NEWS / GLOBAL
UNITED KINGDOM
The Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Foundation has fundraised more than £125,000 (US$205,225) for the first meeting industry United Kingdom Economic Impact Study. In an industry collaborative effort involving the ICCA,
Site Global, as well as public and private enterprise part- ners, the MPI Foundation has reached more than half of its target to undertake the first quantitative research on the size of the meeting and business events industry in the UK. Based on a methodology developed in partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and successfully applied in Canada and the US, the Tourism Satellite Accounting Meetings Extension study will articulate the contribution of the meetings and busi- ness events industry to the UK’s GDP, as well as overall employment and tax contributions.
CHINA
This year’s CIBTM, which took place from August 30 to September 1 in Beijing, featured more than 300 exhibitors, saw a 21 percent increase in event space booked compared to 2010, invited 300 Hosted Buyers (25 percent increase over last year) and staged more than 5,500 Pre-Scheduled Appointments making it the largest show in the event’s six-year his- tory. There were more than 20 new exhibitors from China including hotels, tourism bureaus, DMCs, agencies and other services to the MICE sector. Hosted Buyers hailed from 16 countries including France, Germany, Spain, UK, Russia, UAE, USA, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. (See report on page 21)
HONG KONG UNITED STATES
The US staged the most association meetings in 2010, ICCA figures have revealed. Germany was ranked second, as has been the case since 2004. The gap between the US and Germany narrowed from 137 to 81 meetings, compared to the 2009 figures. Spain remained in third place (it has held that ranking since
2007) and the UK and France both climbed one place to fourth and fifth respectively at the cost of Italy, which now ranks sixth. ICCA researchers identified 9,120 events organised by its
association members last year, 826 events more than in 2009 and an all-time record. ICCA CEO Martin Sirk (pictured) said these results reflected the strength of the association meetings market despite the recent economic downturn.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has reported that overnight business tourism arrivals to Hong Kong reached 725,779 in the first six months of 2011, representing a year-on- year increase of 10.3 percent. Of all overnight business tourism arrivals to Hong Kong within this period, 42.8 percent, or over 310,000 arrivals, came from Mainland China, a 15 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Business from Europe, Africa and the Middle East during the period hit the 90,802 mark, up 5.3 per- cent compared to the first six months of 2010. Between January and June 2011, Hong Kong staged numer-
ous large-scale conventions and exhibitions, which the HKTB said generated “record-breaking numbers of participants”.
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