IEEE WCCI 2024, in YOKOHAMA, Japan

YOKOHAMA, TO HOST GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE IEEE WCCI 2024, IN JAPAN FOR THE 1ST TIME

Yokohama has been chosen to host the IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI) 2024, the world’s largest technical event on computational intelligence, featuring 3 flagship conferences of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. Organized by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, the renowned event will be held in Japan for the first time.

Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau (YCVB) and PACIFICO Yokohama led the successful bid in collaboration with the City of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Yokohama was chosen for its safety, convenience, and track record in hosting international conferences. The professors involved in the bid were praised for their enthusiasm and vision, and Japan was recognised for its high-level of research in computational intelligence.

Yokohama’s Next Generation Project, which welcomes researchers from across Japan and the world to the city to inspire future generations, supports this conference, whose economic ripple effect is estimated at UK£2.3million.

MICE TOURISM RECOVERING IN COLOMBIA

In January and February 2022, Colombia registered 16,634 foreign traveller arrivals, who came to participate in events, business and professional meetings. A 123.1% increase from the same period of 2021.

Travellers mainly came from the United States, Mexico, Peru, Spain and Brazil. As for the destination cities that received most of the travellers, these were Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla.

ProColombia has been promoting its MICE capabilities across the USA proving it is a regional hub for holding meetings of business, conventions and events, with the accolades to prove it.

ATHENS BUILDS MOMENTUM IN GLOBAL TOURISM MARKET AT TRAVEL TRADE ATHENS 2022, THE CITY’S SIGNATURE ANNUAL B2B EVENT 9th - 10th May 2022

Athens re-established its leading presence in the global tourism market during Travel Trade Athens 2022. The event is a catalyst for the dynamic and sustainable return of visitors to Athens, with more than 160 representatives of Greek and international companies holding meetings during the event.

More than 60 representatives of foreign companies in the tourism and events industry came to Athens for the two-day event, connecting Athens to key markets in Europe, the UK, the United States, and the Middle East. They had more than 1,500 meetings with representatives from 90 Greek companies with the goal of completing business agreements that will strengthen the economy of Athens. Ten journalists from major international media were hosted alongside the buyers and suppliers and participated in parallel events that included a series of authentic urban experiences, events and seminars for the participants.

A press briefing opened the event with the participation of Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, President of Aegean Eftychios Vasilakis, Director of Communication and Marketing Athens International Airport Ioanna Papadopoulou, and CEO of ADDMA Vangelis Vlachos. Each of the speakers affirmed their commitment to strengthening the promotion and profile of Athens.

Since 2013, Travel Trade Athens has hosted more than 600 buyers from 35 countries and has facilitated more than 17,000 B2B meetings. The event is organised every year by the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency through the This is AthensConvention and Visitors Bureau and in cooperation with the European Tourism Association (ETOA).

The curated social and experiential programme was customized to the hosted buyers and press business focus and expertise, highlighting Athens’ main competitive advantages and showcasing the city’s latest trends and developments. Amongst others, the programme included visits to the Acropolis Museum, the Ellinikon Experience Park, the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, the Megaron Athens International Conference Centre (MAICC), the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST) and the Zappeion Megaron among others.

The 9th edition of the Travel Trade Athens will take place in April 2023.

MALAYSIA’S MITEC APPOINTS NEW CEO

Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) has appointed Mala Dorasamy as the new CEO. Dorasamy has been the MITEC’s Director of Marketing and Sales in Kuala Lumpur since 2017 and took on the acting CEO role in 2021.

Mala has worked previously as director of marketing, sales and events at the Durban International Convention Centre. She has over 31 years of experience in the business events industry specialising in the opening of new centres; project managing major United Nations/Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation/ BRICS level events; strategy development and operational management; international marketing; business development; sales growth; safety and risk management; and ISO/halal implementation and management.