Istanbul has A Tale of Two Cities to tell at Meetings Show

Istanbul has A Tale of Two Cities to tell at Meetings Show

LONDON (July 2015) – The Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) is excited to have kicked off presenting Istanbul at the Meetings Show in London today at one of the world’s top shows for meetings, conventions and incentives to press, buyers, meeting and event decision-makers. Meeting with the press and buyers at a well-attended conference today, Istanbul CVB shared news and trends on Istanbul’s latest developments and investments, including up-to-date statistics, together with the bureau’s recent global marketing campaign. Istanbul CVB is taking place in Turkey stand J19.

Istanbul is very much the centre of attention globally, recently rising to the 5th most visited city according to MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index 2015. It also continues to go from strength to strength as far as the international congress sector goes as illustrated by the International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) recent 2014 Rankings Report for Cities and Countries in which Istanbul maintained its top 10 position as a global congress destination. Ranking 9th in the world in 2014 with 130 congresses, Istanbul has now held this top 10 position since 2010. Istanbul was also recently named Best MICE Destination Europe at the Business Destinations Travel Awards after groundwork prepared by Istanbul CVB.

Istanbul CVB has played a key role in a promoting Istanbul as destination with its metaphorical A Tale of Two Cities campaign. This project has been running successfully for the first half of this year, reaching an audince of 550,000 across 17 international meetings & Incentive publications across print and online channels globally. The campaign includes adaptations in the local languages, while maintaining a striking and identifiable brand image.

The number of congresses in Istanbul has risen by 280% during the past ten years and this increase is expected to continue as Istanbul CVB work towards making Istanbul one of the most desirable destinations in the world for the meetings industry. The goal for 2023 is for Istanbul to rank in the top 5 convention destinations in the world. Istanbul is a top 10 congress destination since 2010.

A magnet for dynamic and talented people from around the world, Istanbul is the ideal meetings and conventions destination with its vibrancy, modernity, top-notch infrastructure and enviable geographical position. Exciting up-and-coming infrastructure projects for Istanbul include a third airport for 2019 which will cater to 150 million passengers, making the city the largest airline hub in the world, and a new road tunnel under construction, the ‘Eurasia Tunnel’, which will connect Asia and Europe under the Bosphorus.

The Meetings Show is the must-attend event for the UK inbound and outbound meetings industry and, organised by meeting professionals for meeting professionals, it is focused around a large exhibition, networking opportunities and professional education. More than 5000 industry professionals and 400 global suppliers, including destinations, venues, hotels and industry suppliers, are expected to attend and there will be 80+ educational sessions and over 10,000 pre-scheduled meetings.
www.themeetingsshow.com

Meeting Place Berlin begeistert Kongress-Veranstalter

Pressemitteilung

Meeting Place Berlin begeistert Kongress-Veranstalter
Wichtigste Kundenveranstaltung des Jahres für die deutsche Hauptstadt

Berlin, 8. Juli 2015 – Um den Erfolg Berlins als Kongressmetropole langfristig zu sichern, hat das visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office (BCO) zum „Meeting Place Berlin“ geladen. Vom 2. bis 6. Juli zeigten das BCO und Partner der Stadt mehr als 130 nationalen und internationalen Veranstaltungsplanern das vielfältige Berliner Angebot an Hotels, Locations und Kongress-Zentren. Die Teilnehmer zogen ein durchweg positives Resümee. Ziel der Veranstaltung war es, die Anzahl mehrtägiger Kongresse mit mehr als 100 Teilnehmern in der Hauptstadt zu steigern.
Burkhard Kieker, Geschäftsführer von visitBerlin: „Noch nie zuvor war das Interesse internationaler Kongresskunden an Berlin so groß wie jetzt. Zwei Drittel aller Teilnehmer kamen aus dem Ausland. Der Meeting Place Berlin ist der wichtigste Baustein in unseren Marketingaktivitäten, um den Erfolg Berlins als Kongressmetropole auch in Zukunft zu sichern.“

Begeisterte Teilnehmer
Die Gäste des Meeting Place Berlin zogen ein positives Fazit. Ulrike Großbauer von der Reiseagentur Kuoni Interactive, Wien, sagt: „Ich bin regelmäßig in Berlin, aber die Stadt verändert sich sehr schnell. Der Meeting Place Berlin war die ideale Möglichkeit, neue Hotels und Locations kennen zu lernen. Der Input während der Führungen durch Berlin war sehr gut. Ich kann jedem empfehlen, am Meeting Place Berlin teilzunehmen.“

Teilnehmer Chunghee Yogi, Hana Travels Ltd., Reiseveranstalter mit Sitz in Mumbai resümiert: „Thank you for inviting me to Meeting Place Berlin. It was a wonderful event and an amazing experience to explore this beautiful city. I appreciate your team‘s efforts to making it a success. Surely I will come back with my clients very soon.“

„The Meeting Place Berlin was a great opportunity to get in contact with many suppliers. The organisation of the event was very professional, everything was planned exactly for my business“, ergänzt Teilnehmerin Chiara Dionisi Vici von der Agentur The Next World Incentive & Convention, Rom.

