Jacques Arnoux
Managing director – Asia, Pacific World
China
The outlook for MICE in China in 2011 is pretty good, there has been a noticeable upswing in corporate meetings and association conferences coming here. However the incentive market is still quite slow and has not quite returned as fully as we might have expected.
I think the places to watch next year will be Chengdu and Lijiang. They should be on everybody’s list if they are considering China. I have handled three recent incentives to Lijiang and to me it is just so interesting and special to visit.
It is a buyer’s market right now in Beijing and Shanghai. Not so good for the hotels, but great for corporate buyers. Shanghai post-Expo is going to be a positive time and 2011 will be ideal to visit. Right now you can get hotel rooms in Shanghai for 50 per cent cheaper than in Hong Kong.
Guy Bigwood
GMIC President and MCI Group Sustainability director
Barcelona
It has been a solid year for sustainability in the meetings industry and I am impressed by many of the actions taken by organisations around the world. Looking across the Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC) membership, I have seen a growing number of businesses that have elevated sustainability to a strategic management priority and have taken actions to embed CSR into day-to-day practices.
However, while 2010 was a good year we must ask whether ‘good’ is good enough? Global resource issues, destruction of nature and unhealthy practices continue. Oil prices will go up and the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunity is only worsening.
The meetings and events industry is not doing enough and together we need to step up, scale up and speed up. Sustainability is a key management competence. It is good for profit, builds trust and gives competitive advantage.
Edward Liu
President, Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS)
Singapore
With Asia emerging from the global recession in a relatively stronger position, the Asian MICE industry will come of age in the next decade and beyond.
European organisers will make Asia their battleground as they attempt to strengthen their portfolios and gain market share. The pace of change and challenges will quicken more rapidly in Asia than elsewhere in the coming years.
In Singapore, delegates at the 77th UFI Congress in November were impressed with the world-class infrastructure and facilities, and several are planning to replicate some of their more-established events here. The successful staging of this event has helped reposition Singapore as a hub for international exhibitions and events in the minds of the global captains of industry.
Rohit Talwar
Global futurist and CEO, Fast Future Research
London
Some Asian destinations are still learning about the business events industry and are stuck in a ‘real estate’ mindset where they see the goal as just selling beds and square feet for business events. However, others are beginning to see there is far greater longer-term potential to use business events to drive economic growth and help create new industries.
Korea has highlighted the business events sector as one of seven key engines of economic growth and is targeting events that will contribute to the growth of the other six sectors. For example, when Seoul hosted the G20 in November the primary goal was to position Korea on the world stage. However, the Korean government also appreciates the longer-term benefits.
The next two years will see interesting changes as players across the sector in Asia start to see the true size of the prize.