N E W S A N A LY S I S
AMBASSADORS PROVE WORTH IN THE AGE OF COVID
twelve months,” the bureau’s head of conventions, Aileen Crawford, said. Elsewhere Dubai landed the World Marinas Conference 2021, World Congress of Direct Selling 2023, and World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems 2024, during the heat of the Covid-19 crisis. All three events were secured with the help of members of the Al Safeer Congress Ambassador Programme, who include scientists, doctors, academics, and business leaders.
DESTINATIONS WITH strong conference ambassador programmes may have stolen a march on their competitors during lockdown, with several cities securing a rostrum of major association meetings. Glasgow – whose convention bureau was one of the rst to use local experts and industry leaders to help bid for conferences – won 28 events via its ambassador programme, including the 2022 Council for Advancement and Support of Education Europe Annual Conference and the 2022 bi- annual AMA SERVSIG Conference. “Never has partnership working been more signi cant than during the last
BUT CAN INTELLECTUAL CAPITALS DO WITHOUT?
MEANWHILE was named the ‘intellectual capital’ of the world in a report ranking cities by the number of international association board members who live there. But – like most of the cities which made up the Top 20 – it had a low ‘harnessing ratio’. GainingEdge, the meetings industry consulting rm, concentrated on associations that hold conferences for more than 500 people when ranking the Top 50 cities in the world. Paris, Tokyo, New York, and Beijing follow London in descending order, followed by Seoul, Sydney, Singapore, Madrid and Washington who make up the Top 10. GainingEdge says its report – Leveraging Intellectual Capital of Convention Destinations – will help cities build ambassador programmes LONDON
6 APRIL 2021 AMIMAGAZINE.GLOBAL
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