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Downtown Phoenix is an established and spirited meetings destination due to significant infrastructure investments in recent years. Building on that, the public and private sectors are now collaborating more intentionally to connect meeting planners with the region's thought leaders in technology, healthcare, and other advanced industries.

It makes sense that the City of Fort Worth and Visit Fort Worth leveraged SXSW's cool factor and global tech audience to help reposition the destination brand around innovation and creativity. The question now is how to keep that momentum going moving forward.

Hotels can now create their own brand-specific digital assistants with IBM's new Watson Assistant because they can white label the artificial intelligence platform. Hotel operators also keep their own data, versus giving it away to a company like Amazon, which IBM says provides a new level of brand intimacy and trust.

This conference planner sums it up best: “So many times an organization comes into a city, invades it for a few days, and then leaves. For us, we relied on the universities, pulling their knowledge and access to people, to create what we hope is a long-lasting conversation about the future of cities between us and the people of Glasgow.”

Many heavily visited cities have a whole host of issues to collectively address based on the challenges of overtourism and the opportunities provided by new connectivity platforms. Here's a deep-dive masterclass on how Vancouver is tackling the future.

Medium-sized hotel companies know they need scale to compete. With NH Hotels open to consolidation and Barcelo still keen on doing deals, it doesn’t look like we’ve heard the end of this story.

The mayor and economic development leaders in Washington, D.C. are using SXSW as a platform to promote how the city supports female and minority entrepreneurs, more so than most U.S. cities.

It sounds like the potential buyers didn't accept the company's new strategy — or the buyers weren't willing to pay enough. Regardless, while it's certainly a risk, eDreams Odigeo is doing the right thing in diversifying its business and improving price transparency.

Travel Portland's convention sales team is promoting the idea that "individuals attract individuals" to show conference planners how the city celebrates a diverse spectrum of local makers with a unique and creative point of view.

Nashville's rise as a trendy convention destination illustrates why city branding should focus on the individual stories and spirit of the local community and indie entrepreneurs to help differentiate the urban visitor experience.