Feature
Why Portugal is on the rise for MICE business
‘Desenrascanço’ describes the Portuguese national virtue of finding unconventional solutions to demanding situations – a useful trait when creating an adaptable MICE industry, as Ramy Salameh discovers. Lisbon, Porto and Braga’s city-break tourism industries are booming. New airlift, especially from national carrier Air Portugal (TAP), as well as renewed confidence and investment in v...
Sense and sustainability in Copenhagen
Simon George heads to Copenhagen, and finds that the city’s new Tourism for Good strategy is a winning one. Sustainability is a balancing act – we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the future, as the United Nations opined in the World Commission’s Report on Environment and Development back in 1987. Fast forward 30 years and the aspiration is even more pertinent g...
Adelaide in international orbit
As part of CMW‘s exploration of meetings Down Under in our latest magazine, we take a look at recent innovations in Adelaide, where big plains are being laid for 2019. Adelaide CVB has an expanded convention centre, 6,000 hotel rooms and a growing portfolio of major conferences that the bureau predicts will rocket the South Australian capital into the global big time for events, with ...
The great conductor – ICC Sydney’s Geoff Donaghy
CMW receives some insight from the long and distinguished career of industry leader, ICC Sydney CEO and Director Convention Centres, AEG Ogden, Geoff Donaghy How did you arrive in the events/hospitality industry and what were your first roles? I began my career as a teacher and I loved it. However, I didn’t see it as my life long career. I moved to Cairns, which was in the midst of its early and e...
Overtourism: a case study in Prague
Overtourism is a problem for many popular meetings destinations to wrestle with. In this month’s cover feature, CMW presents an edited extract from research by Miroslav Rončák, Palacky University, Olomouc, on overtourism in the Czech capital. The number of tourists arriving in Prague has been increasing steadily. Back in 1989 there were 1.6m tourists arriving in the Czech capital. In 2000 t...
How to design an effective incentive programme
Director of Strategic Partnerships at Ovation Global DMC, and former SITE President, Hugo Slimbrouck, offers a guide to building the most informed perspective for designing and delivering effective incentive programmes. Designing an incentive programme begins with understanding the customer, his or her business, the company’s leadership and a profile of the programme participants. Knowing ...
A new paradigm in Calgary
Paul Colston meets Clark Grue, president and CEO of Calgary Telus Convention Centre, a key figure offering direction at Alberta’s Conference Crossroads Clark Grue is the man in charge of the the first purpose-built convention centre in Canada, the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre (CTCC). No time for resting on laurels, however, and Grue is the first to acknowledge the age of the facility and the...
What does the future hold for IMEX?
Fresh from a new edition of IMEX America in Las Vegas, managing director Carina Bauer looks to the company’s future growth. IMEX America has grown considerably since its first edition. What have been the key landmarks? When we launched in 2011, it was uncharted territory. Buyers in North America have responded well to the format, particularly the appointment system. We moved into a larger ha...
Sun, sugar, spice and all things MICE in Mauritius
Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, has all the ingredients for memorable events, especially incentives. With direct daily flights being added regularly, accessibility has never been easier, reports Simon Farnfield. [hr gap=”30″] Luxury hotel group Sun Resorts has been helping organisers create memories for their guests for 40 years. It has created a portfolio of four hotel prope...
Winners of Incredible Impacts 2018 grants announced
The Incredible Impacts Programme, now in its second year and run collaboratively by ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance, has selected three winning associations as leading examples of excellence within the global meetings industry. With 12 entries, an independent panel of industry experts selected the winners of this year’s Incredible Impacts grant as: Down Syndrome International Society for Ecolo...
Colombia’s economy is powering up events
Colombia’s national tourism board ProColombia shares its strategic approach to growing its events sector. [hr gap=”30″] Colombia, South America’s fourth largest economy, is moving ahead with growth according to the OECD. The country is projected to pick up to about 3%, as lower interest rates, stronger infrastructure spending, lower corporate taxes and higher oil prices all boost...
All aboard for the Eurostar experiences
Ramy Salameh gets aboard a perfectly ‘MICE’ experience on Eurostar. The announcement that Eurostar has recently launched exclusive ‘on-board experiences’ is a realisation of an initiative that the train operator has been working towards for some time to create. In the last few years Eurostar has brought on track new and refurbished stock; introduced technology innovations, arranged bespoke events ...