Upcoming Conference.

The Fourth #IPBA2019 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Volos, Greece on 27-29 November 2019. It was hosted by the University of Thessaly Department of Planning and Regional Development with Professor Alex Deffner as conference chair. The venue was the department’s university campus building. Nick Cull, Professor of public diplomacy at University of Southern California, Thomas Doxiadis, Architect and Principal at doxiadis+ and Roberto Vegnuti, Marketing and R&D consultant for Cinque Terre Consorzio Turistico Italy, delivered the keynote speeches. Eleven doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 80 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best conference paper award was won by Ioulia Elmatzoglou for her paper on “EU Branding. Efforts to improve the EU image”.

Volos, University of Thessaly Department of Planning
and Regional Development, November 2019

The Third #IPBA2018 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Macao on 5‐7 December 2018. It was hosted by the Destination Branding & Marketing Group (DBM-VI) at the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao S.A.R., China, with Professor Don Dioko as conference chair. The venue was the Institute for Tourism Studies. Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Brett Free, Deputy Director of the Information Services Department of the Hong Kong S.A.R. Government China, Grant R. Bowie, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Ltd. and Andrea Insch, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago, delivered the keynote speeches. Six doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 50 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best confe-rence paper award was won by Stephen Poon for his paper on “Experiencing critical regionalism as cultural heritage expressions in tropical urbanism: Reimagining the place and placelessness in hospitality design”.

Macao, Institute for Tourism Studies, December 2018

The Second #IPBA2017 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Swansea, Wales on 5‐7 December 2017. It was hosted by Swansea University with Professor Nigel Morgan as conference chair. The venue was the Marriot Hotel. Mari Stevens, Director of Marketing for the Welsh Government, Geerte Udo, Associate Director of Marketing at Amsterdam Marketing, Manolis Psarros, CEO at TOPOSOPHY and Don Dioko, Professor and Director of the International Tourism Research Centre of Macau at the Institute for Tourism Studies Macau, delivered the keynote speeches. Six doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and over 40 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best conference paper award was won by Laura Carmouze, Léa Boutard, Sarah Serval and Christophe Alaux for their paper on “What’s in a place name: Reputation components and drivers”.

Swansea, Swansea University, December 2017

The Inaugural #IPBA2016 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in London on 7‐9 December 2016. It was hosted by Middlesex University with Professor T.C. Melewar as conference chair. The venue was the Hendon Hall Hotel. Per Olof Berg, Emeritus Professor of Stockholm University, Marit Høvik Hartmann, Director of Communications and Marketing for Oslo Business Region and Bill Baker, independent consultant and Author of Place Branding for Small Cities, Regions & Downtowns delivered the keynote speeches. Five doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 95 contributions were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best conference paper award was won by Eli Avraham for his paper on “Branding and marketing strategies for combatting stereotypes and negative perceptions towards countries”.

London, Middlesex University, December 2016