European Cities Marketing

What European Cities Marketing does

City Destinations Alliance, operating under the CityDNA brand and formerly known as European Cities Marketing (ECM), is a European membership-based knowledge sharing alliance headquartered in Dijon, France. Founded in its current form in 2017 through a rebrand of the longer-running ECM, the organisation serves Tourist Boards, Convention Bureaux, and Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) across European cities including Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, Barcelona, London, Helsinki, Verona, Antwerp, Lausanne, Dubrovnik, Graz, and Nuremberg. It functions as a professional association rather than a technology company: the core offering is curated content, peer benchmarking, and structured networking delivered through events, working groups, and research publications, with no proprietary technology platform.

The product portfolio centres on the CityDNA Summer School (a five-day annual educational programme reaching its 40th edition in Dijon in August 2026), the Autumn Conference (Verona, October 2026), seven Knowledge Groups covering City Cards, Marketing & Communication, Meetings Industry, Research & Insights, Sustainability, Tourist Information Centres, and Trends, and a research library anchored by the City Travel Report, Trend Room Whitepapers (e.g., the October 2025 Climate Change and Future of Tourism paper with ETFI), and the VivaCITY sustainability initiative (e.g., "The Score is Not the Story," July 2025, with Simpleview). Distribution is community-led: members are acquired through peer referrals, industry events, and partnerships such as IMEX Frankfurt, and engaged through hosted in-person gatherings and gated whitepaper downloads.

The business model relies on negotiated recurring membership subscriptions paid by public-sector destination organisations; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Leadership is anchored by President Barbara Jamison-Woods, who concurrently heads the Tourism and Convention Bureau at London & Partners, reflecting the dual-hat executive structure common to industry associations. Recent strategic activity has emphasised thought leadership (Tórshavn Declaration, 2025), research partnerships (Simpleview, ETFI), and incremental initiative expansion (DEPLOYTOUR, Glasgow Declaration, City Cards Map, Trend Talks). The organisation is privately held, has no subsidiaries, and reports no parent entity or external funding.

Name

European Cities Marketing

Legal name

City Destinations Alliance

Website

https://europeancitiesmarketing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA) is a European membership-based knowledge sharing alliance headquartered in Dijon, France, serving Tourist Boards, Convention Bureaux, and Destination Management Organisations across European cities through research benchmarking, industry events, and peer networking.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tourism Industry Association Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Program Expansion, Localization & Regionalization (THACAMAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Customer/User Conferences & Client Advisory Boards (THAHAMAD)

Keywords

• Destination marketing services
• Tourism industry networking
• Convention bureau benchmarking
• Destination management research
• Professional development programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Dijon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The organization operates as a membership-based association with fees paid by Tourist Boards, Convention Bureaux, and Destination Management Organisations across European cities. Members gain access to research data, benchmarking capabilities, networking platforms, and professional development programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA, formerly European Cities Marketing) is a membership-based knowledge sharing alliance for European Tourist Boards, Convention Bureaux and Destination Management Organisations. It provides members with benchmarking research, peer knowledge exchange through Knowledge Groups, an annual educational program (Summer School), industry conferences (Autumn Conference), sustainability and trend research publications, and strategic frameworks such as the Tórshavn Declaration.

Product overview

City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA) operates as a platform-plus-portfolio model comprising its core alliance brand, events programs, research publications, and strategic initiatives. The core offering centers on CityDNA as the unifying brand for European DMOs, CVBs, and destination management organisations, supported by the annual Summer School educational program and Autumn Conference networking events. Research capabilities include the City Travel Report and Trend Room Whitepaper series. Strategic initiatives encompass VivaCITY (sustainability), City Cards Map (destination products), and Trend Talks (future intelligence), all delivered through member knowledge groups focused on key destination management domains.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CityDNA Summer School Annual five-day educational program for newcomers to the business events industry, running for nearly four decades. Targeted at young professionals and DMO/CVB staff seeking practical marketing and meetings industry skills.
• CityDNA Autumn Conference Annual flagship conference for CEOs and senior leaders of European city destinations, featuring walking workshops, dialogue-led sessions, and networking. Held in different European cities each year.
• CityDNA Knowledge Groups Ongoing working groups covering City Cards, Marketing & Communication, Meetings Industry, Research & Insights, Sustainability, Tourist Information Centres, and Trends. Serve as incubators for new ideas and ongoing best-practice exchange among member professionals.
• City Travel Report Annual research publication providing data on urban tourism volume in European cities, enabling benchmarking on volume and key source markets. Presents economic significance of urban tourism and provides members with statistics that 50% of them would otherwise lack.
• VivaCITY Initiative Sustainability initiative and whitepaper series exploring meaningful, transformative sustainability strategies for city destinations beyond metrics and certifications, produced in collaboration with Simpleview.
• City Cards Map European initiative mapping city cards across destinations, enabling best practices sharing and knowledge exchange among City Cards specialists to fine-tune product, communication and sales strategies.
• Trend Talks Trend intelligence platform featuring whitepapers and scenario workshops exploring future developments in tourism and urban destinations, including climate change scenarios through a 2035 horizon.

