Fully Booked Inaugural CityDNA CVB Expert Meeting in Graz Signals Growing Demand for Peer-Led CVB Capability Building

On January 20-21, 2026, City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA) has successfully delivered the 1st CityDNA CVB Expert Meeting in Graz, a new peer-learning format created specifically for Convention Bureau (CVB) professionals. The inaugural edition was fully booked, welcoming 61 participants from 47 destinations across 20 European countries.

Developed by City Destinations Alliance and shaped by the CityDNA CVB Knowledge Group, the CVB Expert Meeting was designed to fill a clear market gap: across Europe, CVBs are navigating rapid shifts in client expectations, intensifying competition and growing complexity, yet have limited opportunities tailored specifically to their operational realities and strategic role. The Graz edition delivered a compact 1.5-day programme combining focused case studies, structured peer exchange and informal networking “around the table”.

“Convention Bureaux sit at the intersection of economic impact, reputation and community trust. This new meeting was created to strengthen CVB capability through peer-led learning, so we can move faster from shared challenges to shared solutions, and better demonstrate the value of business events to our cities.” stated Barbara Jamison-Woods, President of City Destinations Alliance.

Strategic takeaways from Graz: what CVBs need to lead with confidence

Across sessions and interactive roundtables, several clear themes emerged, pointing to where CVBs are converging and where further collective work is needed:

  1. From “activity” to “impact”: proving value with evidence and narrative

Participants repeatedly returned to the need to demonstrate the full value of meetings beyond headline economics, including legacy, social impact, sector development and reputation outcomes. Data and storytelling were framed not as communications add-ons, but as core strategic tools for influencing policy, aligning stakeholders and securing investment.

  1. Data maturity is becoming a competitive advantage

Sessions on real-time data and benchmarking highlighted a shared direction of travel: moving from manual, fragmented reporting toward actionable analytics that support forecasting, pricing intelligence, resource planning, and stronger conversations with hotels, venues and public partners. The “Making Sense of Meetings Data” discussions also reinforced the need for greater consistency and comparability in what CVBs track and how they use it.

  1. Partnerships are evolving from sponsorship to strategic collaboration

Case studies demonstrated a shift towards mission-driven partner models, stronger relationship management and more intentional public-private cooperation. The message was consistent: partnership frameworks must align with destination values, support resilience, and deliver co-created value, not just transactional support.

  1. Legacy and sustainability are now delivery challenges, not positioning statements

Discussions showed that sustainability expectations are rising while operational constraints remain: cost, bureaucracy and infrastructure gaps among them. The opportunity lies in practical levers: clear requirements, credible incentives, aligned partners and measurable tools that help clients deliver real impact.

  1. Knowledge-based competitiveness: academia and intellectual capital as a growth engine

Case studies reinforced that academic collaboration and mapping local expertise can sharpen bidding strategy, improve alignment with economic development priorities, and help smaller destinations compete internationally by focusing on what they uniquely “know and do”.

  1. Peer learning works when it is structured and captured

The programme’s roundtables, Interactive Walls and Lead Market formats reflected a strong appetite for practical, reusable tools: templates, benchmarks, criteria frameworks, and short “how we did it” examples that can be adapted quickly across destinations.

City Destinations Alliance will use the outcomes from Graz to inform the next steps of the CVB Knowledge Group, including the development of shared resources (benchmarks, frameworks and practical tools) and continued peer-learning formats.

CVB Knowledge Group leadership and next steps

The Graz edition also marked a new chapter for the CityDNA CVB Knowledge Group, with Lisa Legat (Head of the Graz Convention Bureau) elected Chair and Selina Schnitzer (MICE Account Manager at Linz Tourismus) elected Vice-Chair in Graz ahead of the meeting.

Lisa Legat, Head of the Graz Convention Bureau & newly elected Chair of the CityDNA CVB Knowledge Group shared: Being elected Chair of the CityDNA CVB Knowledge Group in Graz, just ahead of this first CVB Expert Meeting, made the momentum in the room even more meaningful. For us, hosting a CityDNA event confirmed the value of creating the right conditions for peer learning: openness, trust and time to work on real issues together. Graz was proud to welcome CVB colleagues from across Europe, and I’m excited to turn the outcomes into practical resources and continued support for the CVB community.”

Jurgen Moors, CEO of the Maastricht Convention Bureau & past Chair of the CityDNA CVB Knowledge Group concluded: “The real success of this first edition was its practicality. CVBs used the space to compare what’s actually happening, how we fund and position our work, how we build academic and partner ecosystems, how we use data to strengthen credibility, and how we design legacy beyond economics. People left with tangible ideas and a stronger peer network to keep solutions moving across Europe.”

The 2nd CityDNA CVB Expert Meeting will take place on January 26-27, 2027 in Timișoara, Romania.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

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