Here’s an overview of BestCities initiatives, key business events, and exciting events in our partner cities this May and in the coming months.
BestCities New Perspectives at IMEX Frankfurt
Join BestCities over breakfast to find out what’s happening within our Alliance, and what new initiatives we are launching to help our partner destinations and the international association community create a positive impact through business events.
Date & Time
Wednesday 1 June 08:00 - 09:30
Venue
Radisson Blu Frankfurt
Franklinstraße 65
60486 Frankfurt am Main
Your morning sets up the success of your day at IMEX Frankfurt!
Before you head to the show, we’d like to invite you to start your morning with breakfast with the BestCities Global Alliance. Join us at 8am in the Radisson Blu Hotel Frankfurt on Wednesday 1 June.
Learn about the BestCities Madrid Challenge initiative and how you can be involved in a new movement aimed at putting legacy and sustainability at the heart of conference planning.
Meet our newest partner, and hear what we have in store for the BestCities Global Forum in December in Vancouver.
You will also have the opportunity to network with your association peers, members of the media and all our partner cities - Berlin, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Houston, Madrid, Melbourne, Singapore, Tokyo and Vancouver.
Be part of the Movement - Register now
Registration is free - click here
Transportation is included to take you from the Radisson Blu Hotel to the Messe Frankfurt.
Contact
We look forward to meeting you on the 1st of June! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Lesley Williams, Managing Director, email: [email protected]
Tia Daniels, Director Business Development & Community Engagement, [email protected]
Incredible Impacts
BestCities and ICCA continue to accept submissions for the Incredible Impacts Programme, which highlights the value of international association meetings beyond the scope of tourism. There are three grants worth USD 7500 at stake, allowing the winning associations to further expand their initiatives and create even more impact.
Nominations are open until June 30. This opportunity is open for any association that has created and/or continues to create a positive impact through their innovative and creative initiatives. For more specific criteria and to submit an initiative, visit this page.
What’s Happening in Our Partner Cities?
Our partner cities continue to pave the way for a bigger and better year for the industry. Here’s a peek at what’s happening in our partner cities.
Berlin
Berlin’s MICE industry is set to take off with the city’s Restart Berlin programme. With a €290m budget allocation, this initiative is set to give the industry and the city a strong comeback through 13 measures that are set to be implemented over the next two years.
These measures include forming a task force that will help draw in new events, extending the Berlin Congress Fund which helps fund different events in Berlin, and expanding Sustainable Meetings Berlin.
Click here to read more about this exciting programme.
Cape Town
The Cape Town team is on the road this month, participating in several travel and trade shows. A very exciting one is the Africa Travel Indaba.
Africa’s Travel Indaba is a multi-awarded travel and tourism show organized by Synergy Business Events. Happening from May 2 to 5, it brings together buyers, exhibitors and media from across the globe.
This year’s exhibitors include players from the travel and hospitality industry, the transport sector, luxury products, industry associations, and a lot more.
Copenhagen
Kicking off the month of May in Copenhagen is the 4th International Conference on Animal Health Surveillance happening from May 3 to 5. With the theme 「Bridging Science and Policy」, the event is expected to draw in over 300 participants that include veterinarians, researchers, authorized representatives, and other experts in the field.
Also lined up is the much-awaited ESTRO 2022, which is taking place from May 6 to 10 and is expected to bring around 4,500 delegates into Copenhagen. The conference will focus on the theme 「Learning from every patient」 and will be, by far, the largest exhibition on radiation oncology throughout Europe.
SETAC Europe has chosen Copenhagen to host their 32nd Annual Meeting happening on May 15 to 19 at the Bella Center Copenhagen. With their aim of working towards a reduced pollution society, the programme includes sessions covering ecotoxicology, human toxicology, stress ecology, and more.
Other events to look forward to this May are:
- May 11 to 21 - Copenhagen Beer Week -> More about CPH Beer Week.
- May 16 to 20 - WODCON 2022 at the Tivoli Congress Center
- May 18 to 20 - 11th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organisation
Meanwhile, Copenhagen Legacy Lab (CCL) expanded on their previous 4-step legacy model and turned it into a 7-step legacy methodology. This new model aims to further strengthen their strategic approach in legacy planning and in measuring the impact of future international congresses.
With the improved approach in measuring both short-term and mid-term outcomes, they are positive that this would help them create more powerful experiences and better productivity
Dubai
The recently concluded Expo 2020 was a huge success and remains the talk of the town, especially for those who witnessed the amazing exhibits showcasing opportunities for mobility and sustainability.
To help people relive the experience, the event organizers released a video walking viewers through the entire event and putting emphasis on the road it took to get there. Making the video even more notable is the narration performed by none other than Morgan Freeman, making the clip entitled 「A dream to reality」 even more iconic.
