ICCA’s Asia Pacific Chapter is looking to launch a conference next year to address the region’s unique needs on education, networking and business development.
The ICCA Apac Summit 2019 concept paper, unveiled at the 57th ICCA Congress earlier this week, specified that the event “does not intend to dilute or replace official ICCA events but instead aim to complement ICCA’s presence in the region while leveraging on this platform that ICCA has built”.
The concept paper went on to say that the Asia-Pacific event “will mean a more active Apac community which is dynamic and robust, resulting in a stronger ICCA presence and brand in this region”.
Stressing that the ICCA Apac Summit 2019 will never replace ICCA events, ICCA board member and Apac Chapter member Jason Yeh said: “We have talked about organising the Summit for a long time. The region is so big and we cover very huge territories. It is very hard to form a common interest”.
As the Asia Pacific Chapter is “getting bigger and bigger, we want to tie up with all the communities in the region,” Yeh said. The Asia Pacific Chapter is the largest of all chapters outside Europe, with 265 members.
While the annual ICCA Congress had been held in Asian cities in recent years – Shanghai (China) in 2013 and Kuching (Malaysia) in 2016 – with the 2020 edition heading to Taiwan, there has not been an ICCA event that is organised by the members in the region, for the members in the region.
“Although ICCA events like the Congress and Association Meetings Programme (AMP) do rotate to the region, and we have our own Client Supplier Business Workshop, the time is right for this regional community to recognise the untapped opportunities within ourselves, and harness it,” the concept paper said.
Summit 2019 was discussed by Asia Pacific Chapter members during the Congress, and decisions will be made about the venue, budget, target market and whether it will be stand alone or in combination with another event.
To help defray the cost, the Chapter intends to charge a minimal registration fee for members, rely on sponsorship package, and to approach ICCA headquarters to host the airfare of five association executives from the region.
The draft programme for the Summit includes, among others, ICCA Business Leads Exchange, Data Lab on how to use ICCA data for business and communications, Destination Asia Pacific Market Place for outbound corporate travel managers and association executives, plenary session, and networking reception.
