ECM is gearing its suite of conferences in 2013 to tackle some of the big competitive issues facing its 110 city members.
Starting in Nice, on Feb 20, 2013, the association will open a new forum on “Cities as cruise destinations” and the main conference theme will be “how tourism shapes tomorrows cities” with European and international case studies highlighting the interdependence and connection between town planning and urban regeneration and tourism and the role that a city tourist organization can play in influencing the process. The conference will also look into the impact of low cost carriers, convention centres, retail and art museums on the city.
The ECM summer conference in Copenhagen June 5-8, 2013 will be devoted to an exploration of the idea of “the eventful city.” It will examine the impact of events on the city; the role that city tourist organisations play in creating and hosting events and a series of case studies of how European Cities have been successful at bidding for major events.
In Biarritz last November, the association ran its conference on the theme of “integrated city marketing – everyone in the city sells the city.” It considered how various stakeholders within the city (residents/tourists/meetings industry/politicians/industry/expats/film industry/creative industries) play a key role in securing the reputation of the city and looked at the challenges and opportunities of trying to create a city brand that connects the various threads together. It included presentations from London & Partners, Marketing Manchester and I Amsterdam, as well as a key note from Isabel Bardinet, CEO of the European Society of Cardiology.
Garry White went on to say: “our members have the insider perspective on what really makes their cities successful and conversely they know what the barriers to growth actually are. A few key take-outs for me from Biarritz were the importance of taking residents into account when building city brands and the political dimension to it all… In our conferences, we openly share our experiences and learn from each other and ultimately this makes us all more effective and competitive. That’s the heart and soul of ECM.”
