We are a few days out from our European Conference in Zurich. The content looks promising, and I personally am especially looking forward to meeting face to face with this year’s group of our Next Generation Leaders, having chaired the selection jury.
The MICE Industry has played an important part in leading the economic impact of business travel. Namely, TCEB is continuously leading the MICE industry in Asia by embryonic development with Social Impact studies and calculation of Social Impact from the MICE industry - Social Impact may be interpreted as any changes people make with the intention to solve social challenges or deliberate attempts to effect positive change.
In recent weeks, at various industry events, I have had many conversations with UFI members from around the world and colleagues from other event industry segments. In many cases, we ended up discussing expectations towards UFI and other industry associations. Specifically around the question of what members - be they businesses or individuals - expect to receive in return for their membership fees. What is the “deal,” what are the expectations, and how can associations deliver against these?
The sun is shining in Dubai today as I write this. You may wonder why I seem to be pointing out the obvious, but indeed, that was different just a short while back, as we faced unprecedented rainfall here.
April saw a breakthrough in the ongoing advocacy work for our sector. In Brussels, we could hold a one-day “EU Dialogue” event between the events industry and European policymakers. Backed by Belgium, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, this was an official event within their Presidency. Praised by everyone in attendance, I hope this event will only be the starting point for more of this coordinated dialogue with European leaders.
The MICE Industry has played an important part in leading the economic impact of business travel. Namely, TCEB is continuously leading the MICE industry in Asia by embryonic development with Social Impact studies and calculation of Social Impact from the MICE industry - Social Impact may be interpreted as any changes people make with the intention to solve social challenges or deliberate attempts to effect positive change.
Four years ago, in March and April, Europe went into lockdown as COVID shut down public life – and our industry. In the past few days, I have been following a number of media reports and expert reviews on what we all have learned from the pandemic: how countries and societies managed to get through the waves of infections, how industries dealt with it and recovered, what we have learned from it, and what changes it has brought.
It’s peak exhibition season still all around the world. So far, our industry seems to be on track to achieve the growth projected by hundreds of you in our latest UFI Global Barometer.
The MICE Industry has played an important part in leading the economic impact of business travel. Namely, TCEB is continuously leading the MICE industry in Asia by embryonic development with Social Impact studies and calculation of Social Impact from the MICE industry - Social Impact may be interpreted as any changes people make with the intention to solve social challenges or deliberate attempts to effect positive change.
A few days ago, I could catch up with Amy Saleh, Operations Director at Hannover Fairs Australia. We were both attending the AIME show in Melbourne and chatted for half an hour about the state of the industry in Australia. Now, Amy has been a member of our 2023 Class of “Next Generation Leaders” and together with her colleagues Otero from the UK, Elizabeth from the US, Tehchad from Thailand, and Aya from Egypt, have presented their ideas for a new blueprint for exhibition operations a few months back at our Global Congress in Las Vegas.
