GROUP NAO

☀️ #NAO ready for summer? Together with VisitAarhus and Destination Fyn, we've built Prompto's AI Summer Challenge as part of #MovingDestinations, an initiative helping the Danish tourism industry build practical AI skills. More than 90 tourism businesses are already taking part in #MovingDestinations through workshops, webinars and our online learning platform in the first half of the year. Well, the learnings should not stop for the summer holidays - to keep that momentum going, we created four short AI workouts that unlock one by one, almost like a fitness app for building your AI skills. The challenges invite everyone to play with things they need this time of the year: creating a genuinely useful out-of-office reply (or even a bot that generates OOO replies for your colleagues). From there, you'll move on to using AI to uncover insights from guest data and make sure your destination is visible when travellers increasingly use AI to plan their trips. These are short, fun, and practical challenges that fit into a busy week and build confidence through doing. In NAO, we believe, we all learn better when the trying and doing is also a little playful. That's the thinking behind the Summer Challenge. We're already seeing the first creative OOO replies roll in! If you're up for the challenge, complete all four workouts to collect your Prompto badges along the way, earn your personalised summer diploma, and enjoy a little celebration when you cross the finish line. ...Or invite a colleague - or your whole team - to join you. Learning is better when you do it together. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eGCGzUmT Moving Destinations is initiated by VisitAarhus and Destination Fyn, supported by VisitDenmark and Dansk Kyst- og Naturturisme and made possible by Danmarks Erhvervsfremmebestyrelse

AI-Generated Imagery: Where Do Destinations Draw the Line? Destinations are facing difficult questions for use of AI-generated imagery: Where do we draw the line? Why does some AI-generated or AI-assisted content receive wide backlash, while some is much more well-received? What does authenticity look like in the era of AI? These were some of the topics in our latest #AIOpener Community Club - a conversation between the destinations in the programme, sharing experiences and the grey zones they're all navigating. A few reflections stood out: 🏞️ Using AI is ultimately a brand decision. It's not just which tools you use, but whether the content reflects what your destination actually promises visitors. 🏞️ Reality first as a principle. AI can improve lighting, remove distractions - and it can create places, moments or experiences that never existed… Some destinations have adopted a ‘reality first’ principle - using AI to support adaptation, localisation, accessibility, scale - but never to invent experiences and expectations that the destination cannot deliver upon. 🏞️ Labelling and transparency will not be optional. With AI disclosure requirements becoming part of the regulatory landscape, the conversation is shifting from whether to label AI-generated content to: if you feel the need to label it, is it the right content to generate and publish in the first place? 🏞️ AI literacy also means building organisational judgement. It's not just about teaching people how to use AI tools, it's about creating a culture where teams critically question, challenge and reflect on how AI should be used. Policies are necessary and important, but so are the conversations that happen between them. There's no playbook for these decisions yet. That's exactly why open conversations and shared learning across destinations matter more than ever. Thank you to VisitDenmark, Österreich Werbung / Austria Tourism, Innovation Norway, visitBerlin, VisitScotland, Visit Skåne AB, and all other partipants for active contributions to the conversation.

Behind on posting, deep in workflows: the latest from AI Opener for Destinations    Workflows and automation have been front and centre across our last four #AIOpenerforDestinations sessions - something many destinations have been interested in exploring more. 🔸 In our expert session, we heard from three practitioners already running live systems. Pedro Moreira, CEO of Aphy - The AI Platform for Hoteliers, mapped the automation landscape and showed how combining simple tools creates real leverage in daily work. Janette Roush from Brand USA gave us a live look at how she uses Claude to automate her own workflows. And Siobhan McMorran from 80 DAYS took us into multi-step territory - showing how inputs can be categorised, routed, and acted on automatically across systems, with a live n8n demo. 🔸 In our Builders Club sessions, C.A. Clark ran a two-part deep dive into Claude - from foundations to its newest capabilities. And Sam Weston, Head of AI & Marketing at 80 DAYS, went hands-on with n8n - walking participants through the logic of building automations: starting with a single pain point. For destinations, the pressure is familiar: more to do, less to do it with. More channels, more stakeholder expectations, more content, more reporting - and budgets and teams that haven't grown to match. AI doesn't solve all of that. But it does start to change the ratio. These sessions are about finding where automation takes the admin off your plate, so the people in your organisation can focus on the work that actually needs them. 👀 Not part of the programme yet? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/dtdmBMPx Together with GROUP NAO, Miles Partnership, European Travel Commission, and Edinburgh Futures Institute - 50 destinations and growing. 

