We are facing a transformational and decidedly disruptive shift in the geopolitical landscape - but what does that mean for tourism? FINN Partners' Jessica Berk Ross dives into the biggest trends shaping the future of travel.

We’re living in paradoxical times – but how should place brand and marketing teams be preparing to respond? We reached out to our Expert partners to discover what geopolitical, social, or economic trends they predicted would have the greatest impact on nation, region, and city brand strategies to help you prepare for the year ahead.

Christian Biller, Brand Strategist for the Swedish Institute and industry veteran, joined us to talk about how approaches to nation branding have evolved over the past decade, what skills place leaders need to succeed in the face of disinformation, and how you can future-proof your strategy.

The pandemic has sparked an entirely new vocabulary. And now the word “resilience” has continued to rise up the ranks to take centre stage. But what is resilience? What do we mean by it in relation to city or nation branding?

One year after the invasion began, Brand Ukraine launched a new campaign - #WhatWeAreFightingFor – which gave Ukrainian citizens the opportunity to share the reasons they kept fighting for their homeland. We reached out to Maria Lypiatska, Head of Brand Ukraine, to discover how the team are leveraging strong, authentic communication in the face of adversity, and how they’re giving a voice to more than 40 million Ukrainians.

In the face of a complex, dynamic issues environment, what are the points of influence and the methods for controlling your place narrative? How can nation brand teams proactively identify emerging risks to their reputation and take preventative action?

#WhatWeAreFightingFor showed the world over 600,000 reasons to fight, presenting each region of Ukraine to the world and explaining why each square kilometre of their land is essential.

Learn about Ukraine's Award entry for Best Communication Strategy: Place Brand

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova saw thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing across their border. As a former Soviet republic, the country was facing a communication crisis. Invest Moldova's Irina Tolstousov explains how they launched the 'Moldova for Peace' campaign and what this means for their citizen engagement and soft power one year on.

We all know that climate change is happening, the evidence is all around us and increasing every year. So why is it so hard for us to think past the short term and make these adjustments? And how do we get people engaged in solving this issue? 

Last week, Brand Finance launched their 2023 Global Soft Power Index. Against a backdrop of uncertainty and instability, it seemed particularly relevant to pause and take stock of how soft power was impacting – and being impacted by – world events. Discover which nations are leading the way and how smaller to mid-sized countries are creating an impact on the global stage.

Maria Lypiatska, Head of BRAND UKRAINE and Strategic Communications Advisor for the MFA, outlines how they’re telling Ukraine’s story to the world during a war and shares lessons from crisis communications that hopefully you’ll never need to use.

On the 24th of February 2022, the war in Ukraine started, forcing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to leave their home country. As a multinational country, many of whose citizens had previously expressed pro-Russian views, Moldova faced a communication crisis. Discover how Invest Moldova launched a campaign to unite the nation.

As the world went into collective pandemic lockdown, the last thing people stuck inside with their pent-up frustrations needed was a tourism campaign from somewhere they couldn’t go. But with Iceland’s tourism industry and much of the economy on the line, the team at Visit Iceland couldn’t afford to let that stop them. 

Julie Coker, President & CEO of San Diego Tourism Authority, outlines how they're helping event organizers navigate the new normal post-COVID and what you can do to connect your visitors to the lifeblood of your city.

What does an exploding whale have to do with COVID safety measures? Find out how Doncaster Council went viral with their history lessons on Twitter.