Leading global tourism and business events industry consulting firm, GainingEdge has announced that Hamish Reid has joined the company as Director, Business Development and Representation Services, UK and Europe, effective April 1, 2026. Reid brings more than 25 years of international experience in sales, marketing and strategic leadership in the Business Events sector…
AWAITING COPY Further Learning: Fáilte Ireland Case Study: Autism Europe Congress: From Inclusion to Impact – Redefining What’s Possible Through Cocreation
This high-level advocacy event will bring business events leaders together with UK national parliamentarians and policy influencers who will consider the strategic challenges and set the policymaking agenda for the sector in the UK over the coming years. Over 300 leaders gathered together at the previous edition in 2025. Register your interest here…
Destination Canada’s Canadian Tourism Outlook 2026–2035, prepared with Tourism Economics, highlights that demand for Canada as a destination is accelerating. The sector is outperforming expectations. The opportunity ahead is bigger than ever. This Outlook gives industry, government and partners a shared, current view of where growth is heading and what it takes to capture it.
Executive assistants remain the largest group of business event organisers in Australia; this provides a useful snapshot of how buying behaviour is shifting. Activity and budgets are back to 2019 levels but the way events are being planned has changed: Lead times are shorter. Convenience, speed and ease of delivery are now key decision drivers.
David Adler digs deeply into the Freeman Spring 2026 Learning Trends Report, highlighting the content strategies that truly motivate and engage attendees, driving impact and repeat attendance. The era of celebrity speakers and rock band “networking” events is being overtaken by attendee demand to put usable ideas and solutions at the centre of event design.
The congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis demonstrates the impact of Barcelona Convention Bureau’s Legacy Programme, where intentional impact planning helped bring the congress’s scientific advances closer to patients, encouraging their participation in research, whilst educating Barcelona’s business community about stigma around MS and building more inclusive workplaces.
In a vote of confidence for the positive societal and economic impact of Business Events, C$15 million has been earmarked over the next three years to help attract events in strategically important sectors. Administered by Destination Canada, ICAF has helped secure 116 international conventions, generating C$803.3 million in direct economic impact and supporting 6,692 jobs.
The Autism Europe Congress 2025 in Dublin was more than a gathering of global experts – it marked a decisive shift in how events can be designed, delivered, and experienced when inclusion is not an add-on, but the foundation. That shift began long before the doors of the RDS opened in September 2025. When Fáilte…
Kai Hattendorf documents a fundamental shift in the way AI will influence the future of events: rather than primarily being a suite of tools for organisers, AI’s most impactful role will be in how younger delegates use it long before the event starts to guide their entire decision-making on whether and how to participate.
Associations have only a few weeks left to prepare and submit entries for this year’s programme, with US$25,000 in grants on offer. Co-organised by BestCities Global Alliance and ICCA, Incredible Impacts encourages associations to share the innovative ways in which their meetings generate societal value, locally and nationally where the meeting takes place, or worldwide.
The program is fully operational as of 10th April and replaces traditional passport stamps with a digital system, designed to increase security, and make border checks faster and more efficient. Border control agents will collect fingerprints, take a facial image and ask for travel information of non-EU nationals who are visiting European countries. From Northstar…
David Adler, Gathering Point News, explores the rationale for establishing the Centre for Events & Festivals as a response to a fragmented events industry, weak knowledge-sharing, and limited use of evidence. The organisation aims to bridge academia and practice, strengthen collaboration, and promote more sustainable, inclusive, and community-focused approaches to event design and delivery.
CEMA Summit is the annual moment that brings the world of event marketing together to compare strategies. We test ideas, we track lessons learned, and we unpack the best practices emerging as the industry evolves. Join event marketers from around the globe for three days of practitioner-led education, global case studies, and candid, future-focused conversation.
As geopolitical instability continues, organisers are under growing pressure to respond quickly, communicate clearly and reassure clients when disruption strikes. Boardroom’s Vicky Koffa interviews Kenes Group CEO Ora Lahav on why crisis readiness should no longer be treated as an occasional capability, but needs to become part of an international event organiser’s everyday operating mindset.
Destinations International has released a comprehensive new resource designed to help destination leaders strengthen relationships with residents and stakeholders while advancing long-term community alignment. Grounded in insights from the Futures Study and shaped by global industry leaders, the Destination Professional’s Guide to Community Engagement offers a practical framework to help destination organizations measure meaningful impact.
City Nation Place has released a benchmarking report into the different approaches taken by a range of destinations to build competitiveness in attracting and retaining talent. There are certain to be many lessons that can be taken on board when designing business event strategies that share this same objective.
PCMA Insights, a resource for business events leaders has been released, designed to help make sense of an increasingly complex business environment. Also available to download is PCMA’s flagship annual report on how event strategists in companies and associations, and destination leaders in city and national DMOs worldwide are planning, designing and leading through 2026.
The Events Industry Council (EIC), in collaboration with the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), has launched a targeted refinement of the EIC Sustainable Event Standards (SES), representing an important opportunity to further strengthen alignment across the industry’s leading sustainability frameworks. Contributions are welcome until 12 April 2026.
Boardroom’s Vicky Koffa and Remi Deve summarise the key issues, opportunities and challenges discussed at the recent EAS 2026, all of which provide vital insights for business events suppliers and destinations interested in better understanding the current thinking and priorities of their association clients. An important conclusion: collaboration has become a strategic necessity.
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