore what lies before and beyond the data.

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.

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.

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.
    Yvonne Coulin
    CEO | Nuremberg Convention and Tourist Office
  • 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!
    Romana Vlašić
    Head of Convention Bureau and International Markets Development | Dubrovnik Tourist Board
  • 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.
    Daniëlla Brust-Blumink
    Research & Market Intelligence | amsterdam&partners
  • 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.
    Davy Jansegers
    Head of Sales & Promotion | Lausanne Tourism & Convention Bureau
  • 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.
    Gianluca Camaggio
    Sales Manager | Turisme de Barcelona
  • 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!
    Dieter Hardt-Stremayr
    CEO | Graz Tourismus
  • 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.
    Bettina Reventlow-Mourier
    Deputy Convention Director | Wonderful Copenhagen
  • 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.
    Corinne Menegaux
    CEO | Office du Tourisme et des Congrès de Paris

CityDNA Live

[THE FUTURE OF CITIES 🏙️] Cities sit at the intersection of many of Europe’s most pressing challenges: housing pressure, tourism flows, economic competitiveness and quality of life. Addressing them requires something essential — #collaboration across sectors and levels of governance.
...
Today, City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA) contributed to this conversation at the Future of Cities Forum in #Brussels, a high-level gathering of policymakers, city leaders and industry stakeholders exploring how Europe’s cities can remain liveable, affordable and welcoming for both #residents and #visitors.

In a panel highlighting how can Europe’s cities remain affordable and welcoming for both residents and visitors, our Vice-President Patrick Bontinck brought a crucial perspective to this debate. Our members operate at the frontline of these challenges, navigating the intersection between urban policy, destination governance and resident well-being. Because the future of Europe’s cities will not be shaped by one sector alone — it will be built through collective intelligence, cross-sector collaboration and long-term stewardship of place.

Panel Speakers
• Patrick Bontinck, Vice-President CityDNA and CEO visit.brussels
• Jan-Christoph Oetjen, Member of the European Parliament - Renew, European Parliament
• Matthew Baldwin, Head of the Housing Task Force, Deputy Director-General of DG ENER, European Commission
• Frank Hovorka, Representative of Build Europe
• Maria Regina Maroncelli Florio, Vice President of the European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC) and Coordinator of the European Network of Family-Friendly Municipalities

This event was brought by Airbnb, City Destinations Alliance, Build Europe, European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC), European Network of Family-Friendly Municipalities and powered by Euronews English.

#CityDNA #FutureOfCities #UrbanPolicy #VisitorEconomy #DestinationManagement #EuropeanCities Airbnb Public Policy

[THE HUMAN PULSE OF PLACE AND PURPOSE 💓] Workshop | Building the Crisis-Ready City: Lessons from the European Travel Commission Crisis Preparedness Hub

Crises are no longer exceptional events. For city destinations, they have become part of the operating environment, from political ...shocks and natural disasters to digital misinformation, system outages and sudden shifts in demand.

Yet even well-resourced DMOs often struggle with fragmented communication, unclear responsibilities, outdated protocols and limited organisational readiness.

In this practical workshop, Steve Law, Strategist & Project Manager at TOPOSOPHY, and Teodora Marinska, COO & Head of Public Affairs at the European Travel Commission, will share key lessons from developing the Crisis Preparedness Hub, a multi-layered knowledge and response platform designed to help destinations navigate complex disruptions.

Participants will explore the core building blocks of crisis readiness, including:

• Governance structures and decision chains
• Scenario planning and preparedness frameworks
• Communication templates and media response strategies
• Cross-agency coordination and stakeholder mapping
• Monitoring systems and proactive risk management

Drawing on real European use cases, the session will also address internal blockers that often prevent effective crisis response and present practical approaches to strengthening organisational capacity and workflows.

WHY ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP?
Because resilience in the visitor economy depends not only on reacting to crises, but on building the structures, skills and coordination needed to respond quickly, communicate responsibly and maintain trust when uncertainty arises.

📍 Helsinki
🗓️ April 22-24, 2026

Join European peers to explore how destinations can strengthen preparedness and leadership in an increasingly volatile environment.

🔗 Register here: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/citydna-international-conference-general-assembly-2026-helsinki/

#CityDNA #CityDNAHelsinki2026 #VisitorEconomy #CrisisManagement #DestinationManagement #ResilientDestinations #CityGovernance Visit Helsinki My Helsinki

[PARTNERSHIP 🤝] City Destinations Alliance is pleased to announce a new partnership with GetYourGuide, reinforcing a shared commitment to shaping the future of Europe’s visitor economy through data, collaboration and responsible distribution.

