Placemaking and Tourism: Bridging Academia and Practice at Manchester Metropolitan University
Earlier this month, more than 50 colleagues from academia and industry came together at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School for the Northern Tourism Academics Network event, “Addressing Synergies and Challenges between Placemaking and Tourism in Destinations.” The event marked a full and highly productive day of discussion, learning, and collaboration.
A particular strength of the event was the balanced mix of participants, with an equal representation of academics and industry practitioners from across the UK and Ireland. This blend enriched discussion throughout the day and was especially evident during the closing workshop, where enthusiasm for collaboration was clear. Conversations focused on how closer working can enhance student experience, strengthen applied research, and support the development of future talent needed to sustain thriving places and destinations.
A recurring theme across the day was the growing challenge of overtourism and its social, economic, and environmental impacts on places. Overtourism has become an increasingly prominent concern in academic, political, and public debate, prompting urgent discussion about how destinations can mitigate pressure on local communities, infrastructure, and fragile ecosystems.
Within this context, speakers and participants explored the potential of proximity tourism as a practical, place-sensitive response. By encouraging slower, more locally embedded forms of travel, proximity tourism supports community participation, spreads economic benefit more evenly, and reimagines tourism in ways that align more closely with placemaking principles. This is an area we know is of strong and growing interest across the IPM network.
The agenda featured a strong line-up of speakers, including two keynote addresses. The morning keynote was delivered by Harold Goodwin, Professor Emeritus at Manchester Metropolitan University and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Place Management, who challenged delegates to reflect on responsibility, ethics, and leadership in tourism and placemaking. The afternoon keynote came from Pete Swift, co-founder of the CyanLines project, whose work demonstrates how placemaking initiatives can deliver social value while contributing meaningfully to climate change mitigation.
The event also celebrated excellence in tourism education. Lisa Gorton was awarded the ATHE Victor Middleton Prize for Tourism Education and Scholarship, recognising her outstanding contribution to students and industry alike. In addition, ATHE Student of the Year Awards were presented to Margherita Biagiotti, Gregg Harper, and Gabriella Heskett, a 2025 graduate of MMU’s Tourism Management programme.
The event reinforced the growing alignment between tourism and placemaking agendas and highlighted the vital role of partnerships between universities, practitioners, and place leaders.
Reflecting this interest, the Institute of Place Management will be publishing a special issue of the Journal of Place Management and Development in 2026 focused on proximity tourism as a response to overtourism. The special issue will bring together academic research and practice-based insights, building directly on themes explored during events such as this and reinforcing IPM’s commitment to bridging research, policy, and delivery in place management.
About the author
Formed in 2006, the Institute of Place Management is the international professional body that supports people committed to developing, managing and making places better.