Now into its second year of operations, the Singapore-based Japan MICE Bureau of both the Japan Convention Bureau (JCB) and Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has intensified its focus on association meetings from Asia-Pacific.
Speaking to TTGmice, Susan Maria Ong, deputy director of JNTO Singapore, who leads the business events foray, explained that as many advancements have been made in the corporate meetings and incentives space, it was now time for her office to do more to win over association meetings.
“We are taking a big step forward to do something new this year, and that is to fly Asia-Pacific-based association executives of global organisations to Singapore for a seminar we are running on October 24, a day ahead of ITB Asia. They will get to meet with 10 Japanese convention bureaux and learn how these cities can support their future meetings,” shared Ong.
“We are also participating in the Singapore MICE Forum’s B2B MICE exchange next week. JNTO will exhibit on its own this time, but we will study the potential benefits Singapore MICE Forum can bring to Japan and perhaps then encourage our city-level stakeholders to join us in future editions,” Ong said.
These exposures come in addition to JNTO’s annual Meet Japan event for association event planners, and regular seminars to educate Japanese hoteliers, venue and attraction managers, ground handlers and other tourism industry suppliers on the benefits hosting association meetings can bring to their business and Japan, as well as things that must be done to deliver successful association meeting bids.
“We are also bringing to their attention the existence of important associations that can support our efforts, such as ICCA and IAPCO, and are encouraging them to participate in activities run by these associations,” Ong said. She added that if Yokohama succeeds in its bid for ICCA Congress 2020, Japan’s MICE stakeholders will get a boost in association education.
Japan’s heightened efforts to establish itself as a desirable destination for association meetings will be supplemented by the recent establishment of a Japan MICE Bureau in Paris. With this, both JCB and JNTO have five international MICE bureaux worldwide, including London, New York, Seoul and Singapore.
