(Pictured L-R: ICCA’s CEO Senthil Gopinath & ECM’s President/CEO of Visit Ljubljana Petra Stušek)
The International Congress & Convention Association and European Cities Marketing and have agreed to launch a European partnership to solidify collaboration and provide better aligned benefits for their respective members. The partnership has agreed to begin a program of exploring exchange and reciprocity in three areas: educational content, advocacy and a mentor program. The partnership would implement a flexible framework of collaboration between the associations in order to achieve these benefits without compromising the focus and platform of each member organization.
Work on the partnership will begin by engaging a series of educational exchanges incorporating each other’s knowledge content into their respective Congresses, develop a mentor program for newcomers in the events industry and starting to align approaches taken to advocacy activities, beginning immediately.
ICCA’s CEO Senthil Gopinath says, “We are extremely excited to formalize an already existing long-term partnership and work closely together in moving the meetings industry forward in Europe together with ECM. Through this partnership ICCA will further enhance its contribution towards meetings industry education.”
Petra Stušek, president of ECM and CEO of Visit Ljubljana, agrees. “With this alliance, ECM and ICCA seal existing links to achieve greater efficiency in key areas, enabling better services for their respective members,” says Stušek. “We are very proud of this new milestone which outlines ECM development in the meetings industry worldwide. In those challenging times, this is also one more step to show the resilience of the meetings industry on the way to recovery.”
The International Congress and Convention Association is the global community and knowledge hub for the international association meetings industry and is shaping the future and value of international association meetings. ICCA is the global association leader for the international meetings industry and specializes in the international association meetings sector, offering unrivaled data, education, communication channels, business development and networking opportunities. Since its establishment in 1963, ICCA represents the world’s top destinations and most experienced suppliers specialized in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events, and is comprised of more than 1,100 member companies and organizations in almost 100 countries and territories worldwide. As of 2020, ICCA encompasses all major stakeholders in the world of association meetings, by opening its doors to associations with the launch of the “ICCA Association Community,” offering education, connections, tools and resources to associations to organize more effective meetings. For more info, visit www.iccaworld.org
European Cities Marketing is the non-profit organization improving the competitiveness and performance of leading cities of Europe by providing a platform for convention, leisure and city marketing professionals to exchange knowledge, best practice and widen their network to build new business. ECM is a vigilant and forward-looking community determined to help prepare today what we believe to be critical for success in the market arena of tomorrow, linking the interests of members from more than 120 major cities in 39 countries. For more info, visit www.europeancitiesmarketing.com
