By every traditional measure, IFAT Munich 2026 is already a success story. The 2026 edition runs from May 4–7, 2026, celebrating its 60th anniversary, the event features 3,400 exhibitors and attracted 142,000 visitors from 170 countries, utilizing 300,000 square meters of space to showcase advancements in water, sewage, waste, and raw materials management. But what makes IFAT truly important in 2026 is not its scale. It is what the event has quietly become: a global ecosystem powered by associations. In an era defined by climate risk, urbanisation, ESG accountability, resource scarcity, and geopolitical uncertainty, no single company, government, or institution […]

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) launched its new “3M” strategy at IMEX Frankfurt 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen Thailand’s position within the international business events market. Presented under the campaign “Meet in Thailand: Your Success, Your Moment”, the initiative introduces a framework built around three pillars: MaxiMICE, Meaningful, and Memorable. The strategy was unveiled during a press conference on May 20 led by Puripan Bunnag, Senior Vice President of TCEB’s International Marketing Department. The programme was developed in response to changing expectations among organisers and delegates, with greater emphasis being placed on event value, sustainability, return […]

FRANKFURT — IMEX Frankfurt 2026 expanded its use of AI-powered session summaries across the show’s education programme through a partnership with event technology platform Snapsight. The technology was deployed across multiple education theatres throughout the event, generating real-time summaries, key takeaways, and discussion highlights from live sessions. Attendees were able to access summaries digitally during presentations and revisit them after sessions concluded. The summaries were available across theatres including the People & Planet Theatre, Flow Theatre, Evolve Theatre, Impact Zone, and Research Pod. The system used live audio transcription and artificial intelligence to convert discussions into searchable content and structured […]

Asia-Pacific is often described as the world’s growth engine. With more than half of the global population and rapidly evolving industries, the region is poised to shape the future of many sectors. For associations, this is more than just an opportunity—it is a defining moment. After speaking with Kelly Ricker, chair, PCMA board of directors, and Sheriff Karamat, president & CEO PCMA and CEMA, one message stood out clearly: APAC is not catching up. It is entering a phase where it can redefine what associations are meant to do. We share with you, insights from PCMA’s global leadership. From Networks to […]

There has long been an underlying tension between professionals in the travel and tourism industry and those in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector. While both industries depend on mobility, destinations, and visitor experiences, MICE professionals often resist being closely associated with tourism. This distinction is understandable. MICE is frequently positioned as a strategic business platform rather than a leisure-driven activity. Yet, it is equally undeniable that the appeal of travel — discovering new destinations, engaging with culture, and experiencing a sense of place — remains a powerful factor in the success of association events. Rather than viewing […]

A World Economic Forum dialogue in late 2025 brought business leaders together to confront a central question: how leadership decisions today will shape work, skills and value creation in an AI-driven economy. In 2025, the World Economic Forum convened the second edition of its Scenarios for the Global Economy Dialogue Series, focused on Four Futures for Jobs in the New Economy: AI and Talent 2030. The initiative responds to mounting pressure on organizations to adapt as artificial intelligence moves rapidly from experimentation into the core of operations, reshaping jobs faster than workforce systems can traditionally respond. Rather than offering predictions, […]

ITB China’s new forum & exhibition, MICE Meeting Point, has entered into a strategic partnership with the China Association of Travel Services’ MICE Committee, and separately with the Event Marketing Committee of the China Advertising Association. The alliance is designed to accelerate professional development within China’s business events sector and to bolster both global and domestic industry cooperation.  The China Association of Travel Services’ MICE Committee—part of a national body representing roughly 3,000 organisations including travel organisers and online travel agents—will collaborate with MICE Meeting Point to shape conference content, share resources, and set standards. Under the partnership, China’s industry […]

At the 2025 Singapore MICE Awards, Minister of State Alvin Tan sounded a clarion call: to achieve Singapore’s ambitious goal of tripling MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourism receipts—from S$1.4 billion in 2019 to S$4.5 billion by 2040—the industry must expand its talent base, especially in sustainability and technology.  Anjali Raguraman has been a journalist for more than a decade and is currently a correspondent covering politics and consumer stories spanning tourism, retail and F&B. Following a stint in breaking news at Today, she joined The Straits Times in 2015, where she covered the entertainment and nightlife beat for six years. […]

Advances in audiovisual (AV) technology continue to transform how meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) are planned and experienced. Recent innovations unveiled at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) — one of the largest AV trade shows — offer new possibilities for event organisers aiming to create more immersive, efficient, and engaging gatherings. Understanding these trends can help associations stay ahead in delivering cutting-edge event experiences. One of the most notable trends is the rise of large-format LED displays. These customizable video walls create immersive visuals that captivate attendees, whether used for stage backdrops or experiential spaces. Key factors such as pixel […]

At Global DMC Partners’ Connection 2026 in Lisbon, industry leaders argued that in an unstable world, meetings and incentives are no longer optional extras but strategic assets. In January 2026, the Global DMC Partners convened its annual Connection event in Lisbon, bringing together global planners and partners at a moment of heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The event was shaped by a shared concern: how to future-proof meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions as inflation, visa constraints and AI disruption collide with rising demand for in-person engagement. Opening the programme, Catherine Chaulet, President and CEO of Global DMC Partners, framed the […]

As volatility reshapes global decision-making, new evidence from the World Economic Forum shows why gender-balanced leadership is becoming a core governance requirement—not a diversity aspiration. In January 2026, discussions linked to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting focused on a growing governance concern: women’s representation in senior leadership is stalling at a time when organisations face unprecedented uncertainty. Drawing on insights from the World Economic Forum, LinkedIn Economic Graph Research Institute, and global leadership studies, the article positions leadership balance as a resilience issue rather than a social objective. The context is challenging. Business and policy leaders are operating amid […]

An interview with Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg in January 2026 challenges a prevailing assumption of the AI era: that hiring elite talent alone is enough to win. In January 2026, Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge published an interview with Boris Groysberg, exploring how organizations are responding to intense competition for artificial intelligence talent. The discussion comes at a moment when companies across sectors are paying unprecedented sums to recruit AI specialists, under pressure from investors and boards to signal competitiveness in a rapidly shifting landscape. Groysberg’s central argument is that the real differentiator is not individual brilliance, but […]