Quantifiable outcome

• For 50% of members who do not have their own research departments, City Destinations Alliance provides essential benchmarking and research data

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SimpleviewcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for research and whitepaper development. Simpleview collaborates with CityDNA on the VivaCITY initiative, producing sustainability whitepapers including 'The Score is Not the Story' exploring meaningful sustainability strategies for destination leaders.
• ETFI (European Tourism Futures Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research partnership for the Trend Room Whitepaper on Climate Change and the Future of Tourism. ETFI contributed findings from a scenario workshop exploring how climate change impacts will transform urban tourism destinations over 5-10 years (2035 time horizon).
• IMEX GroupcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerIndustry partnership for the business events sector. CityDNA focuses on collaboration, leadership and talent development during IMEX Frankfurt events. Faculty members from CityDNA participate in Summer School programming.
• Destination Verona & Garda Convention BureaucoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHost partner for CityDNA Autumn Conference 2026 in Verona. The conference theme 'Moving Together' explores visitor flows, mobility, accessibility, data, AI, governance and shared direction for European DMOs and CVBs.
• Destination DijoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHost partner for the 40th CityDNA Summer School 2026 in Dijon, France. Provides venue and local support for Europe's longest-running industry learning experience for business events professionals.
• The IcebergminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEditorial partnership with James Latham, Editor-in-Chief of The Iceberg, contributing to CityDNA Summer School as faculty on event legacy and long-term impact for destinations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE): Global association for the incentive travel industry, with members drawn from DMO, agency, and corporate backgrounds. Overlaps with CityDNA on Meetings Industry knowledge sharing and professional development.
• International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA): Global association for the international meetings and events industry, with a strong member base of convention bureaux and meeting suppliers. Directly overlaps with CityDNA's Meetings Industry Knowledge Group and Convention Bureau membership.
• European Travel Commission (ETC): European umbrella for national tourism organizations focused on promoting Europe as a destination. Comparable in member type (public tourism bodies) and pan-European scope, with overlapping research and benchmarking mandates.
• Destinations International: US-based association for destination marketing organizations (DMOs), CVBs, and tourism boards. Closest functional analog to CityDNA, providing research, education, advocacy, and an annual convention for city destinations — just operating primarily in North America.
• European Cities and Regions for Tourism (ECTN): European network of cities and regions for sustainable tourism development. Comparable mission (knowledge sharing, sustainable destination management) and overlapping member base of European cities and tourism bodies.

Broad incumbents

• UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO): United Nations agency setting global tourism policy and producing international tourism statistics. Larger and more authoritative than CityDNA, but broader in scope and not focused specifically on urban/city destinations.
• World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC): Global industry council representing the travel and tourism private sector. Overlaps with CityDNA in research and sustainability advocacy (e.g., Glasgow Declaration), but WTTC is industry-wide and private-sector-led.

Others

• Simpleview: Leading DMO technology and CRM platform provider for destination marketing organizations. Strategic research partner of CityDNA on VivaCITY; represents the broader DMO software ecosystem that CityDNA's members rely on operationally.

Regional players

• European Festivals Association (EFA): European network promoting festivals and cultural events across cities. Adjacent peer that shares the European city-based cultural/tourism agenda but focuses on festivals rather than destination marketing.
• Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA): Membership association for the Asia-Pacific travel and tourism industry. Equivalent organizational role to CityDNA — knowledge sharing, research, events — but serving a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/europeancities
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/CityDestinationsAlliance
• Facebookfacebook.com/europeancitiesmarketing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/european-cities-marketing
• Instagraminstagram.com/citydestinationsalliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about European Cities Marketing