The future belongs to cities. To be specific, the future belongs to cities that can attract the brightest and the best people, and encourage them to thrive.
Today cities, compete nationally and internationally to attract businesses, skilled migrants’ work force, and of course visitors. However, to an increasingly globalised population, a city’s postcard views and monuments matter less than its liveability; that sense of localism that makes the traveller settle, and invest time, money and emotional energy in getting to know the place.
That is the theory, but how to make it happen? Businesses need support, local residents need reassurance that new arrivals won’t affect their quality of life, visitors expect a world-class experience, while political representatives see city marketing as a soft target when it comes to trimming budgets. It’s paradoxical that while faced with so many great challenges, destination marketing organisations (DMOs) in Europe are being asked to do more, with less.
European Cities Marketing believes that whether in Portugal or in Poland, Ireland or Italy, DMOs are uniquely placed to project vision, ambition and a message to the rest of the world about their place. Equipped with the right tools and knowledge, strengthened by deep and meaningful private sector partnerships, we believe that DMOs should feel confident about asserting their position in city government, becoming an indispensable resource for all of those who wish to invest time and money in a city.
As an organisation dedicated to improving the performance and competitiveness of Europe’s leading cities, we wanted to put our vision into words, and for that we turned to Toposophy, our valued Industry Partner. Together we present ‘The ECM Manifest’. We encourage you to take it, share it, and use it as a catalyst for the changes you wish to see in your city.
