A new research report published by Cities Restart called The Importance of International Conferences and Business Events to Restarting City Economies has revealed that spending on international conferences and business events for the UK is estimated to have been worth £19.4 billion in 2019, but following the interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, by 2026 is forecast…
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 Japan Convention Bureau, working under the umbrella of the Japan National Tourism Organisation, went all-online for its annual event targeted at event planners, Meet Japan. The educational familiarisation trip showcased the 2017 18th World Congress on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, plus a virtual tour of Osaka, set to host Expo 2025. From Boardroom…
Sven Bossu was named as Iceberg partner AIPC’s first CEO back in May. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director for Innovation at ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) after eight years at SWIFT’s SIBOS. Here he offers the same message of a retiring Flemish TV anchor… “everything will be fine”. From AIPC…
Global convention industry consulting firm and Iceberg partner GainingEdge has released its third annual Competitive Index of international convention destinations. The 2020 edition extends the listing to the world’s top 101 cities, those which have hosted 87 or more international conventions over the past three years as reported by the International Congress and Convention Association….
The global exhibition market size is likely to drop by $19.9 billion, with a total year-end contraction of about 69 percent. That’s according to the twelfth edition of market assessment Globex. By 2022, the report expects the global market to have bounced back to 78 percent of its 2019 size. From Exhibition World…
Ten well-known UK exhibition organisers have been describing their thought processes and plans for 2021. Several talked about how their teams had risen to the multiple challenges of keeping the lights on and their businesses ticking over. There was also real consensus of opinion about key learnings and outlook going forward. From Exhibition News…
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…
Informa has posted pre-tax losses of £739.9 million ($946.9 million) in its financial results for the six months ending June 30th 2020. The group updated actions to ensure stability through into 2021, amid ongoing disruption and the postponements of events extending into the spring. From Exhibition News…
When Marco Oelschlegel became head of Berlin’s Convention Bureau in January 2020, neither he nor the rest of the world knew how difficult and strange the coming few months would be. So just how has the start of his new role ended up being, and what is Berlin’s “new normal” like? From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
As part of the #aNewTomorrow initiative, Iceberg partner ECM (European Cities Marketing) invited ten Long Thinkers – experts in their fields, industry influencers and purposeful changemakers – to look further ahead, beyond thee crisis and towards a New Tomorrow for tourism and destinations. These are now all compiled in this catalogue and shared anew. A…
The 25th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals is heading to Perth in December 2023. The event is set to bring thousands of experts into the city and deliver AU$10 million to the local economy. The win was supported by Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund Program. From Association Meetings International…
CPhI Japan, the pharmaceutical trade show organised by Informa Markets, has announced that it will postpone until 2021. It had been set to run in Osaka from September into October, but will instead run at the Big Sight Exhibition Centre in Tokyo in April. CPhI brings together more than 100,000 pharma professionals. From Exhibition World…
Martin Sirk is International Advisor for Iceberg partner GAH (Global Association Hubs). In a sharp reality check for the business events sector, he warns that successful reopening relies on a much wider containment of the pandemic than the industry on its own can ever achieve. The economy and health are not zero-sum trade-offs or parallel-track…
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…
EICC, the Edinburgh International Convention Centre, has launched a “hybrid virtual model” in advance of the “phased return to smaller-scale events” anticipated later this year. “Make It Edinburgh Live” will allow planners to run events either entirely online or instead via a combination of both online and onsite. From Association Meetings International…
RAI Amsterdam has said it is able to reopen its doors while still closely following all guidelines regarding social distancing. The venue wants to organise trial events during the summer to test various ways visitors and exhibitors can be safely brought together. Everyone will be required to register with RAI in advance. From Meetings International…
Governments have differing ideas about how meetings should return safely during the pandemic. Industry bodies advocate different plans. But what of the science? Dr. Brian Labus, epidemiologist and health sciences expert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, prepares organisers for the months ahead. From Event MB…
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…
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