Association meeting planners are eager to return to in person events according to a recent report. The Business Events Consumer Demand Project from Tourism Australia found that nearly half of their association respondents, or 45 percent, had held meetings over the past ten months, including those with delegates attending on site. From Association Meetings International…
The pandemic offers a chance for the global business events sector to reinvent itself. So says a white paper and recovery roadmap just jointly released by PCMA, the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, Singapore Tourism Board, as well as Iceberg partner UFI. But the paper also details havoc already wreaked upon the industry. From PCMA…
Meetings industry leaders have just convened at a roundtable to thrash out their strategy for the future of business events in Australia. The event was hosted by both Tourism Australia and the Business Events Council of Australia, whose Deputy Chair Geoff Donaghy (pictured) is also CEO of meeting venue ICC Sydney. From Conference & Meetings World…
The national convention bureau Business Events Australia has placed AU$3 million more in the subvention pot to support bids for international events. Since its launch in 2018, the Business Events Bid Fund Program has helped attract 40 international events to Australia, worth about AU$411 million to the economy. From Association Meetings International…
The impact of the pandemic on Australia’s business events is well documented. The Business Council of Australia has reported a loss of AU$35 billion in direct expenditure for Australia’s economy and over 230,000 jobs affected. But what about the country’s knowledge economy, asks ICC Sydney CEO Geoff Donaghy? From Meetings International…
PCMA’s Convening Leaders has been held as a global showcase of business events. Houston in Texas had initially been chosen to host, but the pandemic meant that PCMA connected delegates mainly via the Marina Bay Sands Global Broadcast Center in Singapore. The content was constructed around “Recovery Discovery”. From Conference & Meetings World…
In 2000 and 2006 business events legend and friend of the Iceberg Elizabeth Rich wrote provocative articles about the sector’s struggle with identity. After years at the helm of the Meetings Industry Association of Australia and the Business Events Council of Australia, she remains a keen observer in challenging times. From Meetings International…
We are in unchartered territory with a global pandemic disrupting lives and livelihoods. But with improved knowledge about the virus, more efficient testing and now with mass vaccinations, the tide is turning. Kai Hattendorf, Managing Director and CEO of Iceberg partner UFI, offers with his team five trends to drive industry development. From UFI…
Melbourne will be showcasing scientific know-how after winning bids for two major congresses. The city will host the International Mass Spectrometry Conference 2024 and also the International Symposium on Lepton and Photon Interactions in 2023. The two events will deliver AU$13.2 million to the state. From Association Meetings International…
A new report published by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), which presents The Iceberg, offers the most comprehensive assessment yet of meetings industry activities addressing the full range of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). The program was an extension of an initiative begun by Iceberg partner UFI, the global association of the…
BECA (the Business Events Council of Australia) has welcomed AU$50 million funding announced by the Australian government to support the restart of the country’s business events industry. Targeted support is designed to drive confidence and to create momentum, positioning the industry to rebound as the market conditions improve. From Exhibition World…
After months of lockdown, many countries are just now gradually reopening events. This is not just countries that have suppressed the pandemic, but also many where the situation remains uncertain during a second wave of cases. So how do events look in a COVID-19 world? From Rod Kamleshwaran of the Iceberg partner GainingEdge via LinkedIn…
COVID-19 has forced a rethinking of travel. Many conferences have been cancelled. Some have gone virtual. This analysis looks at actions that might reduce conference travel emissions by up to 90 percent, including holding a conference biennially in accessible locations, plus having both regional hubs and more virtual events. From Nature…
Mark Taylor, Chief Executive of the QEII Centre in London, believes the meetings industry’s recovery from the impact and threat of COVID-19 could see it become even stronger. The venue has had an interesting journey, with one delegate in early February diagnosed with the virus just after attending. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
BECA, the Business Events Council of Australia, has delivered a set of safety and hygiene procedures to the Australian government. These guidelines make the argument that business events are different from other mass gatherings and should open up as soon as possible. They also show how to keep events safe and hygienic. Photo: Thennicke. From Exhibition World…
Asia’s business events industry has the potential to rebound faster than that of other continents, but being able to conduct business safely is important. So said the panellists at a Global MICE Situation in the Time of the Pandemic webinar, among them regional managers from the Iceberg partners ICCA and UFI. From Meetings International…
Iceberg partner UFI, the exhibition industry’s global association, staged an UFI Connects webinar on the role of government in exhibition industry recovery in Asia. It produced some great market insights, among them news of trade shows opening up in Shanghai this June, plus an update on the regional subsidies available. From Exhibition World…
Australia’s business events landscape is surveyed here in a rich collection of articles. BESydney’s Lyn Lewis-Smith, ICC Sydney’s Geoff Donaghy, ACC’s Simon Burgess, MCEC’s Peter King, Brisbane Marketing’s Juliet Alabaster, plus the team behind JMIC’s (the Joint Meetings Industry Council’s) case studies, all offer up viewpoints. 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…
Coronavirus event cancellations are wiping AU$2.5bn off the Australian economy every month. So say new figures from a major industry body. Shutting down large gatherings has effectively shut down the country’s meetings sector, with devastating results, according to the Business Events Council of Australia. From Association Meetings International…
Due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, we must share the heartbreaking news that AIME 2021 has been cancelled. Like many other event organisers, we face the challenges brought about by international and domestic travel restrictions despite healthy interest for the event from exhibitors and buyers. As the past year has shown, it’s difficult to predict…
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