How has the region’s meetings industry fared post the economic recession?
There is a new passion to justify every penny spent on a business event. Professional conference organisers (PCO) are being told ‘Here is our budget, what can you offer for that price? We don’t have a dollar more’. Because Asian economies have returned very quickly to growth compared to Europe, the Middle East and North America, Asian business events and companies are now much more sought after. It’s a trend we’ll see continuing over the next two or three years. We see companies also a lot more concerned about green meetings. They don’t want to pay extra for a green meeting, but they now push the PCO to be smart on things such as plastic bottles, wasteful distribution of brochures and so on. With Asia leading the global travel industry recovery – what kind of travel trends do you see developing out of this region? The continued rise of mobile smart devices and applications in iPad, iPhone and BlackBerry. The new technology empowers the traveller. They can now read reviews of restaurant
