Creating a place that attracts more visitors goes hand-in-hand with improving it for residents and businesses, a major conference has heard.

Destination marketing and visitor economy professionals from across the continent gathered at the 2026 Destinations EMEA Summit, organised by Granicus Destination, at Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire.

The three-day event included workshops, networking sessions and the annual EMEA Summit Awards.

Paul McMahon, the managing director of Destination Coventry, joined Julie Nugent, chief executive of Coventry City Council, and Becky Frall, head of tourism at the West Midlands Growth Company, on a panel hosted by Tina Veater, of Granicus.

The panel looked at creating places that people want to visit, live and work, exploring how boosting visitor numbers can have a positive knock-on effect for residents, businesses and inward investment.

Coventry recently announced it had surpassed £1 billion economic impact in 2025 and that jobs connected to the sector had grown too.

Paul said: “Destinations should be created first for the benefit of residents, and residents need to feel like they are part of the process.

“If local people have more pride in their local area and can see that it’s improving, they become greater ambassadors and see the benefits of attracting more visitors.

“There are practical examples too. We are seeking to work with a local college that has developed its work around hospitality.

“Local people can train locally, gain experience and connect directly with employment through our sector associations, including the business-events sector and hotel general managers. So, that’s real jobs and opportunities for young people.

“So, when residents feel a direct, personal benefit from the visitor economy, their experience and perception of it changes.”

Julie said: “Our councillors are rightly focused on what matters most to residents – clean streets, well-run services and neighbourhoods where people feel safe – because those things shape how people feel about where they live every day. 

“They have also been clear that pride in Coventry goes beyond that. When we reviewed our work, we found we were running a large number of separate strategies: our work with Destination Coventry, heritage, culture, sport and youth participation. 

“In reality, those strategies are all working towards the same thing our politicians want for the city – to attract more visitors, improve the place, encourage people to stay longer and help residents feel good about Coventry.”

Becky said West Midlands Growth Company has been gathering data to reinforce this sentiment. She explained: “Anecdotal evidence is not enough – we need a dataset that demonstrates a tangible, positive connection between visitor and resident experiences.

“This year, for the first time, we spoke to residents across the region to understand how they feel about tourism in their local area. The results were striking and revealed that residents in destinations with higher visitor volumes had the most positive opinions, citing the range of benefits they’ve experienced as a direct result of tourism.

“This includes job creation, investment in infrastructure, having more cultural events to enjoy, and the wider economic impact – things which not only make a place more attractive to visitors, but more vibrant for its residents. These results provide us with clear evidence of how a thriving visitor economy also has a positive impact on people who live and work in these areas.”