BESTCITIES UNVEIL AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR 2017 TOKYO GLOBAL FORUM

BESTCITIES UNVEIL AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR 2017 TOKYO GLOBAL FORUM

BestCities Global Alliance is set to champion inclusivity and multi-culturalism within the business tourism industry in 2017 and beyond, following the announcement Building Global Connections Across Cultures will be the core theme underlying this year’s BestCities Global Forum, taking place in Tokyo 4-7 December 2017.

Building on the 100% delegate success ratings in Dubai 2016, the second BestCities Global Forum will be hosted in partnership with the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB). The impressive programme of education, insight and networking, is already shaping up to be this year’s must-attend event for senior international association meeting planners, looking to increase the positive impact of their meetings.

The Global Forum offers an intimate, yet stimulating learning environment for international association event organisers, to gain a deeper understanding, not only of ways to collaborate more effectively, but how to build professional relationships across cultures and develop effective leadership skills in a global context.

With over 25 years of experience, Sean Blair, owner of ProMeet will facilitate the diverse Forum programme, which includes thought-provoking education sessions, engaging practical workshops, relevant case studies and interactive breakouts challenges, designed to unlock the collective knowledge within the room. Influential speakers will include “accidental executive” and former CEO of Tourism Vancouver Rick Antonson and global leadership and cultural intelligence expert, Miriam van der Horst, owner of Learning 360.

While the majority of the sessions take place in the luxurious Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, nestled within a vast 19th Century Japanese Garden, host TCVB is also planning a rich and diverse programme to immerse participants in Japan’s heritage and culture, while revealing powerful insights into the city and its institutions. With preparations quickly progressing towards 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Prof. Hiroo Ichikawa Executive Director of The Mori Memorial Foundation, will also be discussing the strengths and opportunities of Tokyo in the next decade.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to establish relationships with peers and grow global networks, with events such as the Ambassador Dinner, bringing delegates together with influential local ambassadors and key contacts.

A perfect example of collaboration across cultures, the Global Forum also allows delegates to gain an in-depth knowledge of 12 top class meeting destinations under one roof, with City Café meetings and social networking with all 12 of BestCities’ partners: Berlin, Bogotá, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Houston, Madrid, Melbourne, Singapore, Tokyo and Vancouver.

BestCities Board Chair, Jonas Wilstrup from Wonderful Copenhagen said:
“Building global connections across cultures is at the very heart of BestCities ethos and long-term success. We are 12 partners that recognise the collective strength of working together, adding value not only for our individual cities, but our clients too. This year’s Global Forum will be addressing both the challenges and opportunities when dealing with international stakeholders, providing informed practical advice and peer-to-peer learning in a way, that will genuinely help and support senior association executives to take their future meetings to the next level.”

Kazuko Toda, Director from Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau said:
“Tokyo is delighted to host the BestCities Global Forum in Tokyo this December. Through hosting the Forum, we would like our clients to find out what Tokyo has to offer as a meetings destination, and not only a tourism destination. Also, through the learnings of the Forum, we hope to motivate and give confidence to clients who have not had the opportunity to hold their event in Tokyo or any of the new BestCities destinations to consider us for their next meeting. “

The inaugural BestCities Global Forum in Dubai, December 2016, was celebrated as an overwhelming success, with 100% of delegates surveyed reporting the Forum fulfilled their main objectives for attending and would recommend it to their international association meeting planners.

Speaking about the outcomes of the 2016 Global Forum in Dubai, Andry Vleeming, Chairman of World Congress on Low Back and Pelvic Girdle Pain said:

“I came with an open mind and was rewarded with four days of networking with talented colleagues sharing interests and expertise.  It has helped change the way I think about our future conferences – the need to move into the future more quickly, which is more critical today than it was in the past.”

Registration for the BestCities Global Forum Tokyo is now open. Free to attend, with round-trip flights, accommodation and meals for all attending qualified international association executives covered by BestCities.

For more information on BestCities and its upcoming events including the BestCities Global Forum in Tokyo (4-7 December 2017) visit http://www.bestcities.net  @BestCitiesGA

 

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#BestCities #Tokyo #MICEnews #MICEIndustry #BestCitiesGlobalForum

Tokyo – a great place to have an international conference!

Tokyo – a great place to have an international conference!
Around 700 professionals from all over the world recently gathered in Tokyo for American Bar Association Section of International Law (ABA-SIL) 2016 Fall Meeting.

With high evaluation about the support of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB), Ms. Sara P. Sandford, the Chair, commented on the significance and merit to hold the Associations meeting in Tokyo as follows; “It was our first meeting of that size held in Asia, which could be a very exciting event. Since the Section decided to have an event in Asia, we looked at different options and obviously Tokyo was among the top from the initial stage because of its scale and global recognition. In addition to that, we have the largest membership in Tokyo and from that point of view Tokyo was the right choice. Incidentally, I have lived and worked in Japan in the past and I knew that the logistics in Japan would be very smooth and easy in comparing to other destinations.”

Sara continued, “Furthermore, Tokyo was one of the best places to organize the event because we could really count on local staff. They are good at communicating, acting promptly and very helpful, which makes the organizing the event particular easy with great comfort. Especially, TCVB was a wonderful addition to our conference. They were very professional in sharing the information about venues, which helped us to identify the possible details quickly and their assistance in welcoming the participants at the airport was hugely appreciated. I have heard very favorable comments from the participants about the wonderful cultural programs as well as complimentary city tours sponsored by the TMG. Moreover, Tokyo Information Desk prepared as one of their supports for the conference, allowed the participants to arrange things right onsite in terms of visiting somewhere in Tokyo. I totally appreciate their whole support, which convinced me Tokyo is a great place to have an international conference!”