At GetYourGuide’s exclusive pre-ITB ...gathering in Berlin, “From Data to Destination: Shaping the Future of Urban Tourism”, senior European tourism leaders came together for a high-level panel discussion on destination governance, sustainability and economic impact.

Moderated by travel industry executive and Travel Trends Podcast host Dan Christian, the conversation brought together:
• Paula Magarzo, International Promotion Executive, Turismo de Sevilla
• Miguel Sanz, Director General of Turespaña and President of the European Travel Commission
• Barbara Jamison-Woods, President of City Destinations Alliance and Head of Europe and Tourism Sector Convention Bureau at London & Partners

The exchange focused on:
• Leveraging data for smarter destination management
• Strengthening public-private collaboration
• Managing visitor flows while safeguarding resident wellbeing
• Advancing cultural heritage and long-term value creation

The discussion clearly demonstrated that the future of urban tourism depends on trusted partnerships between destinations, national boards, European institutions and industry platforms.

This new partnership with GetYourGuide will support our mission to equip our alliance of 120+ European cities with knowledge, tools and strategic alignment to foster regenerative approaches to the visitor economy.

Today at ITB Berlin, Barbara continues the dialogue with CityDNA members CEOs and through a full agenda of meetings and networking moments, further strengthening collaboration across Europe’s city destinations.

#CityDNA #GetYourGuide #VisitorEconomy #DestinationManagement #DataDrivenDestinations #SustainableTourism #UrbanTourism #Partnership #TravelIndustry #RegenerativeTourism

[THE HUMAN PULSE OF PLACE AND PURPOSE 💓] Case Study Lab | From Fear to Belonging: How Oulu’s Human-Centric Strategy Rewrote the City’s Emotional DNA

As Oulu prepares to step into its role as European Capital of Culture 2026, the city’s transformation goes far beyond programming. ...It is a story of emotional repositioning: of turning perceived remoteness into strength, and hesitation into pride.

In this Case Study Lab, Y.T. Anderson, President & CEO of Visit Oulu, will share how Oulu redefined its identity through a deeply human-centred strategy.

Through the bold and locally resonant campaign “Pelekääkkönää?” (“Are you scared?”), the city confronted an emotional truth: before residents can welcome the world, they must first feel seen, safe and significant. The result was a shift in civic confidence, replacing doubt with belonging, participation and creativity.

At the same time, Visit Oulu led the development of the Visit Northern Finland DMO network, aligning destinations around a shared vision and shared data framework. By combining emotional analytics, human insight and data intelligence, Oulu built a collaborative model that blends empathy with evidence, strengthening both competitiveness and connection.

The impact is measurable: stronger resident sentiment, increased international visibility and renewed confidence among local businesses and citizens.

Participants will explore how emotional metrics, community storytelling and co-created brand identity can transform a destination from the inside out, aligning governance, creativity and long-term strategy.

WHY ATTEND THIS CASE STUDY LAB?
Because the future of the visitor economy depends on destinations that understand and manage not only performance indicators, but also emotional indicators, building resilience, legitimacy and pride alongside growth.

📍 Helsinki
🗓️ April 22-24, 2026

Join European peers to rediscover the heartbeat behind place, purpose and destination leadership.

🔗 Register here: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/citydna-international-conference-general-assembly-2026-helsinki/

#CityDNA #CityDNAHelsinki2026 #VisitorEconomy #PlaceLeadership #DestinationBranding #CityGovernance #HumanCentredLeadership

[THE HUMAN PULSE OF PLACE AND PURPOSE 💓] Workshop | Are You Asking the Right Questions? Data-Driven Destination Strategy 101

Data is everywhere. But are destination teams asking the right questions?

This interactive, hands-on workshop invites participants to step into the role ...of a destination strategist and explore the critical questions that should be addressed to data providers, researchers and advisory partners — from sentiment and spending patterns to seasonality and source market demand.

Led by Hannah Babineau, Head of Partnerships & Business Development at The Data Appeal Company, and Andria Godfrey, Vice President, Data Science at Miles Partnership, the session moves quickly from theory to application.

Participants will work with mock datasets tailored to different destination realities:

Table 1: Overtourism & Visitor Distribution – managing flows, expectations and impact
Table 2: Getting Started – designing the right message, for the right audience, at the right time
Table 3: Seasonality & Climate Distribution – optimising shoulder and off-peak seasons, including “coolcations”

Using these insights, each group will define goals, shape strategy and design a mock digital campaign or destination development plan — translating data into actionable decisions aligned with destination objectives.

