International organizations

ACTE

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is a not-for-profit, international association established to provide executive-level global education and peer-to-peer networking opportunities. ACTE members are ready to expand their knowledge base and share their own unique experiences and perspectives. Membership spans all of business travel, from corporate buyers to agencies to suppliers, and accords all sectors equal membership. ACTE serves more than 6,000 travel executives in 50 countries.

MPI

Meeting Professionals International is the largest association of meeting professionals with over 19.000 members in 60 countries. There are currently 60 chapters, and an additional 4 chapters in formation. MPI's current membership ratio is 46 % planners and 54 % suppliers. MPI members are dedicated professionals in planning, managing and supplying services to the dynamic meeting industry. They strive to help both meeting planners and suppliers to enhance their professional growth while saving them valuable time and money through superior educational programming, timely and topical communication, extensive resources, professional interaction, and exclusive discounts.

ICCA

International Congress & Convention Association

was founded in 1963 by a group of travel agents. Their first and foremost aim was to evaluate practical ways to get the travel industry involved in the rapidly expanding market of international meetings and to exchange actual information related to their operations in this market. This initiative soon proved to have been taken at the right moment: the meeting industry expanded even more rapidly than foreseen. As a result of which candidates from all over the world applied for ICCA membership. ICCA provides educational programmes, concerted promotion through international meeting news, a membership directory, international trade shows, database, contacts with international clients and networking with ICCA members etc. ICCA now is one of the most prominent organisations in the world of international meetings. It is the only association that comprises a membership representing the main specialists in handling, transporting and accommodating international events. With more than 600 members in 80 countries around the world, it is certainly the most global organisation within the meetings industry. ICCA has offices in the Netherlands, Malaysia and Uruguay.

IAPCO

International Association of Professional Congress Organizers

is a professional organization for organizers of international, regional, and national congresses, conferences and events. Founded in 1968, IAPCO has 100 members in 38 countries all of whom take part in a full quality assessment programme. IAPCO is not so much a business network as a business forum for sharing knowledge; an international branding for quality in every aspect of its output and membership. lAPCO's objectives are to set and maintain high professional standards; to contribute to the study, theory and practice of international meetings; to organize training programmes at all levels.

The list of business travel organizations is rather long. Among such organizations are international and regional ones:

•AIPC - International Association of Congress Centres

•ASAE - ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership

•AUMA - Ausstellungs- und Messeausschuss der deutschen Wirtschaft

•EFCT - the unique European Federation of Convention Bureaus

•EMC - European Marketing Confederation

•EVVC - European Association of Event Centers

•EXSA - Exhibition Association of Southern Africa

•HCCE Historic Conference Centres of Europe

•IACVB - Destination Marketing Association International

•IAEM - International Association for Exhibition Management

•EFCT - European Federation of Conference Town

•IFEA - International Festival & Events Association Europe

•IFES - International Federation of Exhibitions and Events Services

•MIAA - Meetings & Events Australia

Professional Conference organizers

Association of British Professional Conference Organisers

International Association of Professional Congress Organisers

International Congress & Convention Association

Professional Convention Management Association

Meetings Industry Association - UK conference Organisers

Meeting Professionals International

Conclusion

We have seen that business travel and tourism is a very old phenomenon but that it has grown, probably, more in the last fifty years than in all the previous centuries put together. It has also been seen that it is now a truly global industry, and that new special forms of business tourism have developed in the last few decades of the twentieth century. However, at the end of the chapter, we have noted that there are some doubts over the future of business travel and tourism.

Discussion points and essay questions

1. Discuss what you consider to be the three most important factors in the growth of business travel and tourism since 1950.

2. Discuss and explain the current geography of business travel and tourism demand.

What lessons can we learn from the history of business travel and tourism that might help accurately to predict its future?

Exercise

Select one of the following forms of business travel and tourism:

• conferences or conventions

• trade fairs and exhibitions

• individual business trips.

Produce a brief history of your chosen subject from its beginnings to the present day, highlighting changes in its nature and geography. You should note any problems you have in obtaining relevant information.

Chapter 2. What is influenced on MICE-tourism development

On completion of this chapter students should be able to understand:

• The demand side of MICE tourism

• The impacts of MICE tourism