European Cities Marketing will be staging its renowned ECM Summer School between August 27-31 2011. This is the 25th edition and, as such, it will be a very special ‘quarter of a century’ anniversary. Cracow, Poland, will be the host, and the participants will have an excellent opportunity to see the city and experience its unique heritage and culture.
The ECM Summer School meets the training and personal development needs of those pursuing careers in the global meetings industry. It is especially relevant for ‘up and coming’ professionals and those researching the economic potential of business tourism as a tool of urban economic development. Uniquely, it brings students face to face with leading industry practitioners and commentators, with the scope and content of the programme reflecting latest trends and new technologies and practices.
Pier Paolo Mariotti, Meeting Manager of EURAC Convention Center in Bolzano, Italy, hosted the 23rd Summer School in 2009. In 2010, he became the new Course Director of the ECM Summer School.
“Being the Course Director in the same year that the event celebrates its 25th anniversary is a great privilege and is exciting! To mark this anniversary, we asked former students of the Summer School to become our ambassadors - living testimonials to the uniqueness and quality of the event. This exercise alerted us to how illustrious and diversified were the current profiles of our Summer School graduates. For instance, Meeli Jaaksoo is now the Convention Manager of the Tallinn City Tourist Office & Convention Bureau, Roland Pinnel is CEO of the Luxembourg City Tourist Office, Hilda Farago is Secretary General of the National Tourism Board of Hungary, Zlatan Mufticis Product Manager of the Zagreb Tourist Board, and Krzysztof Celuch is CEO the of Poland National Tourist Office- the list is almost endless.
The Summer School has now been in existence for 25 years, and this bears testimony to the enduring need it is fulfilling. We will all do our utmost to ensure it continues well into the future by maintaining the highest standard of course content, retaining and recruiting the very best of speakers, and giving up-to-date examples showcasing latest trends in the meeting industry ”, says Pier Paolo Mariotti.
ECM will organise a press conference focusing on the 25th Summer School on May 25th 2h30 pm at IMEX in Frankfurt.