ICCA draws 300 participants to hybrid Asia Pac Summit

The 2nd ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit (ICCA AP Summit), curated from Yokohama, Japan, 15-16 December, drew 300 participants both on-site and online, from 14 countries, including 40 speakers and 35 associations. The hybrid event was hosted by the City of Yokohama, Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau (YCVB) and PACIFICO Yokohama and co-organised with the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter. The 2020 AP Summit’s highlight presentation, ‘Co-operation in Times of Crisis’ featured ICCA president, James Rees, and ICCA CEO, Senthil Gopinath, who shared on the Kaohsiung Protocol, a crowdsourced framework with major trends and key strategies to create path forward on innovative business models, importance of shared risk, digital restructure, enhanced engagement, and value strategies in the industry. Chair of the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter executive committee, Ashwin Gunasekeran and deputy chair Eric Abramson joined the discussion on how the industry has changed in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic and the need of reinvention and collaboration with the wider Asia-Pac community including both private and public sectors, that goes beyond the business events industry. Gunasekeran said: “Collaboration is important and crucial for the reopening of this region’s business events. I believe that the conversation and networks forged by the participants at the Summit will continue to grow as we set on an optimistic outlook for the region.” The Summit saw several educational tracks including on digital technologies and regional updates. ICCA’s Asia Pacific Chapter is now the largest in terms of membership with 302 members from 16 countries and territories. The Yokohama summit saw the announcement of Xiamen, in south east China, as the host city for the 3rd ICCA Asia Pacific Summit in 2021.