Global Summit on Urban Tourism

I attended the UN World Tourism Organization Global Summit on Urban Tourism themed around “Smart Cities, Smart Destinations”, in Nur-Sultan from October 9 through 12.

There, I participated in a master class on the meetings industry, held by the International Congress and Convention Association. There were high-level panels on smart cities and tourism and then smart destinations with officials from all over the world. I especially enjoyed learning about creative cities initiatives and using tourism as a source of innovation and creativity. For instance, Sound Diplomacy serves as a unique example in Nashville, USA, of music festivals engaging with city and tourism officials to attract visitors. Other interesting key themes included making the best of technology to build competitive urban destinations and the promotion of universal accessibility around city destinations