As tourism has become a powerful engine for the local economic and social development of cities, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has partnered with the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) to develop an instrument that can measure the performance of the sector in metropolitan areas. Under the title ‘UNWTO-WTCF City Tourism Performance Research’ the project will include a set of criteria and a platform for information.

According to UN Habitat (2050, 70% of the world’s population is expected to be living in cities. By 2025, metropolitan areas will contribute over 30 trillion US dollars annually to the world economy. As tourism currently accounts as a central component in the economic, social and geographical development of many cities it is essential to monitor tourism performance in urban destinations and clearly address the areas for improvement. As stated by UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai, “city tourism should go hand by hand with sustainable development; preserving environmental treasures together with tangible and intangible heritage should be parallel to the importance of engaging local communities”.

The partnership between UNWTO and WTCF to measure city tourism will assist policy makers and all stakeholders in their efforts to take strategic action for better urban tourism governance and sustainable management.

The project includes research on City Tourism Performance collecting information about the existing systems to measure city tourism performance worldwide. A total of 16 cities located in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin American participated in the survey. The exercise will allow to define a set of criteria that can constitute the best possible assessment of city tourism performance at a reasonable cost.

“Cities provide an important vehicle for world tourism development. Launched in 2015, the UNWTO-WTCF City Tourism Performance Research Programme has conducted a comprehensive analysis of 16 tourism cities in the world in the five areas:  destination management, economic perspective, social and cultural perspectives, environmental perspective as well as technology & new business models. The findings offer very useful guidance for promoting sustainable development in cities around the world,” said the Secretary General of WTCF, Song Yu.

Applying the UNWTO-WTCF City Tourism Performance Research Survey requires involving different stakeholders’ groups. Data is collected at the city level by the tourism experts identified by UNWTO and WTCF. Some of the performance criteria can be collected from the official data sources from cities such as Census and household surveys although expert interviews are necessary to have a more in-depth understanding of each city.

The results of the research conducted in the Asia-Pacific Region were presented last weekend in Tianjin, China and later this month on 26 September in Buenos Aires, Argentina a second workshop will discuss the results of the Latin American cities, aiming to create a platform to give recommendations to those cities on the selected key performance areas and to give general indications to all cities on recent challenges in urban tourism.

The 16 different city cases will be compiled in a publication free of charge on the UNWTO website which will serve as a guideline on how cities can improve their future implementation of tourism development.

World-class esports have a new home in the entertainment capital of the world. Blizzard Entertainment today unveiled Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a cutting-edge live-event destination for pro players, esports fans, and everyone else who loves premier competition. Situated in the legendary Burbank Studios, once home to groundbreaking television shows, the studio at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles has been custom-tailored to support an exciting live-event experience for local attendees and broadcast audiences around the world. When the Arena opens for business on October 7, top competitors from across Blizzard esports will be the newest stars to shine on one of the most celebrated stages in television history.

“We’re at a tipping point for esports and we look forward to helping usher in a new era of competition-based entertainment,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “As we open the doors of Blizzard Arena Los Angeles and welcome fans from around the world, we’re honored to bring the best in Blizzard esports to the same stage that some of the biggest names in entertainment have called home.”

With multiple sound stages, control rooms, and practice facilities, Blizzard Arena Los Angeles was built to support a full slate of competitive events year-round. In addition, the Burbank, California arena will house a Blizzard retail store that rotates stock for event attendees based on the competitions taking place at the time.

Blizzard Arena Los Angeles will open its doors to the public for the first time on the weekend of October 7–8 with the Overwatch Contenders Season One Playoffs taking center stage. The culmination of a summer of formidable European and North American competition, the Overwatch Contenders Playoffs will crown the top Contenders teams in each region.

Beginning October 13, the Hearthstone® Championship Tour’s Summer Championship will bring top-notch Hearthstone pros to the Arena for a full weekend of competition, with $250,000 on the line. The global tournament will conclude the third act of the HCT and set the table for the Hearthstone World Championship, taking place in early 2018.

The early battles of both the Heroes of the Storm® Global Championship (HGC) Finals and World of Warcraft® Arena Championship will be held at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles in late October, with top Heroes of the Storm and WoW® Arena players looking to fight their way onto the championship stages at BlizzCon®, Blizzard’s annual community celebration in Anaheim, California, taking place November 3–4.

Then, later this year, some of the top Overwatch® players in the world will take their first steps toward stardom at the Arena when the Overwatch League opens a new era in professional esports. With the players leading the way, the city-based franchises of the Overwatch League have their sights set on establishing a new standard for esports excellence.

The transformation of Tottenham’s High Road West – with thousands of new homes, new jobs, new community facilities and a landmark civic square designed in partnership with local residents – could soon be underway following years of community participation in shaping the ambitious plans.

Haringey Council’s Cabinet will next week (Tuesday 12 September) discuss a recommendation to choose regeneration experts Lendlease as the preferred bidder to deliver local people’s ambitions for the area.

The announcement follows more than five years of community engagement and consultation, which has seen residents’ vision placed at the heart of a masterplan for the area through a Resident Charter and Residents’ Design Panel and design guide. Residents have also been involved in the 18-month competitive procurement process to select Lendlease as the preferred bidder to take the scheme forward.

The importance of the High Road West scheme, which covers the area opposite the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium development, has also been highlighted by the Mayor of London, who has contributed £62million funding to support the ambitious scheme as part of the wider regeneration of north Tottenham.

