Julia Swanson takes over from outgoing chair Dr. Edward Koh. In his time as BestCities Board Chair, Dr. Koh oversaw several key achievements, including onboarding Washington, DC as a new partner destination in 2024; launching the new Association Impact Masterclass in cooperation with ICCA; growing the Madrid Challenge community from 24 meeting planners to 59; and increasing the prominence of the BestCities Global Forum, which culminated in the 2025 event in Dublin, Ireland that welcomed a record 32 association clients, despite the challenges brought by Storm Éowyn.
With over 25 years of experience in tourism and business events, Julia is an industry veteran. During her 14-year tenure at MCB, she has led the organisation to prominence in the global business events sector. Through her role with the Visit Victoria leadership team, Julia has driven stronger strategic alignment with Melbourne’s tourism bureau, contributing to the city’s economic growth.
“I am absolutely thrilled to take the reins as Chair of BestCities, and I look forward to continuing Edward’s fantastic work in creating growth and lasting impacts for our industry,” said Julia Swanson. “BestCities has been facilitating collaboration and community on a global scale for a quarter of a century, and I am truly privileged to be leading the Alliance into our next era of creating positive impacts through business events.”
In 2023, Julia was appointed as director to the board of the Australian Business Events Association. She holds a Bachelor of Business (Catering and Hotel Management) and a Master’s of Business (Hospitality and Tourism Marketing). She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has 13 years of experience in a number of international hotel chains.
As incoming board chair, Julia is committed to solidifying BestCities’ position as the world’s premier alliance of convention bureaux. Her focus will be to empower BestCities’ partner destinations to deliver positive, sustainable impacts within their communities and expand their collective knowledge, while minimising the meetings industry’s global footprint.
“It has been an amazing journey as we grow BestCities Global Alliance from strength to strength, sharing best practices and knowledge among the closely-knit BestCities community,” said Edward Koh. “I took over from Kit in 2023, who helped us navigate the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now hand the reins to Julia, who we are confident will lead the Alliance to a new level of excellence.”
