Inaugural ICCA Asia Pacific Summit kicks off in Penang

ICCA is holding its inaugural Asia Pacific Summit at the Setia SPICE Convention Centre, Penang, 5-6 December. The event is running concurrently with its homegrown conference – BE@Penang. The dual events are organised by Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB), Anderes Fourdy Events and the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter. The conferences feature 40 speakers comprising of industry leaders from 20 countries and 300 delegates from the Asia Pacific and global business events industry. ICCA President James Rees delivered the keynote address and Hon. Mr Yeoh Soon Hin (Penang State Executive Councillor for Tourism, Arts, Culture & Heritage) attended the opening ceremony. He said: “I believe that, through these dual conferences, we are able to further prepare ourselves for what is to come in the future, and to ensure the sustainability of various tourism products that will further entice visitors to visit Penang through more experiential travel.” “Today, we are here to witness our commitment and making the Summit a reality. In this regards it is my fervent hope that this Summit will be the platform for us to have “One Voice” representing the Asia Pacific membership and send positive message to the global ICCA community,” added Jason Yeh, Chair of ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter. Notable industry leaders within the Asia Pacific business events industry speaking at the conferences included Gary Grimmer (GainingEdge), Antonio Codinach (PCMA), Keiko Nishimoto, CMP (Kyoto University Graduate School of Management), Mike van der Vijver (Orange Gibbon) and Roy Sheppard (PeoplePortfolio).