The Meetings Show has reported best-ever exhibitor stand sales figures and the highest number of pre-scheduled appointments in its seven year history. The event kicked off with a conference attended by 350 hosted buyers. Overall revenue has increased by 20 percent year-on-year, with an 18 percent rise in international exhibitors. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Iceberg partners AIPC (the International Association of Convention Centres), together with ICCA (the International Congress and Convention Association) and UFI (the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) have formed an alliance to collaborate on delivering comprehensive benefits to their respective members. Educational content, research, standards and advocacy will be the focus. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
An estimated £20 billion of direct expenditure was generated by event delegates across UK venues and wider in 2018, according to the latest UK Conference and Meeting Survey. The figure is up from £18.1 billion in 2017. The overall number of events held in 2018 was the highest in recent years. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Tokyo has secured two significant international meetings: the 29th Harvard World Model United Nations in 2020 and the World Confederation for Physical Therapy General Meeting and Congress in 2023. WCPT’s congress is expected to attract over 6,000 delegates. WorldMUN 2020 is expected to draw more than 2,100 university students. From Boardroom…
IBTM World has announced its 32nd edition, including a new Corporate Buyers programme, which will take place at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona this November. But the Iceberg partner will also hold IBTM Asia Pacific at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in April 2020. From Meetings International…
Barcelona, not Paris, hosted more international association delegates than any other city last year. The Catalonian capital welcomed 134,838 delegates in 2018. That’s according to new figures from the annual statistics report of Iceberg partner the International Congress and Convention Association, now ranked according to delegate numbers rather than by number of meetings. From Association Meetings International…
Sheffield has welcomed over 200 international delegates to the first ever International Child and Adolescent Knee Congress. The two-day meeting was organised by local ambassadors and orthopaedic surgeons Nick Nicolaou and Fazal Ali. Delivering about £250,000 in economic impact to the city, the event is set to remain in Sheffield long-term. From Association Meetings International…
Food waste is a major concern for more than six of every ten meeting planners, according to the IACC annual Meeting Room of the Future report 2019. The survey also shows that 44 percent believe ethical operations and sustainable practice will be crucial for venues by 2024. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Hague is using its role as host of the 2019 European Geothermal Congress to encourage further geothermal deployment across the continent. The destination aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030, and has at least four geothermal heating plants planned. EGC 2019 just took place at the World Forum. From Association Meetings International…
Professor Eileen Murphy, head of Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast, helped secure the European Association of Archaeology’s annual conference for the city in 2022. A Northern Ireland Ambassador, Murphy worked with the convention bureau at Visit Belfast in bidding for the meeting, expected to generate £3.8 million for city coffers. From Association Meetings International…
The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company has secured a VAT waiver for international organisations that hold events at its UAE venues. The exemption covers exhibitions and conferences not exceeding seven days in length whose owners don’t have a permanent base in the UAE. ADNEC says the move will enhance competitiveness. Photo: Aravind Sivaraj. From Association Meetings International…
Paris, which recently topped ICCA’s City Rankings for international association meetings, will host the European Society for Medical Oncology’s annual congress in 2021. ESMO is holding its first flagship meeting in the city at the Paris Convention Centre and Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Almost 30,000 cancer specialists are expected. From Association Meetings International…
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau has launched a “Meet Special Bonus” to secure more major events. The bonus of THB 50,000 ($1,628) is for planners holding an event with at least 100 international delegates staying for least three nights and using a venue recognised by the Thailand MICE Venue Standard. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Any manifestation of political instability can have a devastating effect on a destination’s perceived attractiveness for staging major events. Stuart Bailey, the CEO of a Hong Kong-based exhibition and conference organiser, believes that international impressions of the special administrative region’s recent protests are overblown, and should not deter either business or leisure visitors. From UFI…
The World Tunnel Congress 2019 was recently held in Naples, Italy. Over 2,700 attendees from more than 70 countries, an 80 percent rise in delegates, gathered at the Mostra D’Oltremare Congress Center. Trips included ancient and Renaissance archaeological sites, and legacy projects donated excess food and helped build community housing. From Boardroom…
Food waste is a universal problem, a lesson in Moroccan manners clearly shows. In the latest Meeting Room of the Future report from IACC, 62 percent of planners consider how a venue manages its waste before booking. 54 percent want to know if it buys from sustainable sources. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Dr Lance O’Sullivan certainly knows the power of conferences. Aged 17, the twice-expelled disruptive child from a deprived background was taken to a Māori medicine meeting by his aunt. A smart and charismatic doctor speaking there captured the teenager’s attention and started his career path as healthcare innovator. From Association Meetings International…
A year ago Amsterdam hosted the 22nd International Aids Conference. A visual “dressing” campaign made the meeting very hard to miss in and around the city. Holland may be a compact in size as a conference destination, but it packs a punch when it comes to its knowledge infrastructure and congress capabilities. From Boardroom…
During Meetings Africa 2019 held recently in Johannesburg, a noticeable change of tone was detected in the young doctors and scientists attending the Association Day presented by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). It was a clear message to established medical association leaders that “Madiba’s Children” have arrived with legacy in their hearts. One…
Hamburg Convention Bureau is busy profiling the city as a medical hub. So is the soon-to-reopen CCH – Congress Center Hamburg. Home to internationally renowned doctors and hospitals, over 169,000 people work in Hamburg’s healthcare sector, or one employee in seven. As a result the city is securing one medical congress after another. From Boardroom…
Unlike anything humanity has experienced before, the current scale, scope and complexity of change is shaking foundations society has accepted as the norm. Five converging megaforces present destinations with both tremendous opportunities and challenges: climate breakdown, ecocide, demographic shift, social change and digitalisation. The meetings and events industry supports 26 million jobs, $1.5 trillion in global…
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