April 2022

Melbourne Convention Bureau has secured six international incentive groups from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and New Zealand. This will be the first time, Melbourne and regional Victoria welcomes back incentive groups since Australia’s international borders closed in 2020.

This first influx of delegates sets the tone for a busy season this May with the 162 Southeast Asian and New Zealand delegates due to arrive, filling close to 1,661 room nights and; expected to inject more than AUD898,000 in economic contribution to Victoria’s economy

Across the five incentive groups arriving, delegates will visit an array of attractions in Melbourne and regional Victoria. The exciting line-up includes some of Victoria’s most popular regions, the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Phillip Island Nature Park for the iconic Penguin Parade as well as, a trip to enjoy the splendour of Great Ocean Road.

“We’re thrilled to once again welcome back international corporate incentive groups both large and small to Melbourne. MCB works to boost hotel occupancy in the traditionally quiet shoulder periods with visitors staying mid-week,” said MCB’s chief executive Ms. Julia Swanson.

For Victorian regional tourism suppliers and local businesses, business events are a major driver of regional visitation; providing a substantial economic contribution enhancing local communities.

Pre-pandemic, Melbourne attracted on average just over 100 incentive groups with approximately 55,000 international delegates each year spending, on average AUD1,019-00 per day across accommodation, tourist attractions, local shops and cafes.

The survey ran over a period of three weeks in March 2022 with 87 venue operators from three continents the Americas, Europe and Australia taking part in the research study.

Respondents globally reported that 2023 would be, the first year, to surpass 2019 meetings and business events revenue levels. Predictions however, differ slightly by country with projected revenues in Denmark, to surpass 2019 levels as early as 2022 while, the Americas had a slightly longer outlook with revenues not returning to prior the pandemic levels until 2024.

The study, which is financially supported by IACC’s partners Encore Global, Benchmark Hospitality, Flik Hospitality Group/Rapport and Aramark Conferencing, shows that in 2021, average meeting and business events revenue was 45 percent lower than 2019 levels but in 2022, this percentage is expected to shrink to just eight percent below 2019 levels.

Sustainability continues to be an emerging topic, with some improvements made since the 2021 report. The report shows that, in general, there is more of a focus on environmental and social responsibility at venues in Europe and Australia when compared with North American venues.

Forty six percent of respondents to this year’s survey reported that, they are receiving increased requests from clients to either state or provide social responsibility and environmental credentials.

There is one sustainable practice, where venues, have shown considerable improvement since 2020, and that is the ability to donate unused food to local community outreach programmes.

More than one-half of responding venues report this option compared with only 23 percent of venues in 2020, and North American venues reporting a greater likelihood of offering healthy food options and the ability to donate unused foods than other regions.

The study further supports the gradual return to meetings weighted towards more in-person interactions. In 2021, 30 percent of respondents reported that more than 90 percent of their live meetings and events also offered virtual access.

In 2022 this percentage has dropped to 19 percent. This is corroborated by IACC’s report, The Future of the Meeting Industry, from February 2022, which showed that the value of human interaction is ranked the highest of seven factors when considering attending an in-person meeting, above expanding your network, scheduling and cost of attending. Collaboration with colleagues is also highly ranked.

The study also predicts that shortages in talent will be alleviated over time with overall respondents, who do not anticipate that workforce shortages, will negatively impact their ability to meet client and attendee needs. As 2022 unfolds, 55 percent of respondents reported that their venue has or will return to full-staffing levels by the end of 2022.

According to IACC’s annual Meeting Room of the Future Barometer 2022, two-thirds of venues say they will recover to 2019 meeting revenue levels in 2022 or 2023, with Danish and Australian venues predicting the fastest recovery.

In-Person Event: July 12-14, 2022
Virtual Networking: July 27-28, 2022

The organisers of IT&CM China and CTW China 2022 have announced that the Shanghai based MICE and Corporate Travel double bill events, due to take place in May this year, will now take place on July 12-14, 2022 at The Anandi Hotel and Spa Shanghai followed by an online networking and conference segment on July 27-28 July, 2022.

Organisers TTG Events and China-based CTG MICE Service Company Limited, in a joint statement stated that they were delighted to have the community gather in person again after two years and looked forward to renewing and rebuilding as recovery for the global tourism industry gathers speed.

For more information, please visit www.itcmchina.com

A cloud business of a global technology company Tencent Cloud, is offering a one-stop product that integrates basic cloud services, from computing and storage to network resources. Lighthouse features a set of out-of-the-box app images and preconfigured software stacks for websites, blogs, forums, and other application systems, where users can deploy the apps in seconds.

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Currently, Tencent Cloud is one of the world’s fastest-growing cloud companies; and is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues; enabling fast and easy digital transformations for smart industries.

As Malaysia opens up its international borders, the country’s premier business events venue, look forward to hosting events with over 20 high-profile international events scheduled to be held between now till December out of which, 10 are on conventions and 13 exhibitions.

“We have recently hosted a few site-visits for upcoming international conferences and are, currently focused on helping our clients, event organisers, visitors and guests safely and comfortably transition into organising and attending physical meetings and events. While the standard operating procedures are more relaxed now, our priority on safety and hygiene remains,” explained Mr. Alan Pryor, general manager of the Centre.

Mr. Pryor further commented with the shrinking of the overall business pie, competition is stiffer and price wars more aggressive and Malaysia he added, needs to have compelling policies and strategies to capitalise on the destination’s attractive proposition. This he said, is to set itself apart from neighbouring competitors and help entice more international events.

Upcoming international events which the Centre will be hosting are:  International Congress on Infectious Diseases; International Conference on Tropical Agriculture; International Geo Science and Remote Sensing Symposium; Asia Turbo Machinery and Pump Symposium; 3^rd Asia Optometric Congress, International Medical Exhibition and Conference; International Café and Beverage Show; Control World Expo, Oil and Gas Asia; and International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition.

Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, president of TCEB, said the 2022 Thailand MICE familiarisation trip was a clear reflection of Thailand’s readiness to host face-to-face international business events again, following the success in pandemic control and the increased normalisation of international travel.

Participants were MICE agents, event planners, meeting planners, corporate buyers and professional conference organisers  from 15 markets of countries such as Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

“We are expecting a strong rebound in Thailand’s meeting and incentive sectors in the short term, followed by a broader-based recovery in the medium term,” as further mentioned by the president of TCEB.

Scheduled meetings, during the trip between participants and Thai suppliers generated six leads from international convention centres and hotels worth 919 million Thai Baht in revenue, which will comprise of 14,600 travellers.  While the meeting and incentive segment brought in about 51 leads with 15,580 travellers and 981 million Thai Bhat in revenue.

The total potential revenue the familiarisation trip produced through scheduled meetings was at 1,900 million Thai Baht.