As restrictions all over the world start to ease, you can feel the buzz of energy as the community reignites the excitement over different business events and other initiatives.
Here’s a run-through of BestCities initiatives, key business events, and exciting events in our partner cities.
IMEX America
The long-awaited IMEX America is finally happening in Las Vegas from November 9 to 11! This means that over 4,200 decision-makers are gathering in one place to engage with and view over 3,500 exhibitions from 155 countries. With brilliant speakers and a whole community of event professionals, it’s the best place to build your network and learn best practices from the best in the industry.
Part of IMEX is the association meeting for future-driving sustainable impacts, which happens on November 8 before the main festivities start. Our very own Jane Cunningham is one of the resource speakers.
This meeting aims to identify the association’s missions and goals, align these missions and goals with future association meeting goals per destination, and create impactful changes in the industry globally while ensuring that these impacts remain sustainable.
The next day, on Tuesday, November 9 we host the IMEX America Campfire session together with Hybrid City Alliance, a global network of partners that foster collaboration to provide meeting professionals with access to knowledge, innovation, and tools to produce hybrid and multi-city events.
The debate is aimed to result in a clearer understanding of the terms hybrid, blended, and multi-hub events. The session attendees will learn key points to consider when planning hybrid or multi-hub events and also gain access to white papers produced by Hybrid City Alliance, and BestCities Global Alliance in conjunction with IAPCO.
Click here to read Jane's tips that will help you make the most out of IMEX America.
IBTM World
Another one of the much-anticipated events of the year, the IBTM World is happening from November 30 to December 2 in Barcelona.
There’s a good reason why the IBTM has remained one of the top events in the meeting and events industry for over 30 years. It’s a treasure trove of inspiration, content and learnings that will help you create world-class events for your specific market.
Over 15,000 professionals are expected to take part in the event globally, making it an amazing venue to build your network and connect with potential partners for your future initiatives. Plus, it happens right before the BestCities Global Forum which happens in Madrid, a short train ride away from Barcelona.
BestCities Global Forum
Right after the IBTM is the BestCities Global Forum, which is happening from December 2 to 5 in Madrid. It’s one of the best places to learn from outside your industry, experience all the impacts made in Madrid, learn how to apply these approaches in your own organization and network with different BestCities partner destinations.
One of the best parts of this year’s forum is the Engage for Good initiative, where we will be collectively raising funds for the Spanish Red Cross. Gather more funds by earning points before, during and after the event. Earn points by completing different goals like registering for the event before October 29 or answering any of the daily trivia questions.
Incredible Impacts
Winners for the 2021 Incredible Impacts Programme have been announced in the recently concluded ICCA Congress held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. This year, the chosen associations were:
Click here to read about the impact this year’s winners made and the legacy they left behind.
Incredible Impacts is an initiative that highlights how association meetings go beyond tourism and also advocate societal impact. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges from the industry, with each winner receiving a grant of USD 7,500 each. This is made possible through a partnership between BestCities Global Alliance and the ICCA.
The programme highlights the amount of creativity and innovation that the meetings industry shows in their initiatives. It shines the spotlight on associations that are truly making a difference around the world.
Associations can nominate themselves or candidate associations can be nominated by any ICCA member, with the 1st qualifying round ending on June 1, 2022.
Click here to learn more about the qualifying criteria.
What’s Happening in Our Partner Cities?
We’re all looking forward to a strong finish to the year. Let’s take a peek at what’s happening in our partner cities.
Copenhagen
The Copenhagen Legacy Lab has been given the Global Destination Sustainability Movement’s Innovation Award this year. Announced during the 60th ICCA Congress in Paris, the initiative was chosen because of its commitment to legacy work and its forward-looking credentials.
Launched in 2019 by Wonderful Copenhagen CVB, the Copenhagen Legacy Lab (CLL) provides concrete tools that ensure long-term impact. The initiative remains flexible and has evolved from its conception up to today to ensure that it considers changing scenarios and circumstances.
The CLL focuses on fulfilling legacy missions through 4 simple steps -- goal setting, engagement with local stakeholders, co-creation, and development and implementation of legacy activities. This process is now being adopted by the International Water Association, the WindEurope Electric City, and ESTRO 2022, among others.
Here are some of the other events happening around Copenhagen in November:
- October 14 to November 7 - Halloween in Tivoli Gardens
- November 19 onwards - Christmas in Tivoli Gardens
- November 22 to 24 - Smart Cities & Sport Summit
- November 23 to 25 - WindEurope Electric City at the Bella Center Copenhagen
Click here for more details about events in Copenhagen.
