St Petersburg is now doubling its subvention fund for 2019 to 50 million roubles (approximately €700,000), as part of an ongoing strategy to attract to the city major international congresses. The fund is available across all the city’s venues, but will have a significant impact on Expoforum, the Russian city’s main congress centre. From Meetings International…
Plans for the Galaxy International Convention and Exhibition Centre have just been presented at IBTM China in Beijing. Macau is getting the coming 40,000 square metre conference and business event facility, with 10,000 square metre exhibition and convention hall, as the third phase of the Galaxy casino resort completes in 2021. From Meetings International…
London has just hosted the 33rd edition of the European Cities Marketing Summer School. This year’s event graduated 64 students from three continents, including four from the USA and Canada and five from South Africa. Brand new for 2019 was an innovative stronger connection between attendees and the host city. From European Cities Marketing…
Flight-shaming, which many believe started in Sweden, has not reached the US yet, which basks in the glow of a demand boom. Greta Thunberg, the pioneering young eco-warrior (pictured), crossed the Atlantic in a yacht to avoid flying to two major climate summits. How realistic is idealism? From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
In issues 18, 33, 53 and 60 of The Iceberg’s fortnightly Business Events World, the importance of meetings has been discussed in terms of President Trump’s rapprochement with Kim Jong-un. Their summit venue, the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, is also a fascinating outing for incentive delegates. From editor’s blog at Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Holland’s network of thought leaders plays a key role in attracting international association events and enhancing the country’s reputation as a knowledge hub. Here four key influential figures, instrumental in winning bids for Utrecht, The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, discuss the experience. The group includes Professor Peter Reiss (pictured at AIDS 2018). From Boardroom…
When tourist visitors to a city greatly outnumber the resident population, it’s not hard to understand locals feeling crowded, some to the point of revolt. But is overtourism an issue for the meetings industry? What have selfie-stick wielding hordes that descend seasonally on top destinations have to do with business events? From PCMA…
Meetings and event activity continue to increase faster than budgets, finds a new study from American Express Global Business Travel. Based on fifteen in-depth interviews with event owners in Europe and the US, the report reveals that ad hoc events with quick turnaround often have no set budget. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
The She Means Business educational event at IMEX America will address issues surrounding economic and gender equality within the meetings industry. A joint event by IMEX and tw magazine, supported by MPI, She Means Business will launch in Las Vegas at the Smart Monday event, a pre-show day of education. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Protests between demonstrators and riot police in Hong Kong, with flight disruptions at Hong Kong International Airport, have caused the cancellation of meetings and events. Asset manager BlackRock has postponed a forum scheduled for September. Games developer Capcom has also cancelled an event. Photo: Studio Incendo. From Meetings & Incentive Travel…
Sigurjóna Sverrisdóttir has taken over as Managing Director of Meet in Reykjavík. She follows Thorsteinn Orn Gudmundsson, who piloted the Icelandic capital’s new convention bureau from its founding in 2012. Last year Iceland welcomed about 135,000 international meetings delegates, and some years of solid business growth. From Meetings International…
The Iceberg is now identifying and celebrating the greater mass of hard-to-see business events legacies that lie hidden beneath the surface in a new podcast “Below the Waterline”. In the second of a series featuring significant meetings industry players, Iceberg founder James Latham catches up with the IMEX Group’s formidable CEO, Carina Bauer. IMEX…
Associations World Congress 2020 organisers have announced that the event will be hosted at the Estoril Congress Centre in Portugal. AAE, the Association of Association Executives, examined universities as well as hotels and other facilities in choosing the destination, and it is pledging for 2020 to invest more in increasing delegate attendance. From Association Meetings International…
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