The Quebec City Convention Centre has hailed an “outstanding” year in which it hosted 210 events, among them 71 conferences, and over 216,000 delegates. Quebec City Ambassadors, many of whom are research professors at Université Laval, helped land eleven of the eighteen international conferences held at the centre in 2018–2019. From Association Meetings International…
UK events budgets have defied the trend of total marketing budgets during the second quarter of 2019, showing solid growth and extending the climb of recent quarters. So says the Q2 2019 IPA Bellwether Report. The rise in events spend contrasts with flatlining marketing overall amid growing political and economic uncertainty. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
A major Asia-Oceania medical event is returning to Australia after forty years away. The five day Asia Oceania Otorhinolaryngological Head and Neck Surgery Congress will take place at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre in 2023. Brisbane and Queensland figure prominently in the sector, with a cancer vaccine being developed by Professor Ian Frazer. From Meeting International…
The Iceberg has always been dedicated to identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies lying hidden under the all-too-visible tip of travel and hospitality spending. So now it’s time to examine what lies beneath in a bracing new way. It’s time to take a deep breath and plunge “Below the Waterline”. In…
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced Brisbane will receive an economic boost of over AU$112 million from new business events taking place in the city over the coming years. The forecast is an annual record achieved by Brisbane Marketing with partners including BCEC (the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre). From Meetings International…
Dubai Business Events, the emirate’s convention bureau, has secured 118 business events during the past six months, attracting 75,200 delegates to the city. The meetings include the World Hospital Congress 2021, the ISPRS Geospatial Week 2021, and the AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress 2025. From Association Meetings International…
Italy has seen a jump in international events it stages with major overseas participation, up from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 8.1 percent in 2018. Overall conferences and events held in Italy rose by 5.8 percent in 2018, with delegates down by 2.4 percent after a fall in international association conferences. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The London Convention Bureau has asked UK hospitality tourism players during London Climate Action Week to sign up to commitments in the Mayor of London’s environment strategy. The week was launched by Mayor Sadiq Khan as a drive to make the UK capital a leader in tackling climate change. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
A multi-year, international study of business events has found a mismatch between how governments value the sector and its broader long-term outcomes, with researchers recommending ways the industry can better document these legacies. The report is a compendium of the Joint Meetings Industry Council Case Studies hosted right here on The Iceberg. From Meetings International…
The UK’s first-ever tourism sector deal is set to deliver a focussed new government strategy to grow the country’s conferences and meetings. It has created plans for identifying business events it might support, with separate criteria for attracting events to the UK, growing existing meetings and creating new ones. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Calgary will be welcoming 5,000 oil and gas professionals when it hosts the World Petroleum Congress in 2023. The city won a vote of the World Petroleum Council in St Petersburg, edging out fellow finalist Baku, by just 21 votes to 20. Calgary stands to earn $65 million from the event. From Association Meetings International…
The £260 million Gateshead Quays will create more than 1,000 new jobs for the UK’s North East. The development, to be completed by 2023, has 6,300 square metres of exhibition space and 2,800 square metres of meeting rooms. There are also hotels, a performance area, and offsite parking. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
An estimated £20 billion of direct expenditure was generated by event delegates across UK venues and wider in 2018, according to the latest UK Conference and Meeting Survey. The figure is up from £18.1 billion in 2017. The overall number of events held in 2018 was the highest in recent years. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
IBTM World has announced its 32nd edition, including a new Corporate Buyers programme, which will take place at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona this November. But the Iceberg partner will also hold IBTM Asia Pacific at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in April 2020. From Meetings International…
Sheffield has welcomed over 200 international delegates to the first ever International Child and Adolescent Knee Congress. The two-day meeting was organised by local ambassadors and orthopaedic surgeons Nick Nicolaou and Fazal Ali. Delivering about £250,000 in economic impact to the city, the event is set to remain in Sheffield long-term. From Association Meetings International…
Food waste is a major concern for more than six of every ten meeting planners, according to the IACC annual Meeting Room of the Future report 2019. The survey also shows that 44 percent believe ethical operations and sustainable practice will be crucial for venues by 2024. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Professor Eileen Murphy, head of Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast, helped secure the European Association of Archaeology’s annual conference for the city in 2022. A Northern Ireland Ambassador, Murphy worked with the convention bureau at Visit Belfast in bidding for the meeting, expected to generate £3.8 million for city coffers. From Association Meetings International…
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau has launched a “Meet Special Bonus” to secure more major events. The bonus of THB 50,000 ($1,628) is for planners holding an event with at least 100 international delegates staying for least three nights and using a venue recognised by the Thailand MICE Venue Standard. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Food waste is a universal problem, a lesson in Moroccan manners clearly shows. In the latest Meeting Room of the Future report from IACC, 62 percent of planners consider how a venue manages its waste before booking. 54 percent want to know if it buys from sustainable sources. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
While nobody can predict the future, the BestCities Global Forum looks to offer perhaps the next best thing: a futurologists’ analysis of challenges the meetings industry may face in 20 years’ time. In conjunction with the Copenhagen Convention Bureau, the conference will take place in the Danish capital this December. From Boardroom…
Five Canadian convention bureaux recently attended London Tech Week’s AI Summit at ExCeL. Their aim was to attract tech-related business events across to their own destinations, along with the inward investment that follows. Among them was Virginie De Visscher, Director of Business Development for Economic Sectors, Business Events Canada (third left). From Association Meetings International…
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