The DestinationNEXT Futures Study identifies the trends and opportunities that will shape the future of the industry and takes place every other year. The 2021 update to the DestinationNEXT Futures Study, built on the learnings from the 2014, 2017 and 2019 Futures Studies, helps determine updated trends and strategies that will keep the thousands of destination organisations around the…
Delegates’ growing demand for unique venues, unique food, new flavour experiences, greater transparency and healthier products are destined to continue to shape food at events, but what does the future of event food look like? Beyond Food: The Future of Conference and Event Food (Lime Venue Portfolio website, registration required)
Glasgow Convention Bureau is offering an interactive workshop to help planners in hosting sustainable meetings as part of the People Make Glasgow Green Strategy. Aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Go Greener in Glasgow initiative comes as the city readies for UN climate change conference COP26. From Association Meetings International…
A convention centre has reopened after a €170 million refurbishment. Hungexpo Budapest now stretches over 70,000 square metres, making it the largest facility of its type across Central Eastern Europe. A new entry lobby, two new exhibition halls and a new congress centre are part of the makeover. From Association Meetings International…
Vaccinated passengers will be able to travel from the EU and UK to the US from November 8th, the Biden administration has said, marking the end of the eighteen-month blanket ban on travel. The US’s loosening of these travel restrictions is a crucial milestone in the recovery of global events. From Conference & Meetings World…
The latest UK Conference and Meeting Survey throws into stark relief the huge toll of the pandemic upon the industry. The 28th annual UKCAMS report shows a drop of 86 percent in 2020-held conferences and meetings compared with 2019. The estimated sector value fell from £17.6 billion to £1.7 billion. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Incredible Impacts, the joint initiative from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and BestCities Global Alliance, both of them Iceberg partners, has awarded three associations which have left lasting legacies of social advances. The European AIDS Clinical Society, The Garden of Hope Foundation, and Women Deliver are this year’s winners. From Conference & Meetings World…
The global meetings industry is being urged to join together in an historic pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. JMIC (Joint Meetings Industry Council), which presents The Iceberg, has launched an initiative called Net Zero Carbon Events to connect the industry to the growing movement to radically reduce emissions. From Association Meetings International…
Business events companies in Italy could have some of their COVID-19 losses returned under a €520 million compensation scheme to which EU competition watchdogs have given the nod. The European Commission has approved the funding package, intended to compensate companies in the trade fair and congress sector. From Association Meetings International…
You are far less likely to contract COVID-19 at a business event than during grocery shopping, according to a study. Infection rates across US business events were as much as 95 percent lower than the average, and the risk at events up to eight times less than out in the host city. From Association Meetings International…
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…
Liverpool has now become the first English city to join Iceberg partner the Global Destination Sustainability Index. The announcement comes after Liverpool declared a climate emergency in 2019. The imminent opening of the city’s new carbon conscious venue the Spine will also add to the city’s sustainable efforts. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Bangkok’s largest convention centre, Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, will reopen in September 2022 with a capacity for 100,000 visitors a day. Following investment of 15 billion Thai Baht ($455 million), the new QSNCC will be reopening with five times the amount of space it previously had (now 78,500 square metres). From Association Meetings international…
In a first for Malaysia, Sarawak has now joined the Global Destination Sustainability Index for Business Events and Tourism, by launching the GDSI Partnership Programme Sarawak Region. Kuching city has been selected as the pilot project, putting it among 75 destinations signed up to the Iceberg partner. From Conference & Meetings World…
The pandemic has given convention bureaux a fresh chance to partner with their economic development agencies to benefit the destination over the short and long term in new and often fruitful ways. In fact, this is one of three central trends identified in the DestinationNEXT 2021 Futures Study just released. From PCMA…
Cancelling in person meetings has forced association planners to tear up the script over the last eighteen months. But what will happen next? In this launch of a series of quarterly summits, expert panellists discuss questions most asked about the future of association meetings. James Lancaster hosts. From Association Meetings International…
Nearly all healthcare practitioners list “high-quality content” as their most important factor in deciding whether to attend virtual events. So says an updated survey from Kenes Group. But fewer HCPs are now able to take time off for such events, and more say fees should be half those of in person meetings. From PCMA…
With ongoing cases of COVID-19, full federal approval of the Pfizer vaccine, and new federal vaccine mandates covering workers, more associations are considering adding a vaccine mandate to their in person events. Here’s what organisers need to know about legal considerations, about verifying vaccination, as well as about state mandate bans. From Associations Now…
Postponed a few times for obvious reasons after having been staged online in 2020, the GIAF (Geneva International Association Forum) was the first physical association event of the kind post-lockdown. Delegates were certainly happy to be together again seeing old friends and making new ones. But the event programme also did not disappoint. From Boardroom…
Michelle Mason heads up Iceberg partner ASAE as President and CEO. After she “stumbled into association management”, as a temporary staff assistant at what is now called the American Chemistry Council, Mason has climbed the ranks, transforming any barriers into opportunities and using her platform to raise others who are underrepresented. From PCMA…
Business and Events Academy Creator Nadia Rubtsova once worked for the European Health Management Association. Back in 2019, the scientific conference of EHMA was taking place in Espoo, Finland. After a year of hard work, the organiser’s guiding Northern stars for the meeting’s three days and 350 delegates were legacy, community and impact. From Boardroom…
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