The Meetings Industry Manifesto: Priorities for the next EU leadership

On the back of  the ‘EU Dialogue: Driving Positive Change in the Meetings Industry’ which took place in Brussels in April, a comprehensive document,’The Meetings Industry Manifesto: Priorities for the Next EU Leadership’, has been published as a result of the discussions. Those discussions were aimed at fostering a dialogue between the Meetings Industry and European policymakers to achieve a positive impact on society and destinations, while addressing key issues such as economy, sustainability, digitalisation, travel, innovation, and the future challenges of business events in Europe. The manifesto now aims to enhance awareness and recognition of the Meetings Industry’s significant role in driving economic growth, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainability across Europe. Over 180 industry professionals and European policy makers from 15 countries/EU member states had taken part in the discussions that led to the drafting of the manifesto. Barbara Jamison-Woods, president of CityDNA, said the EU Dialogue conference was a legacy from the CityDNA’s own conference where there the conversation was around how business events could be used as a tool for EU policymakers to achieve their agendas. Patrick Bontinck, CEO at visit.brussels, one of the co-organisers of the project, said: “Everyone is talking about positive impact. The conference demonstrated what this term means for the meetings industry. We now have a clear idea of how the sector can contribute to organising events that highlight the advantages of a destination, its intellectual capital and its infrastructure, while maximising its overall impact towards greater diversity, equality and inclusion… This event also highlighted the fact that we should speak more of the Visitor Economy rather than just ‘tourism,’ as this term more fully encompasses and represents the entire ecosystem.” “Explaining the importance of the event industry to policy is a bit like running a never-ending marathon. At the same time, it is critical to continue to do so. The EU Dialogue was a great example of the value these dialogues can bring,” global venue association AIPC CEO Sven Bossu, who took part in the meetings, told CMW. The. EU Dialogue and now the manifesto were born out of collaboration between the project organisers – Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), European Exhibition Industry Alliance, Visit Brussels and City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA). James Rees, president of JMIC said of the EU Dialogue initiative: “The business events sector builds and operates the marketplaces and meeting places for various industries to gather, exchange ideas, and create solutions for the pressing challenges we face today. This event aimed to raise awareness about the industry’s broad impact and its potential for further development.” Read the full manifesto here