Away from the slick sights of Melbourne, the surrounding Victoria region has long provided many alluring day-trip experiences for locals who enjoy its scenic bay beaches and some of the best Australian produce from boutique wineries and growers.

These days, a full schedule of compelling education might not be enough to get prospective participants to register, especially if your event is one that will take multiple hours or days. Guests are mapping out the overall benefit when making their decision to attend your meeting, but that includes being able to keep up at home.

SINGAPORE – A meeting or event is like a giant jigsaw puzzle — numerous pieces must come together in the right order for the final outcome to be a success.

ABU DHABI – Hundreds of medical experts and industry professionals from around the world are expected to descend on Abu Dhabi in October as part of the 12th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress (WMTC).

ZHUHAI – While Macau is making waves as a MICE destination with various facility openings and re-development, its neighbouring city of Zhuhai is also keen to muscle in for a piece of the action.

ZHUHAI – While Macau is making waves as a MICE destination with various facility openings and re-development, its neighbouring city of Zhuhai is also keen to muscle in for a piece of the action.

SEOUL – The South Korean capital of Seoul is fast becoming a favourite destination for global meetings and events planners, thanks to the city’s comprehensive support programme, PLUS SEOUL.

MUMBAI – The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB)’s recent push to attract more Indian trade visitors and exhibitors to Thailand has started reaping rewards, as revealed by the concluded Exhibition Business Forum held in Mumbai, India which generated over 19 business leads.

NEW YORK – Real estate analytics group CoStar has paid US$450 million to acquire STR, formerly Smith Travel Research.

NEW YORK – Anyone in the meetings industry knows that the luxuries of travel also come with the struggles of eating well. But being on the road or in the air doesn’t have to mean letting your health take a back seat.

SINGAPORE – Singapore is a small place with big ideas. Measuring just 17 miles long and 31 miles wide, the Southeast Asia city-state packs 5.6 million people into its tiny footprint. And yet, it mostly lacks the urban irritants that plague other big cities, like poor air quality, crumbling infrastructure and out-of-control congestion. That’s thanks to innovative policies and planning that have made Singapore a living laboratory for future-focused development.

Hotel contract negotiations: sales managers live by them, and meeting planners use them to secure bottom-line budgets on venue spaces. But despite best efforts, many planners fail to see their anticipated results on the final draft of the contract.

SINGAPORE – Twenty-five organisations across Asia Pacific were celebrated at the inaugural M&C Asia Stella Awards in Singapore in August that highlighted a growing focus on sustainability and loyalty programmes.

AMSTERDAM – Three organisations will be pitting their creative juices against one another live at the ICCA Congress in Houston come Oct 29, as they vie to be the 22nd winner of the prestigious ICCA Best Marketing Award.