“Win With The Lion” was the title of a conference in Lviv that took place from 15th to 17th November 2011. Now in its second year, the conference discussed the topic of “City tourism: creating win-win situations for stakeholders”.
The conference focused on public and private partnerships and how partnership working expressed itself organisationally and operationally in terms of best practice and of destination marketing and visitor servicing activities. The content of the seminar was split into two main parts. The first one covered marketing a city as an urban tourism destination and the second one dealt with enhancing the quality of the visitor experience.
A large range of speakers were invited: from the CEO of European Cities Marketing through to the Head of the Ukrainian Council of Resorts and Tourist Destinations to representatives of leading city-based destination marketing organisations such as Berlin Tourism Marketing, Amsterdam Tourism and Convention Board, and the Warsaw Destination Marketing Alliance.
From the onset, European Cities Marketing (ECM) has assisted the conference organiser – the tourism department of Lviv, headed up by Oksana Myskovich. This assistance has come in the form of speakers drawn from the ECM network and advice on the theme of the conference as well as the scope and content of individual presentations. Moreover, the very first idea for the Lviv conference came from Wolfgang Kraus, a long-time ECM supporter and former acting director of the Vienna Tourist Board.
The “Win With The Lion” conference is now intended as an annual event which acts as a reference point for the development of the tourist sector in the Ukraine’s second city.
At a brainstorming dinner linked to the conference, discussion took place as to how to brand Lviv as a city and tourism destination, and the city’s Mayor was presented with a certificate of ECM membership symbolising the city’s commitment to pursuing a proactive city marketing and tourism development initiative.
“ECM enables cities to hear about best practice and to learn what to do and what not to do. Lviv is described in the Lonely Planet Guide as “the loveliest city in the Ukraine”, but points out tourists are few in numbers. That succinctly sets out the tourism agenda for the city. We are delighted that Lviv has become our first Ukrainian member and are using the network to fast track the knowledge and expertise contained therein”, says Dr. John Heeley, CEO of European Cities Marketing.
