In 100 days from now... The 9th Annual Conference of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

8th Annual Conference in Bangkok

In 100 days from now, the place branding, place marketing and place management community will meet in Manchester for the annual conference of the International Place Branding Association. In the past, the conference has been hosted in London and Swansea (UK), Macau (China), Volos (Greece), Barcelona (Spain), Aix-en-Provence (France), Helsingborg (Sweden), Bangkok (Thailand), before coming to Manchester for its 9th edition in October 2025.

The IPM is proud to be working together with the IPBA in hosting the conference and providing its members with an opportunity to join the various activities that comprise the fascinating conference programme. For two days, on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 October 2025, at the Holiday Inn Manchester City Centre, the conference programme will include an array of sessions, discussions and activities all around the management, marketing and branding of towns, cities, regions, nations and tourism destinations. We have received a record number of submissions for the IPBA conference and the programme will include:

  • An extended Opening Speech by Professor Dominic Medway (Manchester Metropolitan University),
  • A Keynote Speech on the city of Manchester and its marketing and branding strategy by Victoria Braddock (Managing Director of Marketing Manchester),
  • A Keynote Speech on urban brand touch points by Professor Sebastian Zenker (Copenhagen Business School),
  • A Keynote Speech on the branding effort and process of Bolsover in Derbyshire by John Till and Therasa Garrod,
  • Approximately 20 parallel sessions on cutting-edge research and practical case studies,
  • Panel discussions on place branding consultancy, teaching place branding, multi-sensory research methods and other topics,
  • The 7th edition of the IPBA Art Gallery with artworks created by scholars, research participants, students and artists that relate to the processes of place meaning-making, place brand formation, the relationship between people and places, the challenges that places are facing.
  • The IPBA PhD Colloquium with presentations of doctoral research projects from around the world.

The conference’s social events will offer plenty of networking opportunities for delegates to meet each other, exchange ideas and experiences and identify collaboration opportunities. Scholars, researchers, practitioners, PhD students are all welcome to join us and become part of the international place branding community. The two last days of October 2025 promise to be a memorable two days that will leave a mark on the place branding field and will become a reference point for the future of this fascinating and so important practice. IPM members are welcome to join us and see for yourself…

More information at: https://ipba2025.mmu.ac.uk and on our social media.

Professor Mihalis Kavaratzis

About the author

Professor Mihalis Kavaratzis

Mihalis Kavaratzis is a leading expert in Place Marketing and Place Branding—fields that have inspired their career from the very beginning and continue to shape their work today. They have published extensively on these topics, with research that ranks among the most cited in the discipline: over 12,500 citations on Google Scholar and more than 2,100 on Scopus (as of October 2022).

Their research and advisory work focuses on branding places, marketing tourism destinations, and advancing place identities. They frequently deliver training sessions and speak at public events, sharing their expertise with local authorities, public administrators, and city marketing professionals.

[Name] welcomes collaboration on projects including:

  • Place, regional, and city marketing and branding

  • Destination marketing and branding

  • Tourism development

  • Place identities and place images

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