Over 100 association executives from seven African countries have just gathered in the Kenyan capital Nairobi for the inaugural Africa Association Summit (AAS1). The two-day event was run by the African Society of Association Executives, in partnership with the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. AfSAE President Jeffers Miruka reports. From Boardroom…
Business Events Luxembourg was created at the end of 2018 by the Ministry of the Economy of the Grand Duchy and the City of Luxembourg. It is the convention bureau for a destination striving to attract meetings in the government defined key sectors for economic growth: automobility, ICT, space, cleantech and life sciences. From Boardroom…
Florian Gerdes is Marketing Manager Conventions at HCB, the Hamburg Convention Bureau. He describes here HCB’s approach to subvention during low demand, the relationship Hamburg has with UK, what the city has to offer the planners organising within prioritised knowledge sectors, its competition with Berlin and its recent secured bid wins. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Every destination has a story to tell and specialist knowledge to attract international meetings. For the South Tyrollean capital Bolzano, with its significant existing tourism business as skiing destination, intellectual capital has also developed around local geography. Eurac is a private research cluster headquartered in the destination. It boasts eleven institutes of different disciplines, including one…
South Africa boasts the most advanced broad-based economy in the continent, and meetings business across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban which includes the 5th BRICS Summit, COP17 and the recent World Economic Forum on Africa. Clusters include healthcare and ICT, the $233 million MeetKAT radio telescope also leading in astronomy. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Calgary has seen steady growth in life sciences and healthcare, with research clusters spread across the city and a vibrant ecosystem of over 200 companies in the sector, both start-up and mature. Association conferences in the field have seen the potential impact their meetings can have in Calgary, and have consequently been piling up. From Boardroom…
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau is implementing four major economic corridor projects, co-hosting and supporting associated meetings as a platform to enhance trade and investment with neighbouring countries. So far four corridor conferences have been set up to gather local entrepreneurs and to promote business ties within the region. From Meetings International…
Melbourne is showing vision as a leader in eye health, partnering a significant international optometry congress win with existing events in the field. Some 2,000 eye healthcare professionals are expected to gather at the World Congress of Optometry in September 2021, after two recent sector events were merged and staged together. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
The new Paris Convention Centre helped make this year’s edition of the European Society of Cardiology Congress “an exceptional vintage”, according to one of the organisers. The event, which attracted 33,000 delegates, also featured the ESC’s first patient forum, and a joint public awareness campaign, a playful and informative “Heart Village”. From Association Meetings International…
Dubai Business Events, the emirate’s convention bureau, won 82 bids for international meetings, conferences and incentive travel groups in the third quarter of 2019. The events, all secured from July to September, are set to attract over 29,200 delegates from around the world, re-affirming Dubai’s status as a premier meetings destination. From Association Meetings International…
Brisbane’s brightest are again being offered grants to help them bring international meetings to the Queensland capital. The Lord Mayor’s Convention Trailblazer Grant will give young business leaders and academics a share of AU$30,000 to attend events specific to their field, and then help Brisbane bid to host the conference in future. From Association Meetings International…
ICCA, the International Congress and Convention Association, has invited senior association executives, meetings managers and volunteer leaders to join its newly founded Association Community. By making associations themselves part of its family, the Iceberg partner will now gain direct input from a key voice in the association meetings sector. From Boardroom…
Seoul has been spotlit as a leading knowledge hub in minimally invasive urological surgery through securing the 2022 40th World Congress of Endourology. The event will bring around 2,500 specialists from 90 countries to the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center in Gangnam. Another Seoul sector event relayed live surgeries from local hospitals. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Seoul’s recent debut hosting of the International Bar Association Annual Conference is the latest example of global groups using the city’s PLUS SEOUL support service for meetings. The event follows in the footsteps of the International Organization for Standardization’s TC258 Plenary Meeting in September, which also made use of PLUS SEOUL. From Boardroom…
Work on the €170 million refurb and expansion of Hungexpo Budapest Congress and Exhibition Center has begun with laying the foundation stone. Co-funded by government and venue owners GL events, two new exhibition halls, a new congress centre, and a new reception building will all open their doors in 2021. From Association Meetings International…
The world’s top forensic toxicology scientists will meet in New Zealand for the first time in 2023 when the seaport of Auckland hosts the 61st Annual Meeting and Congress of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The five-day event is expected to attract 650 delegates and deliver NZ$1.28 million in visitor spend. From Association Meetings International…
Vilnius is hoping to energise its local physics community through hosting the 14th European Conference on Atoms, Molecules and Photons in 2022. The meeting, which Vilnius University academics are organising, should attract over 400 experts in atomic, molecular and optical physics to the Lithuanian capital, and have an economic impact of €800,000. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Can venues help bridge the divide that often lies between international associations and their local hosts or chapters in the event destination? Angeline van den Broecke, Director of Global Business Development and Marketing at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, believes they can, and in the process ensure the success of major congresses. From Boardroom…
Salespeople used to visualise reward for success through pictures placed on their desk, of a sports car, dream home or paradise location. Agency Strata Creative Communications’s Client Services Director and Head of Incentives, Mike Parrott, spells out how modern incentive events drive effective and sustainable growth in performance. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Sustainability continues to rise up the agenda across meetings and events, and two Iceberg partner specialists in this area have turned up in a series of video interviews on the subject filmed at IMEX America, Positive Impact’s Fiona Pelham and the Global Destination Sustainability Index’s Guy Bigwood. From Endless Events…
While some destinations fail to invest in reaping the rewards of business and professional events (the current example being the Scottish capital and the public sector funding cuts devastating convention and visitors bureau Marketing Edinburgh), meetings are increasingly being acknowledged by city authorities across the board for the economic and social legacies they leave. Iceberg…
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