The trend room session on artificial intelligence at CityDNA Helsinki was short by conference standards, but it carried more weight than its format suggested. Organised as the first step in a wider CityDNA conversation that will continue with an online workshop in June and a white paper in the autumn, the panel brought together Joshua Ryan Saha from the University of Edinburgh's Futures Institute, Stefan Kapel from Austria Tourism, and Jonathan, co-founder of Give Me and the network's AI partner. The framing was deliberate. This was not a session about whether AI matters for destination management. That debate is closing. The more precise question raised in the room was what happens when the architecture of discovery itself starts to change, and when the destination website, long the central asset of most DMOs, ceases to be where the first conversation with the traveller takes place. The website is no longer the front door The data presented in the room was not dramatic in i...

The International Conference and General Assembly of City Destinations Alliance, held this year in Helsinki under the theme "The Human Pulse of Place and Purpose," concluded on 22 April with a Board election that brings several new members into the network's governance. Leena Lassila from Helsinki Partners, Marie-Louise Schnurpfeil from Linz Tourismus, and I were elected as Board Members for three-year terms. Gerry Lennon from Visit Belfast was re-elected, and Maya Janssen from Amsterdam & Partners was elected Vice-President for a one-year mandate. The continuing Executive Committee, led by Barbara Jamison-Woods as President, was confirmed in its composition. For me, this is a moment worth pausing on. Joining the Board of CityDNA is an honour, and equally an invitation to contribute more actively to a network I have long respected and learned from. It also arrives at a particularly interesting point in the wider conversation about what European city destinations are ...

Day 1 reflections: reputation, trust, and the uncomfortable middle ground Day one of the CityDNA CEO Summit in Barcelona set a clear tone early on.  The opening framing by the CityDNA leadership and hosts in Barcelona made that explicit. Cities are operating in turbulent conditions where tourism is no longer judged only by its economic contribution, but by how it shows up in everyday urban life.  Global turbulence, local consequences The keynote from WTTC reinforced something many of us already sense intuitively: global tourism performance cannot be separated from geopolitics, climate pressure, social licence, and institutional trust. What was particularly relevant from a city perspective was the emphasis on reputation as a form of resilience. Destinations that lose credibility with residents, policymakers, or international partners become fragile very quickly, regardless of demand curves or connectivity statistics. What struck me was how closely this global framing aligned wi...