Six bomb attacks on Easter Sunday may have destroyed a decade of economic recovery in Sri Lanka that was largely reliant on tourism. The attacks left 253 people dead (revised Ministry figure), with several hundred injured, at churches and five-star hotels. As a result, venues and inbound DMCs have been deluged with cancellations. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Jack Sim founded the World Toilet Organisation in 2001 as the global voice of toilets and the sanitation agenda. Its aim is to break taboos over a hard-to-discuss subject and also to engineer a massive legacy: addressing the crisis of 2.6 billion people living without clean toilets and hygienic sewage treatment. From BestCities Global Alliance…
Lyn Lewis-Smith, CEO of Business Events Sydney, recently joined a Trans-Tasman Business Circle’s #womenintechontour visiting San Francisco and Silicon Valley to gather intelligence on the skills and talent attraction strategies of US multinational corporations. Global meeting attendees present a ripe opportunity that is currently being overlooked. From Lyn Lewis-Smith via LinkedIn…
The recent terror attacks in Sri Lanka have devastated a country enjoying resurgent tourism since the end of civil war a decade ago. It is crucial that the international community, especially in incentive travel, does not abandon the destination. Rajeev Kohli is joint MD of Creative Travel DMC, which has operations in Sri Lanka. From PCMA…
A global initiative to address plastic use at events has just been launched by Iceberg partner Positive Impact, supported by the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The campaign is collecting usage data as well as encouraging the switch to alternative materials, and began when the two organisations’ CEOs met at a conference. From PCMA…
To quantify the economic significance of exhibitions globally, Oxford Economics has prepared a comprehensive model of global exhibitions activity that references recent studies on their economic significance. The results of this study show the scope of the global exhibition sector in terms of direct spending and jobs, as well as the total impacts of exhibitions…
First announced in February, the #MEET4IMPACT Project is the brainchild of Geneviève Leclerc, Founder of Caravelle Strategies. Along with several partners, the initiative is creating a framework to support the generation and measurement of association meetings’ social impacts. More details have now been unveiled about the approaches being taken. From Boardroom…
The 2019 Conference on Artificial Life will take place at Newcastle University from July into August. Over 200 international delegates from across various disciplines are expected to meet and discuss the latest developments in the field. Organisers will also use remote talks and presentation streaming to make the meeting more sustainable. From Boardroom…
The Cannabis Expo has just lit up Cape Town for four days, as visitors to Sun Exhibits, GrandWest, arrived and learnt about this rapidly growing industry. Over 16,500 attended the show, even more than visited its inaugural staging in Pretoria. The expo heads to Durban this June. From the Event…
The Events Industry Council has announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Amy Calvert, after a global search. Calvert is currently Senior Vice President of Convention Sales and Services with Visit Baltimore, and has worked in the past for Long Beach Convention Bureau and Intercontinental Hotels Group. From the Events Industry Council…
School computer labs across rural Sarawak, Malaysia, will be benefitting after convention organisers and their delegates complete surveys from the Sarawak Convention Bureau. Sarawak CB will be making a donation for each returned form to the Chumbaka Junior Innovate Fund. By Jane Vong Holmes, Senior Manager Asia, at Iceberg Partner GainingEdge (second left). Many of the world’s…
The meetings industry has joined others in condemning anti-LGBT laws in Brunei, where sex between men just became a capital offence and sex between women punishable by up to ten years in prison. IAPCO and DRPG have warned of damage this will cause to the sultanate’s destination status. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
How can events have a “positive impact” on their destination? James Latham of The Iceberg discusses key trends in legacy and how meetings can create them, legacies being those outcomes relating to the purpose of an event in trade, innovation, education, healthcare, conflict resolution etc. which grow over time. From BestCities Global Alliuance…
The artist Paul Klee suffered and eventually died from scleroderma. The wasting disease remains rare, and used to be addressed only on the fringes of larger rheumatology conferences. Then the World Scleroderma Foundation and PCO AIM Group International partnered to launch the Systemic Sclerosis World Congress, a meeting that emphasises patient participation. From PCMA…
Quebec’s forestry is both extremely beautiful, especially in Autumn, and also a major resource and industry for the region. Now the province is building on sector innovation to host Woodrise 2019, the second world congress on midrise and tall wood buildings. The event should attract over 1,000 international construction professionals. From AMI Intellectual Capitals…
Organisers, venues and convention bureaux have celebrated the 2019 Global Meetings Industry Day to promote the economic and societal benefits of the sector. Hundreds of events took place to mark GMID, which was founded by the Meetings Mean Business alliance in the US four years ago to spotlight industry legacies. From Association Meetings International…
The 17th Aesthetic & Anti-Ageing Medicine World Congress has taken place at Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Programmed by the World Society of Interdisciplinary Anti-Ageing Medicine, every year the event attracts over 10,000 participants from more than 120 countries. Over 300 leading international companies are showcased on the five-floor exhibition area. Photo: Evelyscher. From Boardroom…
Lyon has become the latest city to join Iceberg partner the Global Destination Sustainability Index, a ranking of meetings destinations’ environmental credentials. Only Lyon, the city’s convention bureau, is the 48th destination to sign up to the index, which benchmarks them on how well they are meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals. From Association Meetings International…
The looming threat of climate change poses huge questions for the international meetings industry, particularly for high profile global events under intense media scrutiny like COP24, the World Economic Forum and the UN Climate Change Conference. But does the sector itself have the answers, and how is it approaching the problem? From Association Meetings International…
From campaigns in Atlanta and New York combating human trafficking, to a visit to Washington DC and Capitol Hill sharing the sector’s economic value with members of Congress, the global meetings industry came together on April 4th at events all around the world to create legacies for Global Meetings Industry Day. From PCMA…
The Iceberg is publishing a series of interviews about the globalisation of large associations. These are jointly produced by partners Boardroom and the Global Association Hubs Partnership. Matthew D’Uva, CEO of the Washington DC-headquartered International Association for the Study of Pain, describes reaching 100 chapters around the world. From Global Association Hubs Partnership…
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