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#TMG #TCVB #Tokyo

International Continence Society back to Tokyo this Fall

International Continence Society back to Tokyo this Fall

More than 2000 specialists from around the world gathered in Tokyo this fall for the International Continence Society (ICS) annual meeting.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau (TCVB) jointly contributed to the success of the meeting in sponsoring/organizing the welcome desks at the airports, Japanese cultural programs, city tours and the technical visit to be arranged for the overseas participants.

Dr. Adrian WAGG, General Secretary of the ICS highly evaluated the support of the TCVB and commented on the entire meeting: “For the International Continents Society coming to Tokyo was very exciting opportunity for the 1st time since 1997. Clearly a lot has changed since that time and for our international audience Tokyo presents a very excited destination. What is different this time, I think, it is the setting – we have a marvelous setting for the conference and the city itself.

As a result of a survey carried out with the members of International Continents Society about their preferred city to hold the ICS meeting 4 years ago, Tokyo was the most popular city with the high voting by the members.

Tokyo, as a destination, presented some unique challenges for a non-Japanese speaking audience, but we have seen how great the hospitality is and extremely friendly reception, very polite people, very clean and well maintained city.

As far as the International Continents Society meeting goes, the Tokyo Hospitality team staff have been polite, courteous, welcoming and friendly with continuous smile and abundant assistance. I am sure that given a chance the International Continents Society would certainly come to Tokyo again”.

 

BUSINESS EVENTS IN TOKYO

BUSINESS EVENTS IN TOKYO

The largest Asia Pacific Liver Conference in Tokyo

Over 4,200 experts in Hepatology from over 70 countries assembled in Tokyo for the 25th Conference of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL). Of these 4,200, two thirds were overseas participants.
During this largest liver Conference in Asia Pacific held under the theme of “Modern Hepatology”, the participants could study fruitfully in sharing the state-of-the-art views, values, experience and practices regarding liver diseases.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau (TCVB) contributed to the success of the Conference in sponsoring/organizing the technical visit, welcome desks at the airports, Japanese cultural programs and city tours for the overseas participants.

The technical visit to the Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital allowed the specialists from Indonesia, Egypt and Taiwan to have an inspection of the Center’s three departments: Hepatology, Palliative care and Radiology.
After a briefing on recent research, the participants were guided through the operating room, laboratory, outpatient exam room and other facilities of the Center to observe the top-notch equipment in real use for the treatment of cancer patients.

The visit was highly evaluated by participated professionals as a great opportunity to inspect and discuss the different aspects of medical front, such as the methods of keeping medical records, governmental support for the patients in the last stage of cancer, variety of the anesthesiology protocols and many other topics.

Tokyo wins the IAPCO Annual Meeting & General Assembly 2018

During the General Assembly 2015 held in Cape Town, IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organizers) selected Tokyo as the host city for the 49th IAPCO Annual Meeting & General Assembly in 2018.
IAPCO originated in Europe and has been enjoying a rapid increase in its membership in Asia region recently, decided to come back to Asia as a venue for the meeting for the first time in 22 years since the Meeting in Bali in 1996. The last meeting held in Japan was in 1993 in Chiba.

This time, the Bid was made by three Japanese PCOs belonging to IAPCO and TCVB supported the bid by offering both financial and in-kind support, including complimentary city tours and welcome desks at the airports. TCVB recognizes the Meeting in 2018 as a great opportunity to showcase Tokyo as a unique and dependable meeting destination to the industry professionals from around the globe.

In addition to that, Tokyo’s recent bid wins include the FIA Mobility Conference in 2017 (400 delegates), the 55th International Young Lawyers’ (AIJA) Congress in 2017 (600 delegates) and the 18th World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference (WASBE) in 2019 (1,000 delegates).

2016 is another exciting year for Tokyo as a host city for an impressive number of international conferences coming up throughout the year. Please see below for a calendar of events in Tokyo.

For the Business Events Tokyo Event Calendar please visit:
http://businesseventstokyo.org/event-category/events-list/

 

Good news for corporate events organizers! A new application period for our special offers starts from April 1!

Having started special offers for corporate events in 2014, TCVB practically expanded the program during 2015. From April 1, 2016, TCVB will start to accept new applications from organizers that are in the process of planning corporate events in Tokyo during the new fiscal year, starting from April 1, 2016 until March 31, 2017.

Special Offers, for a group of 400 and more visitor nights* in Tokyo, include giveaways for each participant & special souvenir for VIPs, airport meeting/greeting service and a variety of entertainment options for dinner parties, depending on the size of the group. During 2015, various major companies from the industries including IT, insurance and automobiles, took advantage of using this program to enjoy the attractive party entertainment and other options.

Moreover, the corporate-events planners as well as decision-makers who are still in the process of narrowing their choice of destinations for a big group of 1,000 and more visitor nights* are eligible to get the support from TCVB in terms of accommodation, ground transportation and others for their site visit to Tokyo.

For applications/details, please contact businessevents@tcvb.or.jp

 

Strengthening the Tokyo Hotel Portfolio

Many long-awaited hotel openings are coming in Tokyo during 2016, including the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho and the HOSHINOYA Tokyo to be opened in July, as well as the renovated Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to be opened in November.
Furthermore, some of the hotels such as Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo will complete guestroom renovations this year.

The number of newly-open budget hotels such as Tokyu Stay Ginza, Keikyu EX Inn Akihabara, Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyobashi, Shiba Park Hotel 151 is also expected to increase drastically throughout this year.
The above-mentioned hotels alone will bring an additional 1,000 new rooms to Tokyo this year, which will definitely reinforce the business events environment in the city.

 

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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.