Beyond Asia: Monaco; BMA House; ESOT Congress 2023

TTGmice's weekly round-up of MICE developments outside of Asia-Pacific.

Monaco offers serene, picturesque surroundings, not just glamour and glitter
Monaco offers serene, picturesque surroundings; not just glamour and glitter

Monaco changes her narrative for MICE
Determined to shed the image that Monaco is a playground for only the rich and famous, the Monaco Government Tourist Bureau has launched the For You campaign in Asia to raise awareness of other aspects of the destination that will appeal to corporate incentive groups and a wide range of travellers.

Speaking to TTGmice, Benoit Badufle, regional director of Monaco Government Tourist Bureau Asia Office, said: “What everyone knows about Monaco for the past 70 years has been around royalty, Formula One Grand Prix, superyachts and millionaires. Monaco is more than just these. The campaign intends to show that the destination is for all, with price ranges for a variety of travellers.”

The For You campaign will be deployed through media platforms, trade engagements and a MICE familiarisation trip that is slated for Spring 2020.

The Monaco Government Tourist Bureau Asia Office hopes to further raise awareness about the destination and attract more business events and leisure FIT tourists from the region.

Badufle said: “For incentive qualifiers, a trip to Monaco is seen as a prestigious destination which means they have “made it” in their field of expertise and that the company values their contribution. However, it is sometimes not easy to convince incentive organisers to have an event in Monaco due to the perception that it is too expensive and not for common people. We wish to dispel these notions and show that the destination is competitively priced.”

He shared that twin accommodation in winter is priced from 300 euros (US$334) and 250 euros in a five-star and four-star property, respectively. During the shoulder season from April to early July, rooms rates climb to 400 euros and 300 euros for the same. – S Puvaneswary

BMA House cuts delegate carbon footprint and water usage
As part of an ongoing drive to maximise sustainability, BMA House in London has reduced its delegate carbon footprint by 69 per cent over the last four years, while cutting water usage by 5.4 million litres per year.

Using Green Tourism to measure its carbon footprint on a per delegate basis, the conference and events venue has seen a reduction to 2.8kg per delegate from nine kilogrames per delegate in 2014.

In addition, surveys, recommendations and subsequent work by Thames Water have estimated savings of 5.4 million litres of water per year.

In a press statement, Kat Winfield, venue manager, BMA House, remarked that sustainability is at the heart of everything the venue does, despite “challenges presented by a Grade II listed building dating back to 1911”.

Some of the sustainability measures undertaken by the venue include: recycling and recovering all waste which led to a zero-to-landfill status as of February 2016; recycling 46,760kg of waste and saving 140 trees since January 2019; implementation of a crisp packet recycling scheme where empty packets are collected, taken to a TerraCycle location and processed into plastic pellets to make new recycled products; upgrading PIR and LED based lighting around the building to reduce energy usage; supporting fair trade tea and coffee growers by in-house caterers.

ESOT Congress 2023 picks Athens
Athens, Greece has been chosen to host the Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) in September 2023, an event which gathers top medical doctors and scientists from all over the world.

The selection of the Greek capital as host for 2023 is a big win for the city’s convention industry and medical communities, and is the result of cooperation between the Hellenic Transplant Society and This is Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Athens final bid presentation was made at the ESOT General Assembly last May.

“This is a great opportunity for Greece to become more active in organ donation and transplantation. In 2023, Athens will host more than 3,500 transplant experts from around the world, while an equal number of delegates are expected to attend the congress online,” said John Fouzas, president of the Hellenic Society of Transplantation.

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