At the European Cities Marketing (ECM) Spring Meeting in Reykjavík, ECM followed the footsteps of the best of Jedi knights, looking towards the dark side to leverage and learn from a mindset that ignites innovation and disruption. Industry thought leaders challenged a record number of 179 delegates from European cities, while ideas and insights were shared on how DMOs all over Europe are morphing their business models, forming new partnerships out of the touristic marketing box and hacking innovative new solutions to problems which they all face.
A diverse range of start-ups and travel tech entrepreneurs
London and Paris have set up incubator environments hosting a diverse range of start-ups and travel tech entrepreneurs to promote future job creation and growth. Also, the start-uppers are matched with more established players of the local travel economy for the ideation and projectizing of challenges and new ventures.
Mastercard is one of the big players in the urban travel industry, that sees the convergence of travel tech and financial tech, and benefits from a close cooperation with London Travel Tech Hub. Cities such as Leeds and Gothenburg are working with broader cultural projects striving to leverage public co-creation in the city’s cultural life and celebrations
Copenhagen and Berlin are engaging with hackathons and sprints as new methodologies useful for engaging with communities and partners over specific challenges such as how to spread tourism throughout the city.
The seminar was coordinated and moderated by Peter Rømer Hansen, Founder and CEO of Rømer Agency.
The next ECM meeting will for the first time be an International Conference, and will take place in Malmö, Sweden, on June 13-16, 2018. The general idea developed will be “don’t ask what your city can do for tourism, but what tourism can do for your city!”