First Africa-based ICCASkills Course completed in Ethiopia

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has announced the completion of its first in-person ICCASkills Certified International Convention Specialists (CICS) course in Africa. The course ran 18 November and was for staff of the Ethiopia Convention Bureau. Delegates attended a one-stop week-long course at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel, Addis Abab,a to gain essential industry knowledge skills in community engagement, conference bidding, and industry advocacy. The study programme was set up with the support of the IFC/WBG, which is supporting the Ethiopia Convention Bureau in its endeavour to develop competitive MICE tourism. Regarding the collaboration, the CVB director Bizualem Getu said: “International industry-wide collaboration, co-operation, and consensus is key for future development of business events.” ICCA CEO, Senthil Gopinath, added: “The ICCASkills programme with the Ethiopia Convention Bureau shows our shared commitment to developing and improving industry talent in the whole of Africa.” The ICCASkills programme was conducted on-site by Patrick Delaney, managing partner, SoolNua, and Deanna Varga, founder, and CEO, Mayvin global and adjunct associate professor (Industry), the University of Technology of Sydney. For more information about ICCASkills CICE and CICS courses, and to remind all the education programme is available for both non-members and members of ICCA, contact the ICCA Education Team at: education@iccaworld.org