Highlights include:

• More than 2,500 homes, with at least 750 affordable homes
• 191 high-quality, safe replacement homes for existing council tenants and resident leaseholders, meeting the aspirations of their Resident Charter
• A cutting edge new library and learning centre
• A refurbished community hub with new facilities at the Grange
• A new civic square for community activities and cultural events, flanked by new shops, restaurants and cafes
• New green spaces including gardens, children’s play area and outdoor gym
• More than £10million social and economic support for businesses and residents
• Investment in the town centre and community events
• Thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of new jobs following development
• A new industrial space to support businesses from the existing Peacock Industrial Estate

Two more stars are set to be inducted into Wolverhampton’s Sporting Hall of Fame during a celebratory event later this month.

Trevor Gadd and Professor Peter Radford have represented Wolverhampton in cycling and athletics respectively and appeared for their country at both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

They will be the latest big names to be included in Wolverhampton’s Sporting Hall of Fame, launched by the City of Wolverhampton Council and the Wolverhampton City Sports Advisory Council in 1999 to recognise and celebrate the achievements of sportsmen and women who have represented Wolverhampton on an international stage.

The chair of Wolverhampton’s Sports Advisory Council, Peter Holmes MBE, said: “We are delighted to be inducting two more inspirational Wulfrunians into our Sporting Hall of Fame.

“Trevor and Peter are both individuals who have performed with great success on a world stage and have been true ambassadors of everything that is good about the City of Wolverhampton.”

Trevor Gadd was a member of Wolverhampton Wheelers Cycling Club and began competitive racing in 1975 when he won his first bronze medal in the British National Championships.

Representing Great Britain and England at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, he went on to dominate track cycling in the 1970s.

Runner Peter Radford spent his early years training at Aldersley Stadium where he was coached by Wolverhampton and Bilston Athletics Club.

He went on to set numerous world records in 50m, 100m and 200m races and won medals while representing his country at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. He achieved this despite having been in a wheelchair as a child due to a serious illness.

This ceremony will take place on Saturday 23 September at WV Active Aldersley, where the Sporting Hall of Fame’s books and honours boards are displayed.

Previous inductees include athlete Denise Lewis, racing driver Richard Atwood and Wolverhampton Wanderers legends Bert Williams and Billy Wright.

Councillor Steve Evans, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for City Environment, said: “The City of Wolverhampton has a long history of producing top level sportspeople and we are delighted to celebrate their achievements through our Sporting Hall of Fame, which is proudly held at WV Active Aldersley.

“I would like to congratulate Trevor and Peter on their successes, and welcome them into Wolverhampton’s Sporting Hall of Fame.”

Sandwell Leisure Trust’s Smethwick Swimming Centre (SSC) on Thimblemill Road recently benefited from a £120,000 investment to upgrade the fitness equipment and uplift the gym area itself.

Several new best-of-class cardio products have been installed - including an IC7 spin bike, Cybex Sparc trainer (for fat loss and strength building) and Concept 2 Ski Erg (based on Nordic skiing) – which were all a first for the West Midlands.

New equipment from the premium LifeFitness Elevation range is also available, which features the latest ‘Discover Cardio’ consoles offering touch screen console technology for TV and app compatibility - to track progress, access personalized workouts and serve as an in-workout display.

Lynda Bateman, Chair of Sandwell Leisure Trust Board, explains: “We are committed to investing to provide an excellent range of quality fitness facilities at Sandwell’s sport and leisure centres for all our members and local residents to enjoy, keeping them healthy and helping them achieve personal targets and goals.”

Cllr Richard Marshall, Sandwell’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, adds: “We are delighted to work in partnership with SLT and to see the continued investment here in Smethwick paying dividends. Sandwell Council has made significant investment in new sport and leisure facilities in Sandwell and we work hard with all our partners to find new ways to get more people active in the borough.’

The initial investment also included a brand new sauna as well as new floors, toilets and showers to compliment the facility and offer members a complete leisure experience. It was delivered in partnership with Sven Saunas Ltd who is the leading provider of saunas to the leisure industry.

An additional £50,000 was spent on transforming a previously under-utilised meeting room into a new state-of-the-art spin studio (which opened earlier this month) also with IC7 bikes and a MyRide virtual indoor cycling system that allows first timers and experienced spinners alike to experience world level classes with and without an instructor.

SSC Centre Manager Sean Ryan adds: “We’re very keen to offer members more variety and scope and spin classes were certainly in demand, but with literally no further space to utilise in the studio we decided to overhaul the meetings room that was only used for internal gatherings and an occasional member of the public hire.

“With the additional spin members it will bring this extra new facility won’t take long to pay for itself either, plus we’re fully delivering on our pledge of enhancing the customer experience.”

Next up is a £5,000 facelift spend on the popular dance studio – resulting in a total spend of £175,000 to make Smethwick Swimming Centre one of the very best leisure facilities around.

Tipton library will be hosting its sixth annual local history day later this month when they will remember friend of the library Alf Breakwell who passed away earlier this year.

Everyone is invited to the event on Saturday 23 September between 10.30am and 12.30pm.

Exhibitions on show will include a selection of images from the Palethorpes archive plus stalls, a cake sale and a talk about the history of local firm Walters Funerals.

Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for leisure Councillor Richard Marshall said: “Alf was 91. He was a member of the Tipton Home Guard and a regular visitor to the library where he always brought a home-made sponge cake in to share

“As a tribute, the local history group are hosting the Breakwell Bake Off - a cake competition to find the best sandwich cake or loaf cake in the area.”

Entry forms are available from all Tipton libraries and Alf’s son and daughter will be on the judging panel.

Authors Carol Hathorne and Joanne Webster will be launching their new books at the event and live music will be provided by the Scarbelly Blues Band.

Community library manager Robert Hazel added: “The Friends of the library are encouraging local people to come in and share their old school photos for an exhibition next year called ‘Days of Our Lives’.

“There will be other community stalls and a home-made cake stall – so come along and enjoy a bostin day.”