Europe
The Iceberg, the platform and metaphor for business and professional events advocacy, presented by the Joint Meetings Industry Council, is to be transferred from founder James Latham’s The Fred Production Company Ltd to The Iceberg Trust, a non-profit UK-based Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) from January 2026. The Iceberg was founded in 2017 with the support of global industry associati...
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation has outlined artificial intelligence adoption, demographic shifts, and post-pandemic workplace evolution as top trends impacting talent across hospitality. The conclusions come from its fourth annual State of Talent Report. At the heart of this year’s report is a clear message: the next five years in AI and talent s...
The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) Council is meeting in Istanbul from 4–8 November 2025 for its final in-person session of the year. Hosted by Türkiye’s Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the event is supported by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Ho...
The International Energy Agency’s Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES) and Ocean Energy Europe, together with the Dutch Energy from Water Association (EWA), have announced they will join forces to host ICOE-OEE 2026 in The Netherlands. Ocean Energy Europe is the largest network of ocean energy professionals in the world. The Hague will host the event, 5-7 October 2026. The decision was announced at the ...
The 2025 AIPC Future Shapers programme has begun, bringing together another globally diverse group of emerging leaders in convention centre management. Over the next eight months, participants will engage in a high-impact leadership development programme combining expert-led masterclasses, collaborative industry challenges, and strategic business case presentations. The programme is designed to ac...
London is set to welcome the World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in August 2027. This marks the first time in 25 years that the event will be held in the UK capital. The successful bid was coordinated by the London Convention Bureau in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and Excel London. The annual congress is organised by the Intern...
Messe München has announced that Christine Heizmann (pictured) will take over as senior director guest events and locations from 1 January 2026, assuming overall responsibility for all guest events and congresses across the company’s four venues. Guest events form a vital part of Messe München’s operations, with around 93 events hosted across its sites last year. The venues – the ICM (Internationa...
Excel London has appointed James Mark (pictured) to the role of chief operating officer. He previously worked at the venue from 2000 to 2016 and played a pivotal role in the delivery of its London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. As well as being a key member of Excel’s launch team and delivering more than 3,000 events, Mark has worked across many of the UK’s flagship venues including Earls Co...
Cultural, active, nature-based and gastronomic experiences now form the core of Spain’s tourism economy, according to new data from Mabrian presented at the 2025 Turespaña Convention. The report analysed supply and demand across Spain’s 17 autonomous communities between June and August 2025, using data from online experience platforms including Civitatis and GetYourGuide. It is the fir...
Safraj Ismail has been appointed as chief executive officer of UK based conference, events and exhibition venue The QEII Centre. Having commenced her role on the 27 October, Ismail joins The QEII Centre from the Gambling Commission. As an accomplished senior leader, her most recent role was as programme director overseeing the National Lottery Competition. Ismail also has extensive experience lead...
Sydney has won the right to host the Asia Pacific Circular Hotspot next year in a winning bid focusing on strong Pacific inclusion and circular economy action for climate and nature. A global jury selected the Sydney bid by Circular Australia, University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Business Events Sydney (BESydney) for its strong inclusion of Pacific nations, ambition to strengthen the connectio...
Nearly 100 BCD Travel colleagues and CEO Stephan Baars ran the TUI Palma Marathon raising, 19 October, over $150,000 for the fight against modern slavery. The ‘BCD Runs for Freedom’ initiative helped raise awareness and funds for A21, a global non-profit dedicated to ending modern slavery that the travel team had long supported. As long-time supporters of A21, BCD employees and executives trained ...