On paper, travelling to meetings is less friendly to the environment than meeting virtually. But events face-to-face have value add hard to quantify. Human interaction is vital for challenging entrenched ways of doing business. To tackle climate change, we must surely collaborate in person as well as online. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were the most expensive to date, and too big to fail, despite ongoing challenges from the pandemic. Gary Grimmer, the Executive Chairman of Iceberg partner GainingEdge, says they make a timely case study for planners and destinations in the new paradigm of broadcast-friendly hybrid events. From Meetings & Conventions Asia…
Boardroom Chief Editor Remi Deve just returned from Lausanne where he attended the Annual Conference of Iceberg partner AIPC. He shares here a few things he learned about the future of the sector from both the meeting’s programme and from reconnecting with colleagues at the SwissTech Convention Center. From Boardroom…
The event sector is being urged to take more and earlier action over climate change, in advance of this November’s COP26 conference at Glasgow’s SEC. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UK government and SME Climate Hub were part of the special event at which the call was made. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
BestCities Global Alliance has just celebrated twenty-one years since its founding. Managing Director Lesley Williams reflects upon the Iceberg partner’s past and future, and upon the role collaboration has played in the journey. She also pays tribute to the BestCities’ member destinations and to more recently formed alliances. From BestCities Global Alliance…
Convention bureaus have operated as key stakeholders in the meetings industry for over a century, assuming major responsibility for marketing their cities, regions and countries as destinations for the hosting of business events, from small corporate gatherings to the vast annual conferences organised by international associations. During all of that time it has been clearly…
In April’s survey against March’s, much of the sector is experiencing a sense of languish. In the month between the two, vaccinations in the US (where the majority of survey respondents live) have averaged around three million shots a day, certainly the country’s best chance of recovery. Yet seven percent fewer planner respondents reported feeling hopeful…
The health and safety of event attendees has always been a big consideration for meeting professionals. The COVID-19 outbreak, however, has brought health and safety into focus like never before. As many organisations consider resuming incentive group travel programs, health and safety is the most talked about element and an area of uncertainty as COVID…
Chapter IV of Beyond Food looks at the devastating effect of the pandemic on the conference and events market, and at how the industry is addressing a new way of working post-COVID. Beyond Food: Beyond COVID-19 (Lime Venue Portfolio website, registration required)
Between February and March, a flurry of news articles predicted a huge surge in leisure travel, sometimes referred to as “revenge travel”, as people celebrate the end of the pandemic, make up for lost time and splurge after the stress of living through COVID. Airlines have reported substantial jumps in air travel demand during March…
Just fifteen people in 60,000, in line with the broader population, tested positive for COVID-19 after they had attended one of nine pilot events in the UK Events Research Programme. Delegates at the events were not required to socially distance nor wear masks, but took PCR tests at home. From Association Meetings International…
Business leaders in Hong Kong are joining to promote “the vertical city” as a top meetings and conventions destination. One hundred inaugural ambassadors are being led by the Hong Kong Tourism Board with the aim of revitalising business events and strengthening Hong Kong’s reputation as a destination. From Association Meetings International…
The Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe has published an update of its study “The Impact of Coronavirus on Europe’s Convention Sector”. The report proffers three recovery scenarios to reflect possible futures given the level of uncertainty about how the pandemic will evolve over coming months. From Meetings International…
Vienna is allocating its tourist board and convention bureau with another €4 million to support national and international planners of meetings held in the capital until the end of 2023, and offering up to €60,000 per event. For the first time the money is available to corporate conferences and hybrid events. From Meetings International…
One in three European convention bureaux have suffered public sector budget cuts over the last year. That’s according to a new report into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic upon meetings. Over fifteen percent of bureaux had “stopped or severely reduced” bidding as associations grappled with the uncertainties of planning events. From Association Meetings International…
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…
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