Northstar

9 NOV-DEC 2018 MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS MCMAG-ASIA.COM Events Industry Council The impact of events spend Business events have left an indelible impact on the global economy, generating nearly US$1 trillion in spending across all regions in 2017, according to the preliminary results of the inaugural Global Economic Significance of Business Events study, by the Events Industry Council (EIC). The highest spend came from North America at US$381 billion, followed by Asia with US$290.9 billion and western Europe with US$266 billion. The US$1 trillion amount is comparable to the consumer electronics industry. This amount is result of the direct spending from planning, production, attending, and/or hosting of business events. These meetings, conferences, conventions, exhibitions, and incentive travel. "The Global Economic Significance of Business Events offers a compelling snapshot of the broad reach, scope, and strength of our industry," EIC CEO Karen Kotowski said. Tech talk Ready to play games? A s an event planner, you want to make your events more interesting and engaging. Gamification is one of the ways. Gamification is the application of game mechanics to non-game contexts. "Events have a common purpose - to promote engagement and interaction," said Kenny Goh, founder and mentor, MICE Neurol. He went on to explain that event gamification can be applied using a mobile app where organisers can incorporate game mechanics to improve the quality and effectiveness of their event and drive participation, engagement and experience. A gamified event has a storyline to keep participants engaged throughout the event, as well as a rewards system that gives a sense of accomplishment. To execute a gamification project, he says that there should be several checkpoints from developing a storyboard and deciding on trigger points for rewards to setting up a form of transient gratification and finally testing the system. In a case study of an event that the company executed for Singapore's Ministry of Social and Family Development, Goh implemented a treasure hunt-type of competition to encourage competitiveness and introduced a points system to reward participants. The top three scorers and those who scored lower were also rewarded with different tiers of prizes. ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: BIMBIMKHA007/GETTY IMAGES AccorHotels More reasons to be loyal Members of loyalty programmes Le Club AccorHotels and Club Eurostar by hotel group AccorHotels and rail services provider Eurostar can now exchange points between the two programmes. The first-time partnership between AccorHotels and Eurostar allows Club Eurostar members to convert their points into Le Club AccorHotels rewards points, which can be used for free nights and discounts at more than 3,500 hotels worldwide. Club Eurostar members can now access AccorHotel's rewards offerings such as Elite Experiences, La Collection e-boutique, Dream Stays and exclusive access to sporting and music events at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris. Le Club AccorHotels rewards points can also be exchanged for Club Eurostar points, and members can access Eurostar's loyalty programme which includes Eurostar tickets upgrades and special offers and purchases at the Club Eurostar shop. PHOTO CREDIT: ANYABERKUT/GETTY IMAGES

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