Meetings industry suppliers and association meeting planners to discuss initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact of their meetings.
Today’s international association meetings market seems to be dominated by buzz words like ‘sustainability’, ‘green initiatives’ and ‘corporate social responsibility’. Is this a world-wide trend or just a passing phase? ICCA has announced that it is set to host a special seminar entitled ‘The Middle East going green’ on the first day of this year’s edition of the Gulf Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (GIBTM), March 25, 2013, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
Meetings industry suppliers and association meeting planners will discuss initiatives that are aimed at reducing the environmental impact of their meetings and pose the question how important these initiatives are in the decision-making process of associations. During the seminar, ICCA members will show how they are using their sustainability programmes to market their destination to international association meeting planners. Do clients specifically ask for sustainability programmes when considering a destination, and what is the feedback from clients on these programmes?
The event will be moderated by Steen Jakobsen from the Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau in Denmark and will be joined by a panel of meetings industry experts that includes Trevor McCartney from the Qatar National Convention Centre; Salma Ghuznavi from the Dubai Convention and Events Bureau and a representative from Abu Dhabi TBC.
The seminar is open to press and will be held from 11:30 to 12:30 PM at ADNEC’s ”Knowledge Hub”.
ICCA is extending its activities in the Middle East region and has just recently opened its first ICCA Middle East Regional Office, which is expected to leverage the association’s key expertise in the international association meetings sector -offering unrivalled data, communication channels and business development opportunities to international meeting suppliers. Mr. Gamal Sadek from the Al Ketbi Consultancy was appointed as the new ICCA Middle East Regional Director.
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