WHY ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP?
Because in a complex visitor economy, competitive advantage lies not in having more data, but in knowing how to interrogate it, prioritise it and turn it into strategic action that supports long-term value and balanced growth.

📍 Helsinki
🗓️ April 22-24, 2026

Join European peers to strengthen data literacy, strategic clarity and evidence-based leadership in destination management.

🔗 Register here: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/citydna-international-conference-general-assembly-2026-helsinki/

#CityDNA #CityDNAHelsinki2026 #VisitorEconomy #DataDrivenDestinations #DestinationStrategy #Overtourism #Seasonality #EvidenceBasedPolicy

[CITYDNA SUMMER SCHOOL 🎓] Registrations are now open for the 40th CityDNA Summer School, Europe’s leading training programme for newcomers in the business events industry.

📍 Dijon
🗓️ August 24-28, 2026

Designed for professionals working in CVBs, DMOs, hotels, ...congress centres, DMCs, PCOs, airlines and related organisations, the Summer School offers an intensive and fully immersive learning experience at the heart of the European visitor economy.

An all-inclusive, high-value format
Participants benefit from a seamless learning environment, with everything hosted under one roof at the Mercure Dijon Centre Clémenceau:
• Four nights in a 4-star hotel (the venue of the Summer School)
• All meals throughout the programme (except one free evening)
• Full access to the complete educational programme led by industry experts
• Networking activities with peers from across Europe
This unique format ensures focus, depth and strong professional connections that last well beyond the week in Dijon.

🔗 Register now: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/40th-citydna-summer-school-2026-dijon/

For four decades, the CityDNA Summer School has shaped the next generation of business events professionals in Europe. The 40th edition in Dijon continues this legacy of excellence, peer learning and sector leadership.

#CityDNA #CityDNASummerSchool #Education #BusinessEvents #EventProfs #DestinationManagement #ProfessionalDevelopment Destination Dijon

[THE HUMAN PULSE OF PLACE AND PURPOSE 💓] Rimini – 4 Seasons Collection: Redesigning a Destination Through Human-Centred Insight and Creative Identity

What happens when a city challenges its own stereotypes?

This breakout session explores how Rimini repositioned itself as a ...contemporary, year-round lifestyle destination through the 4 Seasons Collection, a strategy grounded in human insight, strategic benchmarking and bold creative direction.

Rather than reinforcing outdated perceptions, Rimini redefined its destination DNA through narrative and visual identity that resonate emotionally and reflect who the city truly is today.

The case will be presented by Coralie Delaubert, Destination Manager at VisitRimini, and Tomaso Perino, Graphic Design Manager at IEG Expo.

Together, they will demonstrate how:
• Human-centred insight can reshape positioning
• Creative identity can strengthen competitiveness
• Emotional resonance can drive differentiation
• Strategic clarity can support year-round value creation

WHY ATTEND THIS SESSION?
For city destinations navigating maturity, seasonality or perception challenges, this session offers a concrete and actionable example of how place branding, governance and strategy must align to unlock long-term impact in the visitor economy.

📍 Helsinki
🗓️ April 22-24, 2026

Join European peers to explore how purpose, creativity and insight can redefine destination narratives.

🔗 Register here: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/citydna-international-conference-general-assembly-2026-helsinki/

#CityDNA #CityDNAHelsinki2026 #VisitorEconomy #DestinationBranding #PlaceLeadership #SustainableTourism

[CITYDNA CITY CARDS EXPERT MEETING 💳] Registrations are now open for the 15th CityDNA City Cards Expert Meeting, the annual European gathering of city card professionals.

📍 Hamburg
🗓️ May 28-29, 2026

Over one-and-a-half dynamic days, city card managers, product ...leaders and marketing professionals will come together to exchange concrete insights and strengthen the strategic role of city cards within the visitor economy.

This year’s discussions will focus on:
📌 Impactful use cases
📌 2025 highlights: big wins and lessons learned
📌 Changing visitor behaviour
📌 Pricing strategies and sales fluctuations
📌 Results of the City Cards Benchmarking Survey
📌 Strategic positioning and brand development
📌 Innovation opportunities for 2026
📌 Dedicated peer exchange to better understand each other’s destinations

City cards are more than a product. They are a governance tool, a data asset and a lever for visitor flow management and long-term value creation!

The 15th edition in Hamburg will once again provide a trusted environment for benchmarking, strategic reflection and practical takeaways for professionals working on city card schemes within DMOs.

🔗 Registration is now open: https://citydestinationsalliance.eu/event/15th-city-cards-expert-meeting-2026-hamburg/

#CityDNA #CityDNACityCards #VisitorEconomy #DestinationManagement Hamburg Ahoi