The 4th International Conference on Destination Branding and Marketing (DBM-IV) was recently held successfully in Cardiff, U.K. from 5 to 7 December 2012. DBM-IV was co-organised by IFT and hosted by Cardiff Metropolitan University's Welsh Centre for Tourism Research (WCTR). The first three biannual DBM conferences were previously hosted and co-organised by IFT in Macao since 2005. This is thus the first time the DBM was hosted outside of Macao, marking a greater degree of recognition at a higher international level and wider global exposure. The DBM conferences series has become one of the leading fora for practitioners and thinkers in the area of tourism destination branding and marketing and was founded in December 2005 at IFT, Macao. It now attracts a growing and very loyal following among its regular participants, which includes scholars, postgraduate students as well as industry practitioners in destination branding and tourism marketing. In addition to IFT Tourism Research Centre (ITRC) and WCTR, other co-organisers for DBM-IV include the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management, University of South Carolina (USC), Finnmark University College, Norway, The Institute for Tourism, Zagreb, Croatia, and Uffindell Group. The latest DBM conference attracted 115 delegates representing 23 countries and more than 50 universities in addition to several representatives of DMOs and creative agencies, some of them are even DBM veterans who have attended the previous conferences held in Macao. During the opening session of the conference, Dr. Leonardo Dioko delivered an opening address and welcome remark on behalf of President of IFT and the founding organisations (IFT and USC). The host, WCTR led by Profs. Nigel Morgan and Annette Pritchard ensured the prominent recognition and acknowledgement of the founding role of IFT in the conference series. During the conference, IFT delegates Ms. Virginia Lau and Ms. Veronica Lam, in addition to Drs. Dioko and Ruth Yeung played active roles in presenting papers but also in chairing sessions and moderating events. The DBM IV gathered destination marketing experts from academia, industry and policy to discuss the cutting edge of this increasingly significant intersection of tourism, economic development, events and heritage management, spatial design and public diplomacy. Through organising and participating international conferences, ITRC of IFT plays a more influential role in the research of tourism locally and internationally. On top of that, it is believed that the meeting with other universities and partners during ITRC members' trip in the U.K., reviewing the past cooperation and discussing wider range of future cooperation, will reach a fruitful achievement and benefit the tourism development of Macao in the long run.