Dear friends and colleagues

Dear friends and colleagues “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it”. Had we had as much literary genius as Margaret Fuller, we would have written this line ourselves and made it the motto of the R&S Working Group. But we are more into figures, so we created the ECM Crisis Monitor.

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it”. Had we had as much literary genius as Margaret Fuller, we would have written this line ourselves and made it the motto of the R&S Working Group. But we are more into figures, so we created the ECM Crisis Monitor.

\n

 

\n

The underlying idea is the same though: it is all about gathering knowledge and passing it on. In these dark economic times, every single one of us has bits and pieces of information concerning the current crisis, but no one has the global picture. This is precisely why our organisation has a crucial role to play as an exchange platform. In the name of the R&S Working Group, I would like to thank the 108 experts from 75 member cities who participated in the first wave of the ECM Crisis Monitor and helped us to gain a better understanding of the latest trends for city tourism in Europe. We hope that there will be even more participants in the second wave of the survey, which will start at the end of June.

\n

 

\n

Another topic developed in this newsletter is the shopping barometer, a powerful new benchmark tool developed in collaboration with MODUL University Vienna. Just like the rest of the TourMIS database in which it is included, the value of the shopping barometer grows with the number of cities participating. Do not hesitate to join this project by entering your data NOW.

\n

 

\n

We are also very pleased to announce the signature of a renewed and extended partnership with the European Travel Commission (ETC) – a top player when it comes to market intelligence at a European level. For this occasion, our brand new guest column will be written by Leslie Vella, the chairman of the ETC Market Intelligence Group.

\n

The need to exchange information and share expertise will remain high in the coming months. In this context, the R&S Knowledge Group meeting and the Research Symposium which will both take place next June in Göteborg or the TourMIS workshop in September, are perfect moments to light each others’ candles. I will see you there.

\n

 

\n

Olivier Ponti

\n

Vice-Chairman R&S Expert Group
Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board

\n