Dublin
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum has once again won as Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the World Travel Awards. This is the 3rd year in a row that the museum was granted this recognition.
Meanwhile, the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) celebrates a double win as they bag the awards for Best Overseas Conference Venue and Best Overseas Convention Bureau at the freshly-concluded M&IT Awards. Other nominees in these categories include ICC Sydney, RAI Amsterdam, and the Barcelona International Convention Centre.
Those awards couldn’t have come at a better time, knowing that the 14th World Cargo Symposium hosted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) was just recently concluded in CCD. The symposium was the 1st global in-person conference that was held since 2019.
It looks like the CCD is now well on its way towards regaining its momentum. Since October 22, COVID-19 restrictions have also been eased, with the entertainment, hospitality and night-time economy sectors now allowed to reopen as long as protective measures are in place. EU Digital COVID Certificate implementation is also a requirement for these businesses to start operating.
With these new guidelines, the hospitality industry can also start getting back on its feet. The new Dorset Street Hotel will be opening in late November, with 163 air-conditioned rooms and the perfect location. It’s on the same site as the renowned The Big Tree tavern and is 7 minutes away from the CCD.
The Conrad Hotel has also been granted permission to start planning its 8-storey extension, increasing its number of rooms to 280 from 88.
Click here for more information about Dublin.
Madrid
Last October 22, Madrid was recognized as Europe’s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination by the World Travel Awards. This is the 4th year in a row that Madrid has been given this honour. This puts Madrid in the running to win the same title this November, but this time, in the worldwide gala.
The global spotlight continues as the Madrid Convention Bureau will once again take part in IMEX America, which takes place from November 9 to 11. They will be part of the delegation organized by Tourspain as part of their initiative to showcase Spanish destinations to a global MICE audience.
Then, from November 30 to December 3, Madrid will take Morocco’s place as the host for the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). With over 500 participants expected, Morocco had to give up their post as host due to the pandemic.
Click here to visit the Madrid Convention Bureau website.
Melbourne
The CENTREPIECE at Melbourne Park has now opened right at the heart of Melbourne’s sporting and entertainment district. This cutting edge venue boasts a 4,500-sqm space that’s fully customizable, with an amazing view of the Melbourne city skyline.
This new venue will surely attract more industry leaders to hold their events in the area, especially now that Melbourne has once again been named as Oceania’s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination during the World Travel Awards 2021. This is the 8th year that Melbourne has been recognized for this award.
Meanwhile, the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) joined the spotlight as their CEO Julia Swanson and Director of Business Development Marko Sanovic were featured in the IAPCO Virtual Edge APAC concluded in October, along with other business events industry leaders. They discussed critical topics about 'bidding in a changed environment'.
The MCB has definitely been working non-stop in creating initiatives that strengthen Melbourne’s credentials in terms of sustainability, making it a key leader in the industry. In fact, Melbourne has taken the top spot as the most sustainable city for business events in the Asia Pacific region in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index).
Visit the Melbourne Convention Bureau website for more inspiration.
Singapore
The Bloomberg Economy Forum will be happening in Singapore from November 16 to 19 with over 300 delegates coming from 51 countries expected to participate. This will be the first global event that will be happening in Singapore this year.
Singapore has started allowing travel to some countries without the need for quarantine, as long as the traveller is fully vaccinated and takes PCT tests before leaving and upon arrival. Currently, this is only open to countries like Brunei, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, the UK, and the US.
Click here to find out more about quarantine-free travel.
Tokyo
Tokyo is progressing nicely as they continue through their pandemic exit strategy. With 68.5% of the population fully vaccinated and 74.5% receiving at least one dose, the government is well on its way to further easing event restrictions. At the moment, events are allowed to run with 10,000 attendees or half the venue capacity, whichever is lower.
Here are some of the events happening in Tokyo this November:
- November 1 to 2 - ad:tech Tokyo 2021
- November 5 to 7 - Tokyo International Audio Show
- November 8 to 10 - Japan International Seafood & Technology Expo
- November 13 to 14 - Design Fiesta
- November 17 to 19 - International Conference on Mobile Computing and Ubiquitous Networking
- November 20 to 22 - International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Technology
- November 24 to 26 - Tokyo International Industry Exhibition
We’re looking forward to seeing a much longer events list once the government further eases the restrictions on events.