Northstar

NOV-DEC 2017 55 meetings & conventions • mcmag-asia.com their leisure time cycling around Sun Moon Lake, learn about the culture of local Thao aborigines, and even take a pottery class at Shuili Snake Kiln Ceramics Cultural Park. While the new Taichung Exhibition & Convention Center will add roughly 28,000sqm of event space to the city in 2022, hospitality players are already betting big: a Le Méridien and Aloft will open there, complementing properties like the Millennium Hotel Taichung. Dynamism in Kaohsiung Key to Kaohsiung's MICE ambitions is its "Asia's New Bay Area" revitalisation project, which includes the 25,000sqm Kaohsiung Exhibition Center. Since opening in 2014, the venue has hosted global gatherings like the Taiwan International Boat Show and the 2016 Global Harbor Cities Forum. This year, the Asian MICE Forum 2017 was held there for the first time. "For the forum, we had many visitors coming here for the first time, which was a great way to show what Kaohsiung has to offer," says Walter Yeh, president & CEO of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA). Attendees cruised the Love River and visited Ruifeng Night Market after the day's events, enjoying the city's bustling nightlife. 2018 will see the opening of the Kaohsiung Maritime Culture and Popular Music Center, which comprises a 3,500-seat concert hall, an outdoor theatre seating 12,000, and six waterfront studios. Room inventory is growing steadily with upscale properties like the 157-room H2O Hotel and IHG's Hotel Indigo Kaohsiung Central Park, with more international brands expected to enter the mix. LOOKING AHEAD CEOs identify the trends At the 12th Asian MICE Forum in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, CEOs from the world's top exhibitions and events companies shared their predictions. Daniel McKinnon, VP, Client Solutions, FreemanXP + FACE-TO-FACE EVENTS ADD VALUE Discussions about the future inevitably revolve around the impact of technology. Yet, while the panellists were enthusiastic about the innovations produced by augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), they were certain that technology would not replace face-to-face meetings. The importance of eye contact will never change," declared Wolfgang Marzin, president & CEO, Messe Frankfurt GmbH. He reasoned that while consumer shows might decrease in frequency due to the rise of ecommerce, trade shows were still necessary. "Where things have to be explained, we believe live meetings are the most effective means to sell." Daniel McKinnon, VP, Client Solutions at FreemanXP, feels that the industry needs to recognise younger and more tech-savvy buyers who can already get information online, and adapt to that with an effective events mix. "We're really creating a new reality, one in which physical and digital media work together," declared McKinnon. "Let's make our experiences engaging and entertaining, and present our sales pitches so that buyers can consume them in a more fun way." + MEETINGS GET MORE EFFECTIVE AND IMPACTFUL The ease of generating conversations online also means that at meetings, where delegates are typically experts in their field, the traditional speaker-to- listeners model is quickly going out of date. "There is already too much knowledge about, so why bother with just one person delivering the truth to everyone rather than capitalising on the knowledge which is present in everybody in the audience?" said Mike van der Vijver, co- founder of Mindmeeting. Vijver also suggested that meetings should be more effective in environmental and economic impact. This was echoed by Tom Hulton, director of international relations at IMEX Group, who is an advocate of the industry's ability to generate employment, develop trade, and nurture local communities. "For every major event – in London for example – over US$200 million is delivered to the city, in addition to other benefits," said Hulton. + SECURITY STANDARDS MUST BE IMPROVED Finally, panellists agreed that the MICE industry needs to establish standards for safety and security at events, whether big or small. "I still do not see the level of security which provides me with any feelings of comfort or reassurance," said Hulton, who added that convincing governments to provide support was crucial. McKinnon also emphasised the importance of cybersecurity, adding: "Data security is extremely important. When we have all these analytics, when we have all this personalised information on our customers, we'd better protect it." Mike van der Vijver, co-founder, Mindmeeting Wolfgang Marzin, president & CEO, Messe Frankfurt GmbH.

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