Now that this huge event is over, Dubai takes advantage of the huge momentum they gained this year by taking part in travel fairs all over the world, including:
- The European Association Summit happening in Brussels from May 3 to 4, which is organized by Dubai and other members of the Brussels – Global Association Hubs Partnership
- M&I Europe Spring 2022 happening from May 8 to 11 in Seville
- The HelmsBriscoe Annual Business Conference happening from May 9 to 11 in Las Vegas
- The UIA Associations Round Table taking place in Brussels on May 19 and 20
- IMEX Frankfurt happening from May 31 to June 2
More news from Dubai is that they have been chosen as the host city for IFOS 2023 happening from January 17 to 21.
Houston
Houston celebrates the success of the economic development mission in Mexico called Houston Week, which took place from March 28 to April 1. With stops in Mexico City and Monterey, the Houston delegation included representatives from United Airlines and the Houston Airport System.
Houston Week was created to reinforce the opportunities that the city brings in terms of business, trade, tourism and leisure travel. This is part of Houston First Corp.’s branding campaign 「Vibra Global Que Inspira」.
Melbourne
As part of Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME), MCB produced an Uncover Melbourne event wrap reel that captured some of the highlights from across the four days. In a commitment to hire local talent when appropriate, MCB collaborated with musician X to create an audio track to accompany the video.
Melbourne’s momentum continues with the return of Melbourne signature events like the Australian Open, Nigella Lawson headlining a bumper Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and The Formula 1® Heineken® Australian Grand Prix 2022 – all a symbol of the persistence, resilience and strength of Victoria’s tourism and events industries.
Over the four days, a record estimated attendance of 419,114 over the four days, eclipsed the previous record of 401,000 set at Melbourne's first event in 1996. 350, Melbourne’s hotels and broader visitor dependant businesses experienced the busiest weekend anywhere in Australia for more than two years.
Victoria has been confirmed as the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with the state’s regions set to shine on the world stage. Victoria 2026 will be held across multiple regions, creating a new multi-city model for the Commonwealth Games.
Four regional hubs will be established in Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland, each with their own athletes’ village and sport program. The regional hubs will host athletes, officials and fans following an Opening Ceremony at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, using Melbourne as the gateway to regional Victoria.
Sofitel Melbourne on Collins is bringing the saying ‘Live the French Way’ to life with an extensive $15m refurbishment delivering luxurious new guest rooms that feel like a Parisian apartment in the heart of Melbourne. Located within walking distance of Melbourne’s central business district and a number of public transport options, allowing for access to the rest of Melbourne. Learn more about Sofitel Melbourne on Collins here.
Jason Balkin has been appointed as the Director Convention Services and Bidding on a permanent basis after his temporary appointment of additional responsibilities of overseeing both the convention servicing team and bid team following the departure of Holly Row in July 2021.
Exciting bid wins for Melbourne:
Singapore
Singapore will be joining the Global Sustainability Index for the first time, after joining the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in October last year. The GDS-Index strongly aligns with the Singapore Tourism Board’s initiatives as they work towards the Singapore Green Plan 2030 (SGP 2030).
To further reinforce the SGP 2030’s success, the tourism board also launched the Tourism Sustainability Programme (TSP), which envisions making Singapore a 「city in nature where large experiences come with small footprints」. This initiative focuses on three core pillars – becoming a sustainable urban destination, building a sustainable tourism sector, and showcasing Singapore as a sustainable urban destination.
Tokyo
The Japanese government continues to slowly ease border restrictions, with the cap on daily entries now increased to 10,000 from the previous 7,000 limit. Entry for foreign nationals is still exclusive to students, business travellers and other non-tourists.
These changes come just in time for Tokyo’s Golden Week, which happens every 1st week of May. Aptly named because of the 16 national holidays happening within the same week, it’s also the perfect time to enjoy the abundance of green space around Tokyo, knowing that the weather is also perfect this time of the year.......
The holidays happening within Golden Week include Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day, and Children’s Day, among others.
Meanwhile, more venues continue to be added to the Tokyo Unique Venues website, reinforcing the city’s capacity to host business events. A mix of indoor and outdoor spaces, these venues include the Garden Shinkiba Factory, the Sumida Aquarium, Shibuya Tsutaya, the Umewaka Noh Academy Hall and the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field.
Vancouver
Destination Vancouver and Capilano University continue to work on their joint research project that looks into the impact of international conferences being held in the city.
The partnership was first announced in March and is expected to be concluded at the end of this year. Their findings will also be presented at the Global Forum happening in Vancouver in December.
The Invictus Games will be held in Canada in 2025: