London’s Mayor demands
‘proper’ convention centre
UK - London Mayor Boris
Johnson has told the London
Book Fair that the capital needs
a “proper convention centre” to
complement its exhibition
venues.
Speaking to visitors on the last
day of the Reed Exhibitions fair,
held each year at Earls Court,
Johnson said events such as the
London Book Fair are of “great
importance” to London.
“One of the things we’re
looking at, as I’m sure you can
all imagine, is the possibility of
having a proper convention
ADNEC wins
industry
oscars
ABU DHABI – Abu Dhabi
National Exhibitions Company
has won three awards at the
Middle East Event Awards.
ADNEC’s group CEO Simon
Horgan was honoured for his
outstanding contribution to
the Middle East events
industry, ADNEC also received
awards for Best Venue and
Best Trade Show for its IDEX
2009 event, an international
defence exhibition and
centre here in London,” he
said. “Clearly, exhibition centres
such as this, draw a great deal
of revenue and business to the
city.”
Mayor Johnson, previously a
Conservative MP, hailed the
cost-effectiveness of hosting
large international events such
as the London Book Fair in the
capital.
“I would point out to anyone
who’s thinking of holding an
exhibition that London has
never represented such
sensational value,” he said.
Green shoots of growth
INTERNATIONAL - In an
industry-wide ‘webinar’ entitled
‘The green shoots of growth’,
jointly sponsored by the Joint
Meetings Industry Council and
exhibition IMEX, industry
panellists discussed the future
for corporate meetings.
The online conference
attracted over 210 participants
and was supported by UFI (the
global association of the
exhibition industry) and the
Convention Industry Council.
JMIC president Leigh Harry
says: “This tremendous webinar
initiative is a small step in the
Winning trophies
conference.
Commenting on the awards
Horgan says: “These awards
are a result of four years of
hard work by everybody
involved with ADNEC.
Together, we have
reinvigorated the events
industry in Abu Dhabi.”
road to rebuilding a true image
of the potential power of
corporate meetings, and we
hope it will help us to focus on
future prospects for growth, and
to demonstrate how meetings
can make a significant
contribution towards finding
solutions to the current
economic and business
challenges.”
According to the organiser,
the general agreement was to
practice better measurement of
meeting outcomes in order to
document and demonstrate
their value.
London is ‘sensational value’
“Thanks to the devaluation of
sterling by the Government, the
Big Mac is now cheaper in
London than in any other
capital including Brazil and, I
think, Ukraine.”
Optimism for
Arabia
UAE - Reed Travel Exhibitions
says it is pleased with the
Arabian Travel Market 2009
and was already bolstering the
2010 version.
Held at the Dubai
International Convention and
Exhibition Centre from 5 - 8
May, the exhibition saw more
than 2,100 exhibitors from 69
countries, including 70
new-to-market representatives.
First time representatives came
from the Ecuadorian, Slovenian
and San Marino private sectors.
“This year is very much a
watershed moment for the
industry as a whole and to see
such strong exhibitor and visitor
numbers here in the Middle
East is testament to the region’s
reputation as one of the world’s
fastest growing and most
dynamic markets,” says group
exhibition director, Reed Travel
Exhibitions, Mark Walsh. “We’re
very pleased with the reaction
to the 2009 event and we see it
as a strong platform towards
2010, when we hope to see a
complete industry recovery.”
First day trade visitor figures
were up 2.3 per cent over
2008, however, the audited
figures are yet to be
announced.
News in brief...
NEWS
Government aid for
Swine flu
MEXICO - Mexico’s federal
government will provide 27.4
billion pesos (US$2.1 billion)
in aid to help the economy
recover from the effects of
the country’s swine flu
outbreak, says finance
minister Agustin Carstens.
The aid will be made
available in tax benefits
among other assistances to
business most affected by the
outbreak including airlines,
cruise ship operators, hotels
and restaurants.
“We believe these
measures are adequate
given the situation, given the
short duration of the incident
and that it has not had such
a deep impact,” says
Carstens.
Great Hotels expands
sales
UK – London-based luxury
sales and marketing alliance,
Great Hotels Organisation,
has announced two new
appointments within its sales
team. Lyn McBain will join
the team as global director
of sales and marketing and
Jeshly Sierra as director of
sales.
Kiwi growth
NEW ZEALAND – The
fourth Convene Auckland
convention, doubled in size
and increased the number of
visitors at Crowne Plaza
Auckland year-on-year.
“We had eight scheduled
appointments, all of good
quality, and got about five
leads from the event,” says
Crowne Plaza Auckland
meetings director, Hannah
Callesen. “There were quite
a few browsers, I think they
were perhaps preparing for
when the economy recovers
and the conference budgets
are lifted.”
June 2009 Conference+Meetings World 5
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