In a call to action for all Asian destinations to embrace “beyond-tourism” thinking in their approach to Business Events, PCMA’s Florence Chua summarises the opportunities and barriers to growth in the regional and international association market within Asia Pacific.
Interviewed during this year’s PCMA APAC conference at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Chua highlighted the economic dynamism across the whole region, the enormous current size and potential for growth of China’s business events sector, and the gaps in many policymakers’ understanding of our sector that are holding back even greater growth.
“Funding doesn’t need a business events grant, it can come directly from the [scientific or business] sector”
The region’s policymakers almost all understand trade shows but many have less understanding about the strategic role of international association meetings, where economic and societal impacts are less immediately visible and instantaneous. “The deals that drive GDP growth don’t get closed today”, they are a longer-term outcome of such meetings. As this concept become more generally understood, dramatic growth will be driven by the region’s insatiable demand for specialist knowledge and know-how, certification and accreditations, standards and innovation.
