TBy - S&M Publication ltd

NEWS LINE WORLD INCENTIVE MAGAZINE
CIBTM 2007: LEADING HOTEL BRANDS JOIN CHINA'S
MEETINGS AND INCENTIVE SHOW
CIBTM 2007, taking place at the
China World Exhibition Hall in
Beijing from 3-5 July, is growing in
size and stature. It was recently
voted “the most want-to-attend
event in 2007” in an Asia-Pacific
online survey conducted by CEI Asia.
“We are building on a strong global portfolio of meetings and incentives
shows. We just had a very successful launch of our new GIBTM show in
the Middle East. This demonstrates Reed's growing commitment to the
global meetings industry and the future development of CIBTM is central
to our ambitions to create the leading event for China & the wider
Asia region.” Says Paul Kennedy MBE, Group Event Director for Reed
Travel Exhibitions. This will be the first year that InterContinental Hotel
Group will have a stand at the show while also accommodating a selected
group of Hosted Buyers in their Beijing property.
CIBTM 2007 will for the first time provide a dedicated area for the country's
leading business city, Shanghai. At the same time, a Hosted Buyer
group from the Shanghai Association and Government will be brought
to the show to take part in the event. Kuala Lumpur Convention Center
(KLCC) will be showcasing its facilities as well as promoting the fact that
they are the first and only convention centre in the world to have
achieved the Green Globe Benchmark. Green Globe assists the international
travel and tourism industry to attain sustainability.
More Tourist Boards: Singapore Tourism Board, Maison de la France,
Egypt, Brunei Tourism Department, and Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority
represent just some of tourist offices that have confirmed their participation
at the event. South Africa will be represented by Charles Drewe
& Associates, with a number of partners from the country. Beijing
Continental Grand Hotel as well as Tianlun International Hotels are also
participating, along with a strong representation of local and international
independent hotels and hotel groups. A new initiative for 2007 will
be a two-way appointment system enabling both exhibitors and Hosted
Buyers to select business meetings and maximise their diaries for the
event. This is a development of the Hosted Buyer Programme which has
run since the show's inception and has now become an integral part of
it's success. “CIBTM is the leading meetings and incentive platform in
the region and will see new initiatives this year in line with the repositioning
withinthe Reed Travel Exhibitions Meetings portfolio. We are
introducing some of the core brand values of EIBTM and our other portfolio
events, to ensure that CIBTM provides the best business opportunities,
professional education and networking events throughout the
event. We are delighted to see that CIBTM came first in the survey conducted
by CEI Asia, this helps to emphasise the importance of CIBTM's
position in the industry for the Asia Pacific region.” Says Graeme
Barnett, Event Director.
Gulf Air Hosted Global Aviation Technology Convention in Bahrain
The 95 th International Airlines Technical Pool
(IATP) Convention, hosted by Gulf Air, organized at
the Gulf Hotel Convention Centre. The inaugural
ceremony was attended by Civil Aviation Affairs
Under Secretary Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud
and Gulf Air Acting President and Chief Executive
Ahmed Al Hammadi and other dignitaries. "In
order to meet these challenges, new collaborations
and partnerships are vital; brainstorming
and pooling of ideas is critical and, sharing and exchanging issues of
concern are essential," said Mr Al Hammadi in his opening speech,
highlighting the dominant role played by technology and the challenges
due to technology changes in the aviation industry. He also underscored
two issues currently faced by the aviation industry: "On one hand we see
an enormous growth in the number of aircraft but the phasing out of old
aircraft is much less. On the other hand we have a very limited capacity
of hangars. This has lead to a critical situation; shortage of bays and
demand for slots has pushed up maintenance costs, adding a heavy
burden on airlines, which are already over-burdened with mounting fuel
costs. Fuel is still a global headache - both in terms of cost, and as
importantly, in terms of the new focus on carbon emissions," he added.
IATP Chairman and Cargolux International Airlines Director of
32 [[
APRIL’07
Maintenance and Production Ted Moos thanked Gulf Air for playing host
to the conference and gave an overview of IATP ' s role and objectives.
He also praised the cooperation among the member airlines in various
technical issues. The three-day event was attended by about 400 delegates
representing global aviation and related industries, including aircraft
manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. Over several technical sessions
and workshops, delegates discussed technical issues relating to the
introduction of A380 and Boeing 787aircraft including spares provisioning,
the business related to ground handling and ground maintenance
equipment, aircraft recovery kit contents and certification of kits. As
hosts to the event, Gulf Air took the delegates, who have come from far
and wide, on a tour of the Kingdom and accorded an evening reception
at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) on Sunday March 11, where the
guests were introduced to traditional Arabian folk music and dance,
henna painting and falconry. The IATP meet was hailed as an important
gathering of technical professionals from global aviation industry, who,
in the spirit of co-operation, gather twice a year and discuss sharing of
resources, thus generating economic savings, while improving operating
efficiency and other issues. The IATP, established in 1948, is a convention
of airlines made up of over 100 member airlines, 28 associate
members including aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing
with over 400 members from the aviation industry on its roll. Over the
years, the organisation, which contributes immensely to the aviation
industry, promoting unparalleled safety in the skies and forging strong
bonds between airlines around the world, has aimed at providing a global
airline network to facilitate the exchange of ideas and cooperation.
New Global Strategy of MPI
Meeting Professionals International
(MPI) announced significant details
of its new global strategy March 18
at Professional Education
Conference-Europe in Copenhagen .
Attending the event was HRH Crown
Princess Mary of the Kingdom of Denmark , patroness of the conference.
The global strategy, approved by the MPI International Board of
Directors in February, has six tenets to be implemented over the next
two years:
• New Professional Education Conferences,
• More regional offices,
• CultureActive Tool
• Web Portals that centralize community knowledge and
business opportunities,
• Trade missions to build relationships and
• Global Workshop Program.
“The Global Strategy Committee created a vision that positions MPI as
a truly global community for our members and sustains its industry
leadership role,” said Mary Casey, MPI Global Strategy Committee
member and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide vice president of
strategic account management. The first element in the strategy is the
launch of a Professional Education Conference-Middle East (PEC-
Middle East) in April 2008 in Dubai , United Arab Emirates , immediately
preceding the Gulf Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition
(GIBTM). PEC-Middle East is expected to be financially self-sustaining
in its first year. “As meeting professionals, our job is to connect people
to knowledge, networks and marketplaces,” said Bruce MacMillan, MPI
president and CEO. “The expansion of our community will make it more
valuable for everyone-more knowledge to access, bigger and more
diverse networks of people to tie into, and more marketplaces from
which to derive business opportunities.” “Pursuing its global strategy in
Asia later this year, MPI will open an office in Singapore ,” added Didier
Scaillet, vice president, global development. “A strong presence in the
global marketplace will provide a community platform to support our
members who have an interest or desire to expand their business into
other regions of the world.” Updates on MPI's global strategy activation
will be released during the MPI World Education Congress July 28-31 in
Montréal.