20 MILESTONES FOR 2016

At this time of year it’s normal to look back and think “where on earth did all the time go?” and try to take account everything you’ve achieved over the preceding 12 months. Against a backdrop of continuing uncertainty, we have kept our focus on supporting our partners -both inside and outside the tourism industry- with high quality insights and practical solutions that will bring them success in the long-term.

After a year which took us from northern Scotland to southern China, and from central Europe to its most distant, breathtaking regions, we know that it’s been tough to keep up! Here we bring you the highlights of a busy year, packed with inspiring news and views...

1

OUR LONDON OFFICE
GOES LIVE!

Our business is geared to bring you 360º solutions in destination marketing and management, so adding the Umi Digital team to our network makes perfect sense! Based in central London, the team is specialised in direct hotel and restaurant marketing and looks forward to sharing what they know with our clients.

2

READY TO ORDER?
OVER 5,000 MENUS
SOLD AT DINE ATHENS

In February we cooked up something very special for Alpha Bank and Diners Club International with a 7-day citywide event that saw more than 5,000 menus sold and massive social media engagement thanks to our media intensive 360º marketing campaign. Clearly our clients and the people of Athens are hungry for more, since we’ve just launched the booking site for 2017.

3

HELPING DESTINATIONS
TO GET SMART ABOUT
TOURISM DISPERSAL

Too many people think that tourism dispersal is about breaking up crowds, but we believe there is a smarter way to address the problem. The first and only study of its kind, ‘Stepping Out of the Crowd’ practical recommendations on how destinations can appeal to Millennials’ sense of adventure and encourage exploration beyond crowded cities.

4

STAYING AHEAD OF
THE SHARING ECONOMY

Throughout this year we’ve helped our clients understand and adapt to this fast-changing environment, building on our report ‘Levelling the Playing Field’ which has already been used as a key reference for by a number of international organisations.

5

OUR WEB WORK GETS
GLOBAL RECOGNITION

In May, ThisIsAthens (designed and built by us) was awarded as a Webby Honoree by the 2,000+ judges of The Webby Awards. The website’s sister ThisIsMyAthens was also highlighted as one of the five best websites for European city tours with locals by The Guardian.

6

A DOSE OF REALITY
ABOUT MILLENNIALS

In order to develop products and shape messages that will be meaningful to Millennials, it’s important to understand the reality of life for this generation. In this blog post, our Millennials expert Peter Jordan decided it was time to clear up some doubts.

7

THE POWER
OF PERSUASION

We recognise the talent of travel influencers to tell a compelling and produce attractive content for an engaged audience. That’s why we supported the Social Travel Summit by hosting a productive DMO-blogger Think Tank (read our takeaways) as well as speaking at Social Travel Britain.

8

ATCOM NEXT TOLD US
TO BREAK THE RULES!

Did you know that we’re able to draw upon the vast expertise of ATCOM (150+ designers, engineers, programmers and UX specialists handling over 3,000 digital implementation projects per year) to help our clients boost their business? ATCOM Next is our exclusive one-day conference on the future of digital business and this year’s edition gave our audience some valuable lessons in how to break the rules in digital marketing. Check out our presentation (language: GR).

9

SMART CITIES MAKE
SMART DESTINATIONS

When smart solutions are applied to make life better for locals, visitors benefit too! That was our message to an audience of world city government officials at the International Session of United Cities and Local Governments in Kazan.

10

WE’VE TAKEN THE LEAP,
HAVE YOU?

A milestone for us, and for tourism in Europe: as Official Research Partner to European Cities Marketing, Toposophy was proud to launch ‘Taking the Leap’, with a groundbreaking report with practical guidelines for European DMOs on handling the sharing economy in their destinations.

11

WE SERVED UP
A STORM AT LONDON
TECHNOLOGY WEEK

What happened to transport and accommodation is now happening to food and fine dining as technology disrupts and expands the way tourists find and experience cuisine. We explained all at London Technology Week.

12

HOW TO WORK BETTER
WITH BLOGGERS:

In July, our award-winning blogger outreach expert Kash Bhattacharya gave his top tips on how DMOs and travel brands can do great things together. Find out what Kash can do for you!’

13

P2P PLATFORMS CAN ADD
VALUE TO LOCAL BUSINESS

In September our Hotel and Restaurant Marketing expert Steve Lowy argued that platforms such as Airbnb can add value to traditional tourism businesses rather than take it away.

14

OVERTOURISM IN
EUROPEAN CITIES:
THE PRESSURE IS ON

European cities are filling up with tourists, making local residents angry and ruining the visitor experience. Peter Jordan explains how destinations can start to get a grip on this growing problem.

15

HELPING GERMAN CITIES
ADAPT TO THE REALITIES
OF DIGITAL DISRUPTION

Toposophy Managing Director Manolis Psarros hosted a lively debate at the Tourism Conference of the German cities in Wiesbaden in September, where city management organisations from across the country debated how best to help their partners through the realities of digital disruption.

16

GLOBAL TREND
SETTING IN CHINA

In October our Millennials expert Peter Jordan was invited to discuss Gen Y and Gen Z consumer trends at the prestigious UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook in Guilin, China

17

TOPOSOPHY TAILORED
KEYNOTES AND WORKSHOPS
BROUGHT OUR EXPERTISE TO
NEW AUDIENCES

In 2016 event organisers around the world counted on our specialists to give their event a boost with attractively-presented keynote speeches, and well-designed workshops. Take a look at the many cutting-edge subjects we offer, and book early for your event in 2017!

18

THE WORLD OF TOURISM
UNDER ONE ROOF

Aside from tailored events, we were pleased to meet our industry friends at ITB Berlin, GTEF Macau and WTM London where we joined panel events on digital disruption, influencer marketing and Millennial marketing.

19

TEAM BOOTCAMP
AT CHELSEA FC

OK, we didn’t actually step on the pitch, but in November our members of our teams from Athens, London and our network of international associates met at Chelsea Football Club for a productive bootcamp day, where we planned out our goal-scoring strategy for 2017.

20

MAKING FLANDERS
CULTURE MATTER
TO MILLENNIALS

At Flanders Connection, this year’s annual meeting of overseas agents for Tourism Flanders, Peter Jordan delivered a tailor-made workshop on the Millennial mindset.

Want to know more about what we’ve been up to? Don’t forget to stay up to date by following us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or ask us a question anytime at info@toposophy.com!
Finally, to everyone who has followed and supported our work, please accept our warmest wishes and season’s greetings.
Join us, as we continue onwards and upwards for 2017!