Glasgow Convention Bureau has reported best-ever year-end results with conference business generating more than £150 million for the city. Between 2018 and 2019, Glasgow hosted more than 530 conferences which brought in almost 160,000 delegates. Four significant medical meetings alone boosted the local economy by more than £17m. From Association Meetings International…
The London Convention Bureau has asked UK hospitality tourism players during London Climate Action Week to sign up to commitments in the Mayor of London’s environment strategy. The week was launched by Mayor Sadiq Khan as a drive to make the UK capital a leader in tackling climate change. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
What will the meetings industry look like in 2029? New tech, spiralling travel costs, legislation about the environment and “flight guilt” will transform the sector. The industry will still thrive. The need to “meet” will not go away. But “meeting” will more often be through a screen. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
The international conference just staged in Ljubljana, Slovenia, by Iceberg partner European Cities Marketing included thoughts about destination sustainability from Nobel prize winner and climatologist Lučka Kajfež Bogataj. Another Iceberg partner participating, the Global Destination Sustainability Index, also released its third white paper. From European Cities Marketing…
After enduring record temperatures at sector meetings, the CEO of UFI, global association of the exhibition industry, muses on its recent report about supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Joint Meetings Industry Council is doing similar work, plus Iceberg partners UFI, ICCA and AIPC have launched a Global Alliance. From Kai Hattendorf via LinkedIn…
How can associations grow in a manner that creates a positive impact on society? This is the key question the five-year-old Dubai Association Centre is aiming to address this December at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the second edition of the Dubai Association Conference. Impact and legacy will be centre stage. From Boardroom…
What’s trending around the globe in the events industry? With the help of its international partners, Maritz Global Events investigated the current state of the field and narrowed down the top five trends affecting the event industry right now. These global experts and local champions from the industry share their take, and provide a diverse…
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…
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…
On the occasion of 2019’s Global Exhibitions Day (GED), UFI, the industry’s global association, is launching a new report and online database. These will track initiatives and projects in the global exhibitions business shaped around the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. This resource, a first of its kind, aims to showcase work done…
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…
At the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence’s Global Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, during January 2019, The Bangkok Manifesto was created following a series of workshops with SITE’s International Board of Directors, Trustees of the SITE Foundation and a cohort of global experts in the field of incentive travel. The final ten statements of the document…
A new era of sustainability is rising and set to shape the future of the events industry, according to a new white paper just out from the Global Destination Sustainability Index, an Iceberg partner. The report details case studies, data analysis and actions taken by 47 destination management organisations and municipalities. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Record numbers of exhibition professionals around the world celebrated June 5, the fourth Global Exhibitions Day, which highlights how the industry generates $325 billion in total output globally and contributes $198 billion to GDP worldwide. An estimated 90 countries took part, according to preliminary data from Iceberg partner UFI, the sector’s global association. From PCMA…
The Palais des congrès de Montréal has put together a Sustainability Innovation Committee made up of experts from institutions including ten Quebec universities. The group’s purpose will be to facilitate sharing academic research in the field, and to identify research partnership opportunities between the venue and sustainability organisations. From Boardroom…
Africa’s Travel Indaba, hosted again at the Durban ICC, has attracted over 1,000 exhibitors and 1,500 buyers, as well as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (centre). The event was organised around greening principles in evidence throughout the three days, which included introducing Meetings Africa’s Green Stand Award for the most sustainable exhibitor. From the Event…
Professionals from right across the business events industry have been honoured in Frankfurt at the IMEX Gala Dinner. The 2019 JMIC Unity Award went to Joachim König, Director of Hannover Congress Centrum. Emile Coetzee from North-West University in South Africa won the MPI Foundation / Maritz Global Events Student Scholarship Award. From the Event…
At the swansong of IMEX Frankfurt 2019, IMEX Group has reported, almost 70,000 individual and group appointments between attendees had taken place over the show’s three days. 72 percent of these had mini requests for proposals (RFPs) attached to them. The event hosted 250 education sessions. 47 percent of speakers were women. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Elliott L. Ferguson II, President and CEO of Washington DC’s official marketing organisation Destination DC, has been talking “connected capital”, inclusion and positive impact at IMEX in Frankfurt. His themes included which knowledge sectors the district is targeting, the legacies its meetings are leaving in their wake, and issues of diversity. From Boardroom…
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