USA sind der Top-Auslandsmarkt – hohe Nachfrage bei Anmeldungen
Am Meeting Place Berlin nahmen 132 nationale und internationale Kunden aus 30 Ländern teil. Zu den Top-Auslandsmärkten zählten die USA, Großbritannien, Indien, Italien und Frankreich. Sogar aus Venezuela, Singapur und Indonesien reisten die Gäste an. Besonders gefragt war der Meeting Place Berlin bei Kongress-Agenturen (74 Prozent der Teilnehmer), gefolgt von internationalen Verbänden (15 Prozent) und Unternehmen (11 Prozent). Vertretene Branchen waren unter anderem Wissenschaft, IT und Luxus. Es gab mehr als 540 Anmeldungen.

Umfangreiches Rahmenprogramm: Touren präsentierten neue Locations und Hotels
Der Meeting Place Berlin fand unter anderem im neuen Westhafen Event & Convention Center statt. Beim Meeting Place Berlin präsentierten sich sowohl Klassiker als auch Newcomer der Berliner Location- und Hotel-Landschaft. Dazu zählten die „Bolle Eventlocation“, das „Estrel Convention Center“, das „25hours Bikini Berlin“ sowie das „Steigenberger Am Kanzleramt“. Weitere Touren führten zu bekannten Sehenswürdigkeiten und in die Kieze der Stadt.

Erfolgreiche Kongressmetropole Berlin
2014 blickt Berlin auf sein bisher erfolgreichstes Kongress-Jahr zurück: Laut aktueller Kongress-Statistik* des Berlin Convention Office von visitBerlin kamen im vergangenen Jahr rund elf Millionen Teilnehmer (+ 3 % im Vergleich zum Vorjahr) zu mehr als 131.000 Veranstaltungen
(+ 4 %) in die deutsche Hauptstadt. Auch international ist Berlin im Spitzenfeld vertreten: Derzeit positioniert Berlin auf Platz 4 der Kongressmetropolen. Die deutsche Hauptstadt überzeugt vor allem mit seiner vielfältigen Hotellandschaft und der großen Auswahl an Locations.

Über den Meeting Place Berlin
In diesem Jahr waren die Gäste zum bereits achten Meeting Place Berlin geladen. Die Veranstaltung dient der Akquise von Kongressen und Meetings für Berlin. Er findet alle zwei Jahre statt. Veranstalter des Meeting Place Berlin ist das visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office.
Weitere Informationen: meeting-place-berlin.de.

Tokyo – the most liveable city in Monocle magazine’s 2015 Quality of Live Survey

Tokyo – the most liveable city in Monocle magazine’s 2015 Quality of Live Survey.

Rising from the 2nd place in 2014 and 4th in 2013, Tokyo was named the most liveable city, followed by Vienna, Berlin, Melbourne and Sydney, in the 2015 Quality of Live Survey in the Monocle magazine.

In addition to the criteria surveyed traditionally, such as safety, international connectivity, public transport, tolerance and environmental issues, Monocle has added 22 new metrics, including several that look at housing and the cost of living, from the price of a three-bedroom house to the cost of a coffee, glass of wine and decent lunch. Furthermore, access to nature, urban design, business conditions, pro-active policy development and medical care has been more emphasized.

Summarizing this year’s survey results, Monocle magazine stated, “Tokyo claims the hotly debated crown due to its defining paradox of heart-stopping size and concurrent feeling of peace and quiet”.

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#Tokyo #Japan

Tokyo welcomes a large-scale Indonesian incentive

CASE STUDY: Tokyo welcomes a large-scale Indonesian incentive

A well-known Indonesian insurance company incentive group of 1,150 participants visited Tokyo during May 13-17, 2015 to enjoy the traditional and modern spots of Tokyo, the Japanese capital, as well as local cuisine and shopping at world-famous districts.

