EVENTS WE WILL BE
EVENTS WE WILL BE HOLDING A HIGH-LEVEL SEMINAR WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TOP WINE TOURISM COUNTRIES IN LA CITÉ DU VIN IN BORDEAUX. (From left to right) Michel Durrieu, General Director, Regional Tourism Board, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General, UNWTO at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE PARTNERS WITH UNWTO FOR WINE TOURISM EVENT IN OCTOBER Memorandum of Understanding signed with aim of boosting global wine tourism With the signing of a high-level Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a major new wine tourism seminar is set to take place in Bordeaux in early October this year. We asked Michel Durrieu, General Director of the Regional Tourism Board, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, to tell us more about the background to the relationship between his organisation and the World Tourism Organisation. The Regional Tourism Board of Nouvelle- Aquitaine is already an affiliate member of the UNWTO; we often collaborate on such topics as sustainable tourism strategies, training and of course wine tourism. The idea of the seminar came about when the UNWTO’s Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili, and its Executive Council President and Minister of Tourism of Argentina, Gustavo Santo visited Nouvelle- Aquitaine last year. We continued our discussions at the French Embassy in Madrid and also at ITB Berlin in March of this year. We all recognise the strong link between wine tourism, culture, history and lifestyle and the contributions of this segment to the development of regions on a global scale. Hence, in order to boost wine tourism, we will be holding a high-level seminar with representatives of the top wine tourism countries in La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux. This event will take place in early October 2019 and what better place than Bordeaux since the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region with the Bordeaux and Cognac vineyards represents 35% of all wine tourism in France. The seminar is taking place at a strategic time. It begins right after the IFTM Top Resa exhibition in Paris which opens on October 1st. Many of our attendees, high level tourism officials including tourism ministers, will be able to come down to Bordeaux just after IFTM. Our main goal is to structure our wine tourism strategies globally, exchange with other leading wine tourism countries and of course increase awareness about the Nouvelle-Aquitaine’s wine tourism offering. We hope the participants will see the benefits of such a seminar and we aim to host it every year. Finally, there will be a fun side to these high-level meetings since we will be inviting the attendees to participate in the vendange (wine grape harvest) in selected Bordeaux vineyards. Why did you choose La Cité du Vin to host the seminar? La Cité du Vin is a symbolic location, located in Bordeaux, it is a new generation cultural centre unique in the world, where wine is presented in its cultural, civilizational, heritage and universal dimensions. Most importantly, La Cité du Vin showcases vineyards from around the world through a permanent tour and temporary exhibitions
Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #43 2019 Summer Edition 9 9 24% RISE IN NTO PARTICIPATION FOR ITB ASIA Unprecedented demand for space at leading Asian tourism event Katrina Leung Managing Director, Messe Berlin (Singapore) With a total of 58 NTOs and RTOs, ITB Asia in Singapore this October has experienced a year-onyear growth of 23.8% and 25% respectively in the securing of exhibition space compared to 2018. The 3-day business-tobusiness travel trade show takes place from 16 - 18 October 2019 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands. This year’s event will see at least 19 new NTOs and RTOs, and thus far, the three contingents with the largest exhibition spaces registered are from Indonesia, Russia and South Korea. The strongest participation comes from Asia, Marina Bay complex, Singapore with Southeast Asia well represented, and newcomers Myanmar and RTO, Jakarta, taking part. North Asia will see an expanded South Korean contingent with RTOs from Gyeonggi, Jeju and Seoul securing their own booths. Europe has seen a major increase in the number exhibitors, buoyed by an increase in interest from Southern and Eastern Europe. The Balkan states of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia will be taking part for the first time along with the Czech Republic and Estonia. Compared to previous years, Hungary and Russia will also bring larger contingents MESSE BERLIN (SINGAPORE) LAUNCHES FIRST MICE SHOW ASIA 2019 Co-located with ITB Asia 2019, MICE Show Asia 2019 will see a diverse group of participants taking part, of which 47% are from MICE Agencies and 26% from Corporates such as Meetings and Incentive Planners. The new show will shine the spotlight on Asia’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector. The gathering will see professionals from the incentive travel, meetings, and events industries come together to discuss the latest trends, hear from up-andcoming MICE innovators, and network with suppliers. Katrina Leung, Managing Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of MICE Show Asia, cites a forecast published by Allied Market Research on the global MICE market, explaining that Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth rate of 8.6% through to 2023: “The MICE sector in APAC continues to thrive, with the region expected to witness the highest growth rate in the next 5 years. After successfully organising ITB Asia for 12 years, we noticed the fast-growing demand for the MICE and corporate travel segments. MICE Show Asia 2019 seeks to capture this growing demand and I am confident participants will gain the highest value at this show.” Messe Berlin is working with prominent trade partners such as the United Networks of International Corporate Event Organizers (UNICEO) and Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) to enrich the conference content and bring buyers on board
