CityDNA CEO Meeting 2026 – Leading Europe’s Visitor Economy: Reputation, Community Trust & Global Competitiveness

49 European city destination leaders gathered in Barcelona on February 9-10, for the 19th City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA) CEO Meeting at a defining moment for the visitor economy. Hosting the meeting in Barcelona was symbolic. Few cities have more visibly navigated the political, social and structural pressures surrounding urban tourism. Against this backdrop, European destination CEOs addressed a central reality: the role of the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) has fundamentally evolved. What began as marketing has become stewardship. What was once promotional has become structural.

From Promotion to Stewardship

Over the past decade, European DMOs have transitioned from outward-facing promotion to inward-facing coordination and governance. This evolution is no longer conceptual — it is operational.

The DMO is increasingly positioned as a neutral convenor within the city ecosystem:

  • Aligning public and private stakeholders
  • Facilitating two-way communication between institutions and communities
  • Anchoring long-term strategy beyond electoral cycles

Destination leadership today is defined not by campaign visibility, but by its capacity to safeguard the city’s long-term prosperity.

As urban strategist Greg Clark (The DNA of Cities) emphasised during the meeting, Europe’s cities possess a distinct “DNA” rooted in democratic governance, cultural capital and social trust. Preserving that DNA — while managing increasingly complex urban flows — is now the defining task of visitor economy leadership.

The Social Contract at the Centre

Workshop sessions crystallised a shared conclusion: tourism must operate within the city’s social contract.

Several structural tensions define the current landscape:

  • Visitor needs ↔ Resident needs
  • Actual economic value ↔ Perceived public value
  • Service visitors ↔ Service residents
  • Traditional DMO model ↔ Wider city function

These tensions are not contradictions to eliminate; they are realities to manage transparently.

The debate has shifted from “How do we grow tourism?” to “How do we ensure tourism strengthens the city it serves?” Without resident trust, competitiveness weakens. Without legitimacy, reputation cannot endure.

From Declaration to Delivery

The Barcelona discussions were guided by the strategic compass of the CityDNA Tórshavn Declaration, a collective framework developed by CityDNA to reflect on global shifts and redefine visitor economy governance for a new era.

The Declaration translates shared political, economic, social and technological priorities into coordinated action and priority activities for 2026, from value-based measurement and transparent taxation to AI ethics, cross-sector collaboration and community alignment.

Together, Tórshavn and Barcelona signal a clear trajectory: European cities are not retreating from tourism. They are reshaping it, aligning competitiveness with resilience, innovation with responsibility, and growth with trust.

From Insight to Action

Building on the discussions in Barcelona, CityDNA is now consolidating the key insights, tensions and leadership priorities identified during the CEO Meeting to guide its work programme.

These learnings are being integrated into CityDNA’s 2026 activity planning in line with the CityDNA Tórshavn Declaration, ensuring that the Alliance’s priorities, knowledge exchange, research and advocacy directly reflect the realities faced by European city destinations.

Drawing on the collective experience and expertise of its CEO community, CityDNA will focus on translating strategic intent into practical tools, shared frameworks and evidence-based narratives, while amplifying its work at European level.

This approach reinforces CityDNA’s role as a trusted platform for peer learning and as a credible partner for EU institutions, ensuring that the voice of city destinations informs future tourism policy and implementation.

A Stronger European Role for DMOs

As the European Union advances its Tourism Strategy and Transition Pathway, DMOs have a critical role to play — not merely as implementers, but as strategic partners.

City destinations are where EU priorities become tangible:

  • Sustainable mobility and infrastructure are delivered locally.
  • Climate ambition translates into visitor flow management.
  • Digital policy intersects with AI deployment and data governance.
  • Competitiveness is measured through place-based economic resilience.

DMOs sit at the intersection of policy, economy and community. They are uniquely positioned to translate EU objectives into operational frameworks, and to bring grounded city-level intelligence back into European policymaking.

The discussions in Barcelona reinforced that European DMOs must help shape, not simply follow, the EU tourism agenda, ensuring that funding instruments, governance models and measurement frameworks reflect urban realities.

European cities are ready to lead this next chapter with confidence, coordination and collective voice.

Stewardship as the New Leadership Model

Barbara Jamison-Woods, President of City Destinations Alliance, stated: “European cities are not stepping back from tourism, they are stepping up to lead it differently. The future of the visitor economy depends on trust, transparency and integration within the wider urban agenda. DMOs are uniquely placed to bridge European ambition with local delivery. Barcelona demonstrated that destination leadership today is about stewardship: protecting the city’s social contract while ensuring tourism remains a force for long-term resilience and prosperity.”

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About City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA)
We are a knowledge sharing network for cities and urban regions collaborating to maximise the potential of the visitor economy. Our vision is for all cities in Europe to flourish as great places to live, work, meet and explore. As a community of professionals, our promise to each other is to always be curious and forward thinking, share our inspiration and continued learnings.

For more information and pictures, please contact:
Bénédicte Lack, press@citydna.eu, +33 380 56 02 03
citydestinationsalliance.eu