HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is ready to welcome events back to Hong Kong. With a series of preventive measures in place, the HKCEC welcomed the city's first exhibition since the COVID-19 pandemic.

KUALA LUMPUR – Evenesis, a leading software provider for events has launched a social distancing and mass gathering detection software, EveStance.

JERUSALEM – The International Convention Center - Jerusalem (ICC Jerusalem) has launched a virtual congress centre in response to conferencing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

EUROPE – In a bid to encourage venue and centre operators to put respective measures in place to create safe environments for participants, a new guide to promote globally emerging standards, protocols, and good practices has been launched.

HONG KONG – Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has announced a new online business matching platform that will enable Hong Kong’s MICE stakeholders to take advantage of early opportunities to promote their businesses and match with potential buyers. The platform will be launched in China next month and will be adapted for further short-haul markets later on.

SINGAPORE – More help is coming the way of Singapore’s MICE event organisers which are now included in the Tier 1 Job Support Scheme (JSS) of sectors deemed to be the most severely affected by COVID-19.

USA – Going digital for medical meetings has shown positive results despite the lockdown in many countries.

EUROPE - AIM Group International, a European company specialising in congresses, events and communication, has published a survey, Sponsoring Events During the COVID Crisis, which was carried out amongst 350 pharmaceutical and biomedical company representatives.

SINGAPORE – For executives who need to work out of their homes, a new deal has been launched by Sofitel Singapore City Centre to offer them this respite. The Work From Hotel (WFH) package offers a dedicated working area, high speed internet, privacy and premium amenities; it is available until 30 December 2020 for use from 1 July 2020.

KOH SAMUI – Whilst the meetings and tourism business has taken a beating in Koh Samui, Banyan Tree Samui has welcomed 200 green turtles as its special guests in recent months, bringing joy to staff at the now quiet resort which was singled out last year by global watchdog EarthCheck as meeting the highest standards for environmentalism in the country.

SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific hotels have reported record lows across three key performance indicators in April as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic deepened, according to STR, which provides data insights on the hospitality industry.

Asia – Oakwood has a long tradition of servicing the accommodation needs of corporate companies globally. Its aggressive plan to develop and grow its portfolio of branded properties is based on careful consideration of client expectations and needs. Mr Dean Schreiber, CEO Oakwood and MD Oakwood Asia Pacific, said: “As we incorporated what we learnt from them into our own branded properties, it became apparent we were building a loyal client base who started asking when we would be opening more properties in locations we have yet to move into. They wanted the full end-to-end Oakwood experience beyond just access to a booking platform.

SINGAPORE – Tenacity is a quality deeply hardwired in the events business. When crisis hit, MPC Events’ boss, Ms Crystal Chua, leaned into its strengths in lifestyle events to deliver top-notch culinary experiences right in the homes of her clients’ customers.

AZERBAIJAN - As the world sees a major shift in habits, it has also given Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) the opportunity to slow down, reassess priorities, and reflect on how business events will change in the future. Its business events industry and tourism sector have both been hit hard by the pandemic. In March 2020, arrivals dropped by 62%.