Join Visit Sweden for a special webinar exploring the role tourism and destination marketing can play in strengthening a country’s international reputation, competitiveness, and long-term growth.
The session will examine the connection between tourism, international attractiveness and nation brand strength, bringing together perspectives from destination marketing, government and business.
Konrad Jagodzinski, Place Branding Director at Brand Finance, will share insights from the Global Soft Power Index, exploring how people’s direct experiences of a country – particularly through visiting it – can influence perceptions, reputation and influence internationally.
The webinar will explore why long-term investment in destination and nation brand marketing can create value far beyond the tourism sector.
Drawing on international research and practical examples, speakers will discuss:
Konrad will present insights from Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index and discuss the relationship between international visitation and a country’s attractiveness and reputation.
Meira will provide a Nordic perspective and share insights into Finland’s work to develop its international country brand.
The webinar will also feature a panel discussion with Jenny Fisher-Toivo, Husqvarna; Hanna Riberdahl, Brand Marketing Sweden; and Nils Persson, Visit Sweden, exploring how sustained investment in brand-building can drive demand and strengthen competitiveness.
The webinar is particularly relevant for professionals working across tourism, destination marketing, place branding, economic development and international promotion, as well as anyone interested in the role tourism can play in supporting national competitiveness and growth.
Attendees will come away with international research and insights, evidence to support conversations around the wider value of tourism, and practical perspectives on why long-term destination brand investment matters.
Konrad leads Brand Finance’s place branding and soft power practice. He liaises with clients, directs consulting projects, and is responsible for the creation and promotion of the annual Global Soft Power Index, Nation Brands, and City Index studies.
Konrad has extensive experience in advising clients in the fields of place branding and public diplomacy. Before joining Brand Finance, he worked at the Polish Embassy in London where he developed and delivered successful marketing communications campaigns as well as media relations programmes of official engagements by the president, prime minister, government ministers, and the ambassador.
In his role at Brand Finance, Konrad has advised a variety of place branding organisations, including the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign, New Zealand Story, and Cape Town Tourism.
Before moving on to grow the place branding practice, Konrad was the Communications Director of Brand Finance and Managing Director of Brand Finance’s PR agency – Brand Dialogue for 5 years. He has a proven track record in executing integrated communications strategies, having been responsible for publishing nearly 100 industry and country reports on the world’s most valuable brands on an annual basis.
Konrad has qualified with the Professional PR Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). He studied European Studies MA at King’s College London and the Humboldt University in Berlin, and International Relations with Political Science BA at the University of Birmingham.
Meira Pappi leads the Country Brand Team at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, where she works as Chief Senior Specialist. She has spent close to a decade in the foreign service working on Finland’s international image and strategic communications.
Her academic background is in sociology, with a Master’s in Cultural Politics and Policy. Before joining the MFA, she worked in music and events, specializing in international marketing, media relations and press programmes.
Her main professional interests include happiness, reputational security and the role of culture in international perception. She is particularly interested in the use of research and data in analysing reputation and public perception.
Alongside her work, she writes the Substack On Brand: Suomi Finland, focusing on country branding, identity and how places are understood internationally.