CityDNA
From event acquisition to place strategy
CITYDNA PRESIDENT BARBARA JAMISON-WOODS SAYS IT’ S TIME TO VIEW BUSINESSS EVENTS AS INSTRUMENTS OF PLACE DEVELOPMENT
F or many years, business
events were treated as a specialist function within destination organisations: a team focused on bids, venues, delegate numbers and economic impact. That work remains fundamental. But the boundaries around it are becoming increasingly difficult to defend.
Today, a congress or corporate event is shaped by the same forces influencing the wider visitor economy. Delegates encounter the city’ s transport network, public spaces, digital services and accessibility standards. Their experience is influenced by how easily they can move, how confidently they can navigate and whether the destination feels coherent from arrival to departure.
Artificial intelligence is also changing how events and destinations are discovered, evaluated and managed.
At the same time, cities are asking more demanding questions about legacy, resident value and the contribution events make beyond overnight stays.
This means business events can no longer sit at the edge of place strategy. They are one of the mechanisms through which cities attract knowledge, build international relationships, support priority sectors and generate year-round activity.
Barbara Jamison-Woods, president of City Destinations Alliance( CityDNA), argues:“ Business events are not separate from a city’ s wider destination strategy. They influence knowledge, investment, international relationships and year-round economic activity. The question for destinations is how to connect that value more deliberately with mobility, accessibility, governance and the needs of local communities.”
“ Cities are asking more demanding questions about legacy, resident value and the contribution events make beyond overnight stays”
That connection sits at the heart of the CityDNA 2026 Autumn Conference in Verona. Under the theme‘ Moving Together,’ the programme brings business events into direct conversation with mobility, accessibility, AI and destination governance.
Sessions on conference ambassadors and legacy beyond tourism explore how meetings can create value that outlasts the event itself. An AI-focused workshop considers the future role of DMOs, while walkshops examine accessibility, the connected visitor journey, tourism’ s broader purpose and climate resilience. Member-led workshops then move from discussion to collective priorities around accessibility, mobility and the intelligence layer.
Verona is an apt host. The city combines a globally recognised leisure offer with an active business events economy, supported by the same infrastructure, services and reputation.
As Luca Caputo, general manager of Destination Verona & Garda Foundation, notes:“ Verona’ s visitor economy combines a globally recognised leisure destination with an important business events offer. These are not two separate realities. They depend on the same infrastructure, accessibility, services, reputation and capacity to create value throughout the year.”
The strategic opportunity for CVBs is therefore broader than winning more events. It is to help shape how events contribute to the city’ s economic, intellectual and social objectives.
That requires closer collaboration across destination management, transport, accessibility, research, sustainability and public policy. It also requires a shift in mindset: from seeing business events as transactions to seeing them as instruments of place development. n
n The CityDNA Autumn Conference, Moving Together, takes place in Verona, Italy, 19- 21 October, 2026.
ISSUE 144 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 11