BestCities Global Forum Delivers in Dublin
Annual meetings industry event raises USD $5,000 for Dublin children’s charity
Global Community
BestCities Global Alliance welcomed international association representatives, trade media, industry thought leaders, and representatives from 13 BestCities destinations to its annual Global Forum, which took place January 24-26 in Dublin, Ireland in partnership with the Dublin Convention Bureau. The next Global Forum will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, 5-8 February 2026.
BestCities’ flagship event capitalized on its location in the European Capital of Smart Tourism to explore ways that technological innovation can build more resilient, connected, and compassionate communities. For the first time, BestCities collaborated with Snapsight, an artificial intelligence tool that captures event content in real time and converts it into actionable insights. Snapsight’s summaries from each Global Forum session, including key takeaways, transcriptions, and idea clouds, can be accessed here.
Throughout the conference, attendees were immersed in Irish history, culture, and music. Delegates visited several of the city’s most iconic venues, including the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, The Convention Centre Dublin, Trinity College, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Croke Park, and the Guinness Storehouse.
Sustainability remained a central focus of the Global Forum. BestCities partnered with Trees4Events to calculate and offset 74 tonnes of carbon emissions generated by flights, transportation, catering, venues and other conference elements. BestCities offset the Global Forum’s carbon impact in Dublin by planting 450 trees in Mozambique. Furthermore, each tree is assigned to a share of a United Nations carbon offsets (CER) renewable energy programme, such as a project in China with 48 wind turbines producing 49.9 megawatts of clean energy.
Each year, the Global Forum incorporates an “Engage for Good” programme, which challenges attendees to earn points through active engagement before, during, and after the conference. All points accumulated are exchanged into money, which is donated to a charitable organisation. This year, Engage for Good raised USD $2,500 for the Solas Project, which empowers children and youth in Ireland who are at risk of marginalisation through the education, employment, and justice systems. The sum was matched by Dublin Convention Bureau for a total of USD $5,000 donated to the charity.
“BestCities was founded on the principles of collaboration and community to make the world a better place. Our goal with every Global Forum is to spread knowledge that can change the world while positively impacting the host destination,” said Loren Christine, Managing director, BestCities. “This year, we leveraged the power of AI to widely distribute insights from sessions led by some of Ireland’s most renowned thought leaders. At the same time, we worked with wonderful organisations like the Solas Project and Trees4Events to leave Dublin better than we found it. We are grateful to our partners in Dublin for helping to make the 2025 Global Forum a resounding success.”
“We are incredibly proud to have hosted the 2025 BestCities Global Forum here in Dublin,” said Sam Johnston, Manager, Dublin Convention Bureau. “Despite the challenges posed by Storm Éowyn, our resilient and close-knit community came together to ensure the event’s success. This forum showcased not only the strength and adaptability of our meetings industry, but also the unique charm, hospitality, and collaborative spirit of our city. A huge thanks to our colleagues across BestCities Global Alliance for their support and faith in allowing us to deliver on their behalf.”
The next BestCities Global Forum will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico, 5-8 February 2026. Further details, including dates and programming, will be announced in the coming months. For more information, visit www.bestcities.net