Tag Archives: PCMA

Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) have partnered to launch a white paper titled ‘Reimagining Business Events – Through COVID-19 and Beyond’. Launched at the first hybrid Singapore MICE Forum x IBTM Wired at Marina Bay Sands on 28 June 2021, the white paper is the first such collaboration between a destination and leading associations representing the exhibitions, conventions and meetings industry. It takes stock of how various sectors within the industry have transformed in response to COVID-19, and consolidates ideas from around the world to help business event organisers rethink their offerings and operations. The business events sector supported nearly 26 million jobs and contributed US$1.5 trillion to global GDP in 20171, which would rank it as the 13th largest economy globally, surpassing those of Australia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. In Singapore, the MICE sector supported more than 34,000 direct and indirect jobs, with a value-add of S$3.8 billion, or close to 1 per cent of Singapore’s GDP. COVID-19 changed all that. In 2020, the global travel and hospitality suffered a staggering loss of US$935 billion, with the business events industry among the worst hit. The onset of the pandemic was a wake-up call for the industry, heavily dependent on physical interaction, to reinvent itself. According to PCMA’s COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard survey (January 2021)2, the overall willingness to travel remains mixed, with 44 per cent of planners and 23 per cent of suppliers unwilling to travel. However, there is cause for optimism. The same survey showed that 25 per cent of planners and 31 per cent of suppliers were willing to travel any distance necessary if the …

Abu Dhabi Convention & Exhibition Bureau (ADCEB) and PCMA have signed a strategic training and partnership agreement at the PCMA Convening Leaders 2020 conference, which was held this week in San Francisco, USA.  As part of the agreement, PCMA will support ADCEB, which is part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), in three key areas, including Convention Services Manager Training (CSM training) for elected event executives from the emirate. The agreement also entails hosting an Abu Dhabi Advisory Summit, which is set to take place later this year, as well as the introduction of a series of educational programmes and membership to help build the knowledge base and event management capabilities within the M!CE industry in Abu Dhabi. Mubarak Al Shamisi, Director of ADCEB, said, “Abu Dhabi is strengthening its industry capabilities to serve the global community of business event strategists, planners and organisers through education and knowledge sharing, and partnering with an esteemed global entity such as PCMA is key to achieving that. We are very excited about this partnership and look forward to the successes it will bring in 2020 and beyond.” Sherrif Karamat, CAE, PCMA President and CEO, said, “Abu Dhabi and PCMA are perfectly aligned as we both recognise that the business events industry can play an instrumental role in economic and social transformation. Abu Dhabi also realises that this requires the development of their most important asset – their citizens and this is where PCMA can bring tremendous value as the global leader in the business events industry.”