In a move sure to be replicated across all destination marketing, the Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB), partnering with the country’s State Tourism and Food Safety Agencies, has launched SAHMAN (Sanitation and Hygiene Methods and Norms). PwC is to audit the initiative, which will cover all aspects of tourism. From Meetings International…
Another round of coronavirus relief has been passed by the US Congress without the inclusion of professional and trade groups. But there are signs that legislators are now aware of the need to widen out eligibility to such non-profits. Iceberg partner ASAE and thousands of other associations have been pressing the case. From Associations Now…
Expo 2020 Dubai’s postponement will allow time to reflect on how to improve people’s lives after current COVID-19 challenges subside. So says Dimitri Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which has in principle agreed to postponing the event until 2021. An official vote will complete on May 29th. From Meetings International…
Australia’s economy is on course to lose AU$35.7 billion in direct spend over the next twelve months, while nearly all business events scheduled for 2020 are cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. That’s according to latest figures from the Business Events Council of Australia. 92,000 industry job losses are expected. From CIM Business Events…
Meeting Professionals International has published the first results of an ongoing industry survey. 58 percent of respondents said that employees at their organisation have now been furloughed or made redundant. The suppliers have been hit the hardest, with 76 percent of staff furloughed (42 percent) or laid off (34 percent). From Association Meetings International…
Following the use of UK convention centres as hospitals, Twickenham and AMEX Stadiums have become coronavirus drive-through testing facilities for healthcare and essential workers. Both arenas are significant event venues. The UK government is rapidly scaling up testing capacity. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
AIM Group International has turned a face-to-face medical conference into an entirely online meeting. The AIOP (Italian Academy of Prosthetic Odontology) congress was booked at the Riccione Convention Centre (pictured). AIOP sees the switch as a chance to attract a wider audience. From Association Meetings International…
A key activity for over 35 percent of eventprofs now working from home is improving their education. Sector recovery may be quite quick, with a venue capacity shortage into 2021. So say a briefing from The Business of Events and a survey from Business Visits & Events Partnership. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The conscription of venues as field hospitals can be seen as one of the grimmer aspects of the COVID-19 crisis, but can also foster optimism and hope. Ana Carrazon, Congress Sales and Logistics Expert at IFEMA Feria de Madrid, has been working as a volunteer at the IFEMA Hospital. From Association Meetings International…
Tokyo-based Congress Corporation has sent Iceberg partner Boardroom a letter outlining the current status of the Japanese events industry. The COVID-19 crisis even saw the 2020 Summer Olympics being postponed. Having also had to weather SARS in 2003, Congress President Noriko Takeuchi has been among those lobbying for government relief. From Boardroom…
A webinar has been held to discuss “Restarting Events in a COVID-19 World”. Chaired by Peter Sheahan, Karrikins Group Founder, speakers included Sherrif Karamat, PCMA President and CEO, Kati Quigley, Senior Director of Global Industry Marketing at Microsoft, and David Peckinpaugh, President of Iceberg partner Maritz Global Events. From PCMA…
With the industry still one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, the most pressing question on event professionals’ minds is what events will look like once lockdowns have been lifted. There are extra factors on the health and safety front that will pile on top of the measures traditionally taken. From EventMB…
COVID-19 has made virtual events necessary, acceptable and habitual. The crisis will change the industry beyond recognition in that meeting face-to-face will not take place for a while at anything like the usual scale and frequency. In the mid to longer term, social distancing and hygiene protocols will also transform. From SoolNua’s Pádraic Gilligan at Padraicino…
The COVID-19 crisis is a great time for associations to rethink the way they function and deliver value. In the second part of a series, Iceberg partner Boardroom’s Advisory Board, a mix of key association voices, talks rethinking your revenue streams in a fast-changing world, as events are redesigned and revamped. From Boardroom…
When life gives you lemons, there’s only one thing to do with them. The massive economic disruption aside, meetings professionals, venues and organisations have still found ways to support both each other and their communities. These include Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), help in housing healthcare workers and donating food. From Associations Now…
From creating virtual trade shows to turning a mere three-day event into a multi-week offering, planners are getting experimental as they pivot their meetings to virtual. The current reality requires improvisation simply to keep things moving, and that can sometimes turn out to be something of a creative shot in the arm. From Associations Now…
From feeding workers on the front line, to making sure that food from cancelled events goes to the hungry and not to landfill, here’s a roundup of how organisations from across the business events industry have offered help during the pandemic, like the Los Angeles Convention Center and Levy Restaurant (pictured). From PCMA…
The recent staging of Iceberg partner AIME (the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event) was not only a platform to showcase the strength and resilience of the region’s events industry, but also as always of destination Melbourne itself. Last October Melbourne Convention Bureau posted record results for the financial year 2018 – 2019, with over…
This AIPC and UFI guidance aims to help convention and exhibition centres prepare for and perform in an exceptional role they were not designed for but are increasingly being asked or forced to perform: as temporary emergency facilities. The immediate worldwide concern and context for this guidance is the COVID-19 pandemic. Convention and Exhibition Centres…
The speed with which the COVID-19 pandemic hit the business world – and the totality of its damaging effects in every corner of the hospitality, destination marketing, travel and live events sectors – cannot be overstated. To get a sense of the pandemic’s impact, PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) Convene sent an email invitation on…
During education sessions of the suddenly virtual Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), leaders from Meeting Professionals International, IMEX and other sector organisations advised fellow professionals to focus on long-term recovery and to work together to help the industry come back stronger than before. From Northstar Meetings Group…
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