What is the impact and potential of AI for #museums and #culture? That was the key question we explored in a recent special session of #AIOpenerforDestinations, where the participating destination organisations invited their cultural partners into the room. More than 170 participants joined us to explore how AI is shaping the way people discover, understand, and engage with art and culture. We were inspired and challenged by three experts and practitioners: 🖼️ Sophia Baladi from Ask Mona walked us through interactive statues at Versailles that answer visitor questions in real time, and an avatar of Dorothea Herbert that brings a historical figure to life in multiple languages. Ask Mona works with more than 150+ museums - using the museum's own content, keeping interactions relevant and true to the stories the museums want to share. 🖼️ Dr. Birgitte Aga introduced Munchmuseet's approach to AI and technology - with a view to the responsibility and custodianship of museums - not just of collections, but of perspective, stories andd ata. She shared two projects: "New Snow", which invited visitors to draw and connect with Munch's work through machine learning and generated 80,000 drawings in just six weeks, and an upcoming exhibition opening June 25th continuing that tradition. 🖼️ Floris Horsman shared how #Microsoft has worked with AI to make art accessible to everyone - including work with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where AI was used to generate descriptions of artworks for visitors with low vision - as well as work with the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, where AI-generated audio descriptions make performances accessible and enjoyable for more. As AI and tech creates new ways for people to engage with culture and art, cultural institutions are also being asked new questions. How do we ensure authenticity? Who owns interpretation - and the data? And how do we use these technologies in ways that strengthen trust rather than weaken it? For destinations, these questions matter too. Culture is often the lens through which visitors understand a place. As AI becomes part of that experience, it creates new opportunities to make culture more accessible, more engaging, and more inclusive, while also raising important questions about how destinations curate, share, and protect the stories they tell. We're only beginning to explore these questions, which is exactly why the conversation feels so important. Together with almost 50 European destinations in the AI Opener network, our partners at Miles Partnership, European Travel Commission, and Edinburgh Futures Institute, we're continuing to explore the opportunities, responsibilities, and implications of AI adoption across destinations, culture, hospitality, creativity, leadership and much more. Reach out if you are curious to learn more!

LAUNCHING TOURISM TAXONOMIES: Rethinking how European cities capture and reinvest tourism value #CallForPartners The debate on tourism taxes and visitor levies is back on top of the tourism governance agenda. That is why GROUP NAO is launching a new initiative, TOURISM TAXONOMIES, a 15-month policy lab and coalition to deep-dive into the impact, mechanics and potential of tourism taxes and visitor levies. We are very excited to launch with a unique circle of partners: Trippz - leading global provider of data and automation solutions for tourist taxes, Eurocities and ETOA - European tourism association - leading European alliances and associations, CELTH - Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality, Breda University of Applied Sciences and European Tourism Futures Institute - forward-thinking university research partners as well as expert advisors @Miles Partnership and @Civitas. The ambition of TOURISM TAXONOMIES is to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the direct impact of tourism taxes and levies on tourism development in European cities. We will dive into… 🔸 The emerging models of tourism taxation across Europe and the mechanics behind tourism tax systems 🔸 Whether tourism taxes actually help solve the problems that tourism was part of creating 🔸 Which models turn tourism tax revenue into the greatest local value 🔸 And what European cities can learn from other models, like Tourism Improvement Districts? #WHY join? Cities, destinations and governments that join will get access to a Europe-wide mapping of tourism tax systems, curated cases and innovative reinvestment models, learning sessions, a shared knowledge base and platform, and a white paper with policy and strategic recommendations. And most importantly, the chance to shape the next era of tourism governance and value capture, destination funding and taxation by design. 📌 You can read the full proposal and register you interest at: https://lnkd.in/e6DK8NfF #TourismTaxonomies #FundingFutures #VisitorEconomy #TourismTax #DestinationManagement #UrbanTourism #SustainableTourism #EuropeanTourism

Lots of good things happening in GROUP NAO these days - and now, it's time to say hello to Etay Schwartz, joining NAO as Junior Advisor. Etay brings a mix of tech, research, and genuine curiosity far about people that goes far beyond the data. At NAO, he's already hitting the ground running. He has built a chatbot for the #AIOpenerforDestinations programme to help all the participating destination professionals navigate and find relevant information more easily, contributing to research on AI policy and inspiring AI initiatives, supporting improvements to NAO's new website, and helping shape guides and presentations for the new #MovingDestinations AI training platform. Etay is currently completing his MSc in International Business & Politics at Copenhagen Business School, building on a bachelor's in Business Administration and Sociology. His academic home is at the intersection of behavioural economics, political economy, and quantitative research, with a particular focus on how people make financial decisions under uncertainty. His bachelor's thesis explored doom spending through the lens of economic sociology, contributing to early thinking on how digital environments shape consumer behaviour. Outside of work and study, he coaches football at CBS and recharges through climbing, running, hiking, and playing music. Why NAO? Because NAO understands that working with AI isn't about chasing hype, it's about using it thoughtfully to make good and meaningful ideas come alive. Welcome to the team, Etay. We're very glad to be working with you 💡

Uhh, Ellison just entered the building... :-)