ICCA
Joint 4-Chapter Summit 2013 was held between 31 January and 2
February 2013 in Thessaloniki, Greece. High-profile professionals of
the meeting industry gathered for the event.
The
summit was jointly organized by four ICCA Chapters – Mediterranean,
UK/Ireland, Central European and Middle East, aiming to deliver
inter-chapter education and create business synergies opportunities
among its members.
The
ICCA Joint 4-Chapter Summit, originally initiated by the
Mediterranean Chapter, was attended by Professional Conference
Organisers (PCOs), Convention & Visitors Bureaus, conference and
exhibition centres and congress tourism businesses, all playing a key
role in raising the profile of their cities as a major conference
destination.
Featuring
international speakers of the highest level, the ICCA Joint 4-Chapter
Summit brought together experts and high-profile professionals in
panels on: creativity; sponsorships and other creative solutions in
dire times; digital strategies; technologies for the Meetings
Industry; green meetings/hotels certification and innovation;
strengthening/recovering during/after crises; fast track to securing
association business; synergies for companies and students.
Miranda
Ioannou, ICCA Mediterranean Chapter Chair and ICCA Board Member,
noted “One of our goals was to forge synergies with destinations
close to Thessaloniki to enable business development to take place
before-during and after the Chapter Summit”.
Martin
Sirk, Chief Executive Officer of ICCA said “It is time to
understand that the Meeting Industry is not only playing an important
role in the development of tourism sector in a country but also in
the growth of the national economy itself”.
"We
are very pleased to having hosted this event in our city which will
hopefully boost the city’s conference potential and promote its
tourism product’, said Valentini Amarantidou, head of ARTION
Conferences and Events that had submitted in the past the bid for the
Summit jointly with the Thessaloniki Convention & Visitors
Bureau.
One
day before the Summit, an ICCA Masterclass was also held which was
attended by industry professionals and ICCA members, covering issues
of membership benefits and opportunities, database use, developing
utilizing one’s ICCA membership etc.
The
event sponsors Helexpo, Grand Hotel Palace, The Met Hotel, Hyatt
Regency Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki Concert Hall and Splendid Travel
Center supported the organisation and made it a successful one.
On
the third – the last day of the summit ICCA Mediterranean Chapter
Chairperson Miranda Ioannou, who held the position for four years,
handed over the chairperson position to Elif Balcı Fisunoğlu-
Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau General Manager. Valentini
S Amarantidou Artion Conferences and Events General Manager will be
the Deputy Chair of the Chapter and they will serve for a 2 year term
and will come to an end of term in February 2015, when new elections
will take place.
The
Chapter is composed of ICCA members who are registered in Croatia,
Cyprus, Egypt, South-East France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta,
Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, and Turkey.
Currently
the Chapter has 124 members from 12 countries located in the
Mediterranean region and it is the largest geographical Chapter of
ICCA.
