Hangzhou Tourism Commission attends the 56th ICCA Congress

The 56th ICCA Congress took place at the Prague Congress Centre in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, on November 12, 2017 (local time). The four-day event assembled together more than 1,200 participants from around the world, including leaders and executives from across the MICE community, as well as conference organizers and members of the media. The number of participants nearly doubled from last year's event.

The ICCA Congress provides a key venue at which the city of Hangzhou can present what it can offer in terms of MICE resources to conference organizers from all over the world, enhance the global impact of its MICE brands and put in place channels outside of the home market. This marks the third time that the Hangzhou Tourism Commission has been a participant at the Congress.

The success of the G20 Summit in 2016 gave Hangzhou a significant opportunity to enhance its competencies in conference services while improving the city's infrastructure. The city has demonstrated observable progress towards developing a MICE sector that fully meets the expectations of the MICE community. Following on the G20 Summit's success, Hangzhou will be hosting the 2020 Asian Games, a key happening that can be expected to deliver new opportunities to the city's conventions and exhibitions sector. With the goal of transforming into an international gateway city, the local government has launched several programs, including packaging the best of the city's local MICE resources into "one-stop-shop" products and rolling out policies that support the sector, with the goal of building the city into a world-leading destination for MICE. 

The annual ICCA event, which the Hangzhou Tourism Commission attends regularly, this year witnessed the launch of the "Hangzhou, Inspiring New Connections" brand promotion and interactive zone, providing a stage on which the advantages of the city's MICE sector could be demonstrated to visitors via brand visibility and on-site face-to-face discussions. Several of the event organizers, journalists and industry insiders commented on how the hosting of G20 went a long way in making the world aware of Hangzhou as a MICE destination worthy of consideration. On the back of the G20 Summit, Hangzhou's MICE industry leaders rolled out a program to upgrade and enhance every step of the planning process, from bidding to implementation, for all types of conventions and exhibitions. 

This year, Hangzhou has adopted some additional measures in promoting its brand. The successful visiting to Hangzhou of the promotional event "Meeting Poetry in Hangzhou", the roll out by the city government of MICE preferential policies and roadshows held in China as well as abroad, have gone a long way in promoting the city as a MICE destination brand. The vision is to transform the city into one that can stand side by side with world MICE leaders such as Paris, London and New York. Hangzhou will continue to explore new MICE products and improve service offerings, allowing the world to re-discover the charm of Hangzhou alongside the value add provided by the MICE sector. The city has made it a key priority to attract large conferences, creating infinite possibilities and comprehensively improving the global influence of the "Hangzhou, Inspiring New Connections" brand.

SOURCE Business Events Hangzhou