How we interpret place defines our identity.
Hi, I’m Greg Oates, founder of 2050 City. Thanks for checking out the site.
I’ve spent the last two decades working with more than 100 tourism organizations and convention bureaus to help them develop their visitor economy. My focus has never prioritized tourism as the end goal. Rather, the global visitor economy is an economic pipeline to support local community priorities, attract investment, empower local business owners, and benefit a broad spectrum of residents.
Holland Tourism codified that in their Perspective 2030 strategic framework in 2018.
Developing the visitor economy to build stronger communities is 2050 City’s due north. The best way to accomplish that is by bringing together locals and visitors who want to contribute to the future of any given community.
Zita Cobb, founder of Fogo Island Inn and the Shorefast Foundation in Newfoundland, a Destination Canada board member, and one of the smartest people working in tourism today, explains it best: “How we interpret place defines our identity.”
Basically, what people do with their communities defines who they are. Downtown districts and neighborhoods are a canvas for community leaders, business owners and residents to create opportunities for living with purpose and meaning.
Residents and visitors can accomplish a lot together when it comes to creating places where both locals and travelers want to connect. Travel has driven progress since the dawn of man. Combining the energies of residents and visitors—and capitalizing on the knowledge sharing derived from that—has defined how destinations have grown, evolved and succeeded for millennia.
That collaboration defines a community’s values and vibe. It defines and differentiates a community’s identity. Ultimately, that identity is what tourism organizations are promoting, selling and helping develop by interpreting our relationship with place in new ways.
That is real. It anchors the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index. When a community has a strong identity, shared values, a shared vision for the future, a bold pride of place, and a commitment to grow together, it can accomplish anything.
I’ve seen, and helped accelerate, transformational change like that from Singapore to Shreveport.
Years ago, I was working with the German Convention Bureau and House of Logistics & Mobility (HOLM) think tank near Frankfurt Airport. HOLM’s mantra is: “The city of the future is an interdisciplinary knowledge sharing machine.”
That work was a defining experience. It highlighted how cities perform better and increase their competitive advantage when they foster dialogue, learning and sharing between residents and visitors.
That’s been the equation for successful city building from ancient Greece to Vancouver, Singapore and Tel Aviv today. That strategy is fueling the meteoric rise of the UAE and neighboring countries, and it’s reinventing the identity of cities in North America from Victoria to Fort Worth and Detroit.
These are all destinations where global/local exchange is celebrated. That’s the foundation for my strategic planning work.
The mandate for 2050 City is helping tourism organizations connect people from all walks of life and all around the world, and bringing out the best of them to forge a better future for all involved. There are many cities I’ve worked with from Boise to Manchester that are hitting above their weight, changing the world and uplifting their communities. They are inspiring us to aim higher.
If you want to discuss any of the above, please contact me at greg@2050.city.
Greg Oates