A Decisive Conference for the Resumption of MICE events

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Lausanne brought together some 300 professionals to discuss the recovery of business meeting and conference sector
Magazine:
19th Oct, 2021
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From 17 to 19 October, the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne hosted a conference organised by PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association), one of the largest international associations of event management specialists.

The conference brought together some 300 professionals, primarily from North America and Europe. The presence of these experts in business event management is an extremely positive and decisive sign for the recovery of Switzerland’s business meeting and conference tourism sector.

The annual summit for members of PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association), one of the largest international associations of event management professionals, took place at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne. Almost 300 attendees have come together to exchange ideas, network, and redefine the future of business event management in a tourism sector that has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The conference is one of the first face-to-face international events of this kind to be held in Switzerland since 2019.

This visit by event specialists to the canton of Vaud is an extremely positive sign for the recovery of Switzerland’s business meeting and conference tourism sector. The event offers an opportunity to showcase the assets of Lausanne, the canton of Vaud and Switzerland for the organisation of conferences and business events to the participating experts, who come mainly from North America and Europe. Around 30 Swiss providers are also attending the event to market their B2B products and services. 

Success of a Swiss collaboration

Switzerland Tourism (ST), represented by the Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau (SCIB), the International Olympic Committee, and Lausanne Montreux Congress all worked together on Lausanne’s bid to host the conference. Each of the PCMA members in attendance has had (or will have) the opportunity to visit the host city, its region, and other locations in Switzerland both before and after the event.

“The staging of this PCMA event has come at a key moment in terms of boosting the resumption of business events and conferences in Switzerland,” said Barbra Albrecht, Head of SCIB and a member of the Executive Board of Switzerland Tourism. “For all our Swiss partners and service providers, the event is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with these potential customers in person and show them the innovations and improvements that have been developed during this unprecedented pandemic period,” she added.

“We are particularly pleased with the choice of Lausanne and Switzerland to host our first face-to-face meeting in Europe since 2019,” said Jaimé Bennett, PCMA's Regional Director EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). “The contacts we’ve made so far enabled us to see how well Swiss providers have prepared for the return of professional events in the current "new normal", anticipating our new needs in terms of offers, infrastructures and communication technologies, which are now inseparable from our activities”, she pointed out.

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