City Marketing Conference (Eurhodip 2010)

From July 10-14, 2010, we organized the 17th yearly Eurhodip Conference in Zaragoza. Eurhodip is the association of vocational and university level hotel and tourism schools in Europe. At the last two conferences, Casablanca 2008 and Bologna 2009, the social aspects of the congress had outweighed considerations of content, and it was our intention to strengthen the academic perspective of the meeting. The topic of City Marketing was chosen, for two reasons: the current development and relevance of discussions in this field, on the one hand, and our city's recent projects as a perfect justification for the subject choice.



For the conference venue and image we chose the 2008 Expo area with a more contemporary city skyline, as opposed to more traditional landmarks in the city center such as the Pilar Basilique. We therefore used a wonderful picture of the Night Skyline that was made available by Zaragoza Turismo (Daniel Marcos and Félix Bernad), which had also been the inspiration for our new logo.

The main speakers of the conference went from theoretical to more practical perpectives, thus illustrating the discussions and dilemmas of City Marketing to the relative outsiders in the hospitality industry:

Ares Kalandides (Managing director of INPOLIS UCE GmbH)
The trouble with place identity: City Marketing between Berlin and Bogotá

Place Marketing, it is often argued, should be grounded into a place's own identity, if it is to be successful. Yet place identity remains an extremely vague concept, and there is no common agreement on a methodology for revealing it. Drawing from two recent cases, Berlin, Germany and Bogotá, Colombia, this presentation showed where the conceptual traps lie and suggested a combination of methods to deal with place identity.

Chris Foy (Head of 2012 Games Unit at VisitBritain)
Tourism & the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games

Chris Foy analyzed the potential impact on the visitor economy from a major event such as the Olympic Games, and discussed how VisitBritain seeks to engage tourism businesses across the country in the event. VisitBritain is an award winning national tourism agency, responsible for marketing Britain overseas, working in partnership with thousands of organisations in the UK and overseas and ensuring that the country is marketed in an appropriate way in 35 markets around the world. Its web site visitbritain.com was mentioned in the latest Cornell Hospitality Report for as an outstanding innovative practice.

Prof. Angelique Lombarts (Professor of City Marketing & Leisure Management at Inholland University)
The Amsterdam Red Light district, From Exploitation to Exploration: Leisure concepts in a transforming area

Prof. Lombarts provided an insight in the struggles of transforming a world famous tourist area, for some the epitome of tolerance and freedom, for others the Sodom and Gomorra of the Western world, into an attractive area with a high standard of Quality of Life; how to change a neighbourhood while safeguarding its strengths and improving its deteriorating aspects.

Jesús Blanco Pérez (Manager at Zaragoza Global)
Zaragoza, a challenge, a brand. Defining the identity of the city

Over the last 50 years, Zaragoza has evolved from the capital of a rural area to a logistical centre for North-Eastern Spain which has attracted a number of top ranking businesses. The 2008 Expo showcased the 21st century Zaragoza. Simultaneously, the City Government created an agency in charge of identifying and promoting the values attached to the city by its residents, visitors and investors. Jesús Blanco analyzed this branding process and discussed the impact it has had on the international reputation of the city.