Here are four premier convention facilities in emerging international meeting destinations around the world, from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur.
ABU DHABI NATIONAL EXHIBITION CENTRE (ADNEC), UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Date opened: February 2007 Exhibition space: 785,765 square feet over 12 halls, including the 85,250-square-foot Abu Dhabi Hall, with permanent retractable seating for 6,000 people Other meeting and event spaces: The 16,145-square-foot Al Maa’red Hall banquet space, two large conference rooms, 20 smaller meeting rooms, and 748,091 square feet of outdoor event space (209,896 square feet of which is on the waterfront) On-site guest rooms: 597 in two hotels (with more in development) For more information: www.adnec.ae
HYDERABAD INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE (HICC), INDIA Date opened: January 2006 Exhibition space: 69,750-square-foot main hall, divisible into six smaller halls Other meeting and event spaces: 69,965-square-foot prefunction foyer area and 26 breakout rooms On-site guest rooms: 288-room Novotel Hyderabad For more information: www.hicc.com
KUALA LUMPUR CONVENTION CENTRE (KLCC), MALAYSIA Date opened: June 2005 Exhibition space: 104,480 square feet among five halls Other meeting and event spaces: Grand Ballroom, Banquet Hall, two auditoriums (3,000-seat and 500-seat), three Conference Halls, and 20 meeting rooms On-site guest rooms: 1,485 in three hotels (with more in development) For more information: www.klccconventioncentre.com
ANHEMBI PARQUE, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL Date opened: 1972, with updates and additions since then Exhibition space: 780,706 square feet (among three pavilions) in the Exhibition Pavilion and 70,094 square feet (among five halls) at the Conventions Palace Other meeting and event spaces: The 2,500-person capacity Celso Furtado Auditorium, the 861-seat Elis Regina Auditorium, the 30,000-person capacity Anhembi Arena, and more On-site guest rooms: 780-room Holiday Inn Hotel Parque Anhembi For more information: www.anhembi.com.br
Respect Cultural Differences In 2009, responding to its perceived need for a health-care IT trade showin theMiddleEast, theHealthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) held its first conference in the region, in Bahrain. Cathy Ryan, CMP, senior director of internationalmeetings forHIMSS, is currently planning next year’s conference, to be held on May 19–21 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. “[TheMiddle East] is…a new arena for a lot of people,”
Ryan said, noting that even within the region, local tourism boards also are new. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, for example, has only been around since the early 2000s. Of course, culture is different everywhere—but holding a meeting in theMiddle East is “certainly not like doing ameet-
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ing in the U.S.,” Ryan said, “or even Europe for thatmatter.” There are a lot of do’s and don’ts, particularly forwomen.Ryan recommends thatwomen refrain fromshowing toomuch skin. She said: “Very professional business attire is a need when you’re doingmeetings over there.” AnotherMiddle Eastern cultural concern is prayer times.
Ryan said that while HIMSS does not include prayer breaks in the conference’s schedule, she does ensure that gender-seg- regated prayer rooms are available for observantMuslimatten- dees. “You should add it to the questionnaire,” she said, “if you’re looking formeeting space in the region.” InHyderabad, one cultural challenge thatWelch had to deal
with regarding her vendors at first appeared to be a positive. “They want to please you,” she said. “They want to say yes