Association meeting planners are eager to return to in person events according to a recent report. The Business Events Consumer Demand Project from Tourism Australia found that nearly half of their association respondents, or 45 percent, had held meetings over the past ten months, including those with delegates attending on site. From Association Meetings International…
Postponed a few times for obvious reasons after having been staged online in 2020, the GIAF (Geneva International Association Forum) was the first physical association event of the kind post-lockdown. Delegates were certainly happy to be together again seeing old friends and making new ones. But the event programme also did not disappoint. From Boardroom…
The intersecting crises of the pandemic, climate change and increasing inequality are compelling associations to repurpose and serve not just their members but society itself as well. This includes making commitments about sustainability, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). From Boardroom…
The Quebec City Convention Centre has 24 national and international conferences on its books related to the life sciences and health technologies, a thriving sector in the Canadian city, between 2022 and 2025. Quebec’s life sciences industry employs 56,000 across 456 companies and is worth $5.8 billion. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
After a turbulent and challenging year, it’s tempting to try and put life together the way it was before the pandemic. Instead, ICCA members are developing innovative solutions to transform business events and build a stronger future. We are excited to meet both digitally and in Montréal, Canada – a city that’s emerged as a…
BestCities Global Alliance has just celebrated twenty-one years since its founding. Managing Director Lesley Williams reflects upon the Iceberg partner’s past and future, and upon the role collaboration has played in the journey. She also pays tribute to the BestCities’ member destinations and to more recently formed alliances. From BestCities Global Alliance…
Organisers of the 24th International AIDS Conference will create lasting legacies by helping on site and virtual delegates from poorer countries to attend the 2022 event. An “ambitious” scholarship programme will let more attendees take part either in Montreal or else online. The society will also provide internet data and hardware devices. Association Meetings International…
Last September, the “Incredible Impacts” programme run collaboratively by Iceberg partners ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance selected three winning associations for the meeting legacy projects they submitted. Each of the three had shown a dedication to creating legacies that went far beyond the conference walls. The three winners were: Ecocity Builders and the BCIT Ecocity…
A new report names London the “intellectual capital” of the world. The study ranks destinations by the number of international association board members living in them. But the UK capital could attract more meetings by better “harnessing” its potential conference ambassadors. The report is from Iceberg partner GainingEdge. From Association Meetings International…
A roadmap to merge the Events Industry Council with the Joint Meetings Industry Council (which presents The Iceberg) was finalised in December with both optimistic it would get ratified. JMIC members gave the plans unanimous support, but the deal is no longer on, albeit with the door still apparently left ajar. From Association Meetings International…
The BMO Convention Centre has completed construction of new Exhibition Hall F, which will offer 100,000 square feet of exhibition space. The total venue expansion is to cost $500 million. Funded equally by federal, provincial and municipal government, the facility will upon completion be Western Canada’s largest convention centre. From Exhibition World…
A live keynote was given at the 87th Global Congress of Iceberg partner UFI by the President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council Gloria Guevara Manzo. Her address presented WTCC research, outlined WTCC efforts to jumpstart recovery, and offered key learnings from past crises that relate to the current pandemic. From UFI…
Iceberg partner ICCA’s multi-hub, hybrid 59th Congress has concluded with a message of support delivered by Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Other highlights included the annual Copenhagen Lecture, and the creation of The Kaohsiung Protocol, a research crowdsourced framework for recovery. From Conference News…
2020 has been crushing for the DMO (destination management organisations). Destinations in the US have endured wiped-out funds as a result of zero hotel occupancy, en-masse event cancellations, and double-digit layoffs, not to mention further challenges with social unrest and also, for some, natural disasters. 2020 has brought the DMO to the brink. From PCMA…
The Netherlands Tourism Board recently hosted a meeting called “Dis-Connect”. Association, venue and destination professionals joined a virtual workshop staged live at the museum of the Royal Delft pottery factory. They painted white tiles with blue paint in the style of the famous “Delftware” produced in the town since the 17th century. From PCMA…
Once the supply of event food was determined by the consumer. If a planner asked to have strawberries over winter or New Zealand lamb in Scotland, their whims were granted. Now more event venues around the world are implementing sustainable practices. Here’s a special report on those taking sustainability seriously. From Association Meetings International…
A new report published by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), which presents The Iceberg, offers the most comprehensive assessment yet of meetings industry activities addressing the full range of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). The program was an extension of an initiative begun by Iceberg partner UFI, the global association of the…
“Incredible Impacts”, the awards for legacy run by Iceberg partners ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance, has unveiled three association winners whose events have been “leading examples of excellence within the global meetings industry”. Each will receive a $7,500 grant toward future legacy projects. From PCMA…
As associations pivot their offerings to virtual or hybrid with the ongoing onslaught of COVID-19, so venues are also doing the same. President and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal Robert Mercure spells out how the facility’s media services are adapting to address client needs through the sector’s new normal. From Boardroom…
The 59th ICCA Congress in Kaohsiung is to showcase a unique and hybrid hub-and-spoke model, with regional events across the globe coinciding with the main congress and sharing the experience for those unable to attend it. The locations include the main host destination, along with Kuching, Cape Town, Luxembourg, Malaga and Riyadh. An all-virtual option is…
In mid-June the Netherlands started to welcome international travellers back to its borders. There is no limit for maximum attendees at meetings and events, but associations even so are wary, and with countries like the US, India and Australia still unable to travel, planners are considering best strategy for the coming autumn. From Boardroom…
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