Peter Sugg
steps down
from PCOA
Professional
Conference
Organisers
Association
(PCOA)
co-founder
Peter
Sugg has
announced
he will step
down from
the PCOA
executive.
After
co-founding
the PCOA
with Rob
Henshaw in 2006, Sugg is retiring from
the role with plans to focus on his own
conference management business which
launched in 1990.
Sugg said participation and support for
the Association has never been stronger,
making it the right time to “pass the
baton on”.
“I’m proud of what the Association has
achieved and the way cost effective
services have been set up and delivered
for members,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Madrid joins BestCities Alliance
Madrid is the latest
destination to join
the BestCities Global
Alliance, becoming the
12th member of the
international network
of convention destinations. Madrid hosts
more than 14,000 meetings and events
per year.
AIME
appeal for
first timers
This year’s Asia-Pacific Incentives and
Meetings Expo (AIME) attracted a high
number of new buyers, with over 55
per cent experiencing the event for the
first time. AIME 2017 saw over 2000
trade visitors attend the show and more
than 3700 attendees across the two
days in February. The show welcomed
275 hosted buyers, compared to 340
in 2016. There were 14 new exhibitors
this year, bringing the total to 416
exhibitors, 43 per cent of which were
from international companies. Over
6700 appointments were made between
buyers and exhibitors.
Sydney and Melbourne
battle it out for ICCA kudos
Sydney has retained its number one spot
as Australia’s top city for international
association meetings in the latest
International Congress and Convention
Association (ICCA) Country and City
Rankings report, which reveals an all-time
record number of meetings globally for 2016.
Melbourne boasted quality not quantity,
attracting the highest number of attendees
to international association meetings in
Australia last year.
As usual, Singapore was named the
Asia Pacific’s top city for international
association meetings. On a global scale,
Paris knocked Berlin off the top spot in the
city rankings, after it hosted 196 meetings
in 2016, followed by Vienna (with 186
meetings), Barcelona (181), Berlin (177) and
London in fifth spot (153).
In the country rankings Australia came
16 th , with the US taking top spot.
Singapore named best business event venue
Marina Bay Sands was
named Best Business
Event Venue at the
recent 2017 Singapore
Tourism Awards,
taking out the award
for the fifth time. This is the third
consecutive year Marina Bay Sands has
won the award.
Lions Clubs forum heads to Dubai
Dubai will host
a major regional
gathering of Lions
Clubs International,
with more than 5000
members set to
attend the ISAAME Forum at Dubai
International Convention and Exhibition
Centre in 2018.
Roziman to lead Sarawak Convention Bureau
Sarawak Convention
Bureau (SCB) has
appointed Amelia
Roziman as
organisation’s first chief
operating officer since
it was established in 2006. Roziman, the
former general manager of marketing
and sales, will now oversee the
development of SCB’s strategies.
Kiwis rise in global ranking
New Zealand has
risen up the ranks as
a global conference
destination, according
to the International
Congress &
Convention Association (ICCA). New
Zealand rose four places in the ICCA
world listings, taking out the 12 th spot
in Asia Pacific and the 47 th spot in the
world.
www.cimmagazine.com Convention & Incentive Marketing, Issue 3, 2017 7