As one of the highlights of the event, the Gala Dinner was held on May 15 in the Konron Ballroom of the International Convention Center “Pamir” located in the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa.

Gorgeously appareled Indonesian participants were welcomed at the ballroom entrance by beautiful Japanese Kimono Girls, the entertainers from Asakusa, a traditional district in Tokyo. The participants were greatly impressed by the furisode* kimonos specially prepared as a treat. These pink-colored kimonos richly patterned with seasonal flowers are only worn in May during the Sanja Matsuri**.

The Gala Dinner began with the national anthem sang in unison. When the party was reaching the climax after the awards ceremony of the top performers of the year, the Ryoma String Quartet featuring a female singer, Mikiko-san, appeared on the stage. Being composed by traditional Japanese instruments and violin, the band played several numbers, specially arranged Indonesian melodies and songs. When the nationally famous “Coffee rumba” began, the participants joined the band to sing and dance to the music on the stage and the floor. They fully enjoyed the final night in Tokyo to their heart’s content.

As TCVB’s special offer, financial support was provided including airfare, accommodation fee, ground transportation for Tokyo study tours held in 2014 and arrangement for the cultural entertainment programs at the Gala Dinner such as Kimono Girls and Ryoma String Quartet.

Business Events Team did the very best to work as a point of contact for the local community in Tokyo by introducing the venues and suppliers as well as giving recommendation on the gifts to the participants. The big success of this Gala Dinner has proven that Tokyo has a great potential.

European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Report 2015 confirms the emergence of a strong positive city tourism trend

European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Report 2015 confirms the emergence of a strong positive city tourism trend

A strong positive trend in percentage growth rate for ECM report cities has emerged again this year, achieving a rate of 5.7% in total bednights and 7.0% in international bednights. Sharp decreases in the number of bednights contributed by Japan and Russia seem to have been offset by the strong positive growth trends of the other seven top source markets, with China and Italy each reaching increases of over 12% since 2013.

European cities are still surfing on the wave of success : the UNWTO Annual Report 2014 affirms that “Europe continues to be the most visited region in the world with over half of the world´s international tourists.” Furthermore, the ECM Benchmarking Report 2015 states that over the last 5 years (2010-2014), bednights in ECM Benchmarking Report cities have been increasing at a faster rate than of the 28 EU nations with + 5.8%, 1.2 points higher than the average growth rate for the 28 EU nations.

Top Performing Cities
The 2013 top five cities in terms of total bednights held their rankings in 2014. London, already being the top performing city, showed a robust growth rate of 6.1% since the previous year, whereas Berlin had the highest growth rate among the top 5 cities with 6.5%. Rome and Barcelona followed suit with positive growth rates in 2014, similar to 2013. In contrast, Paris managed to maintain its position at number two, despite a negative growth rate for the second year in a row. Madrid, Istanbul, and Amsterdam were the top performers in terms of growth rate with more than 10% increase over 2013.

Top Source Markets
Similar to 2013 and making up 20% of total bednights in the ECM Benchmarking Report cities, the US, German, UK and French markets have grown individually between 4.9% and 9% since 2013. Spain and Italy resumed positive growth rates after continuous decreases in number of bednights spent in European cities with respectively +7.7% and +12.4%.
Not surprisingly, the highest top source market was China, with an impressive growth rate of 14.5% over 2013. Japan kept on its negative growth since 2013, though the most marked decrease in bednights belonged to Russia. Nonetheless, the Russian source market remains important to ECM Benchmarking Report cities and stands for 3% of total bednights registered in European cities.

Tourism Densities
This new section of the ECM Benchmarking Report examines the number of bednights a city hosts per citizen. In 2014, the average tourism density for the sample of ECM cities was 7.14 bednights per citizen. The two destinations with the highest tourism densities are Funchal and Venice. However, nearly two-thirds of the sample (93 cities) revealed tourism densities below average, and about half of the sample shows densities of between 0.6 and 5 bednights per citizen.

Commenting on the results, Ignasi de Delàs, ECM President said: “These results provide crucial insights into European city competitiveness and competitor sets. The ECM Benchmarking Report clearly shows that the continuous success of city tourism in Europe is based upon a rich mix of source markets. With an average of 65% of international guests, European cities can cope with negative growth of markets like Russia or Japan, thanks to the recovery of the Spanish and Italian markets. Despite all economic or political factors, it is proven that the cities’ strategic focus on international visitors is the main reason for the triumph of the cities, which gives City Tourism Managers every reason to be confident in the strength of the European tourism industry.”