The Iceberg sits at the heart of the advocacy that the meetings industry makes to the world outside. But how do those who represent and defend the sector see their role? The views here include those of two Iceberg partners: IMEX Manager Natasha Richards and European Cities Marketing President Dieter Hardt-Stremayr. From Conference & Incentive Management…
What does leaving a legacy really mean for the events industry? As part of a collaboration with the European Society of Association Executives, here are two perfect case studies: the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy Congress held in Glasgow, and Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress. From Boardroom…
Over the past decade the industry of business and professional events has refined its value proposition to policymakers and local communities in terms of its transformative contribution to civil society. The Joint Meetings Industry Council, which presents The Iceberg, and The Iceberg itself, have together been telling the story. From IBTM…
A history of war or peace, or of injustice or justice, has made four cities ideal destinations for conferences with a conscience: The Hague, global home of conflict resolution, Bogotá, after half a century of Colombian conflict, Belfast, after the Northern Ireland peace process, and Kigali, after Rwanda’s genocide. From Association Meetings International…
VisitBerlin has announced a “major success” after being chosen to host the 11th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science in 2021. Over 6,000 experts will attend the largest global event of its kind at the CityCube, Messe Berlin. In 2018 medicine, healthcare and pharma accounted for 22 percent of Berlin events. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Belfast’s official tourism marketing agency, Visit Belfast, has launched a new marketing campaign designed to rapidly accelerate the volume of inbound business conferences and events taking place in the city. The digital-led campaign is the city’s largest-ever dedicated business tourism marketing initiative. From Association Meetings International…
The continent’s premier trade show for the event industry Meetings Africa opened with South Africa’s Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom (pictured right) claiming broken records. He said the 14th edition of the show at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg had in fact attracted 338 exhibitors, a rise of ten percent over 2018. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Edinburgh Marketing, the body behind the city’s convention bureau, has been dealt an eleventh hour reprieve after city councillors accepted a counter offer to proposed cuts. The council had sought to slash the organisation’s funding by £567,000 next year and by 89 percent over two years. Now it has reinstated £267,000. From Association Meetings International…
The value of the business events secured with the help of Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund Program has almost doubled from AU$97 million to a record AU$187 million in the past three months. Total expenditure by international meetings visitors in the year ending September 2018 was AU$4.9 billion, up 16 percent. From TTG Mice…
Leaders from one of Europe’s most prestigious gatherings of destination marketing organisations have voiced disbelief at proposed budget cuts which could see the end of both Marketing Edinburgh and the city’s convention bureau. Partner of the Iceberg European Cities Marketing’s Spring Meeting 2019 has just been held in the Scottish capital. From Association Meetings International…
The TED Radio Hour just interviewed Yassmin Abdel-Magied, an Australian author, TV personality, and founder of Youth Without Borders. In April 2018 Abdel-Magied traveled to the US to speak at an event, but was denied entry because her country of birth, Sudan, was on President Trump’s original travel ban. From PCMA…
Ambassadors help destinations secure international association meetings. So Edinburgh’s meetings industry has an anxious wait ahead of a council vote on budget cuts that could virtually wipe out the city’s marketing and lead to the closure of Convention Edinburgh and its ambassador scheme. From editor’s blog at Association Meetings International…
Elliott Ferguson, President and CEO of Destination DC (as well as the new National chair of the US Travel Association), has been speaking about his city’s future strategy and new developments. Washington DC is the US number one spot for international association meetings, according to the last ICCA Statistics Report. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
While the Edinburgh Convention Bureau’s future funding lies under threat, so the city has also voiced the idea of a £2 per person nightly “room tax”. Some see this as a welcome source of new revenue, but will any get back to marketing, and what about competitiveness? From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
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. Nicolas Fleury, Deputy Secretary-General of the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardisation, describes ISO’s opening up of a regional office in Singapore. From Global Association Hubs Partnership…
London and Paris are collaborating to offer a range of travel products aimed at North American incentive buyers. Specialised itineraries of the two-in-one incentive trip have been created allowing delegates to experience new cultural attractions, restaurants and hotels in both capital cities. This includes an official partnership with Eurostar. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Academics across Edinburgh have slammed proposed budget cuts that would see an 89 percent drop in the capital’s marketing over the next two years as well as the closure of its ambassador programme. Over 75 Edinburgh ambassadors contacted the City Council objecting to the proposal to slash Marketing Edinburgh’s budget by £790,000. From Association Meetings International…
Events industry guru Christian Mutschlechner (above right) has now retired as head of the Vienna Convention Bureau after 27 years. 250 people attended a farewell event in Vienna, some from as far afield as the USA and Uruguay, both to celebrate his career and welcome successor Christian Woronka. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
As The Iceberg reported in October, the Swiss regions of Lausanne and Montreux have joined forces to create the joint Lausanne Montreux Congress. Two LMC representatives, Director Lausanne Tourisme Steeve Pasche and Director Montreux-Vevey Tourisme Christoph Sturny, have been speaking exclusively about their future plans. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Last year the Aotea Centre (above) in Auckland hosted over 1,400 leading scientists and researchers for the 11th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production. Auckland Advocate Alliance member and Massey University Professor of Animal Science Hugh Blair was the local committee chair, and integral to winning the conference. From Boardroom…
The branded plane that flew the foolhardy to the Fyre Festival in 2017 was just one footnote in the event disaster to end them all. After Fyre’s calamitous collapse, and the organiser’s imprisonment for fraud and $26 million fine, two new TV documentaries dissect every event planner’s worst nightmare. Photo: John Klos. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Powered by 
