IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific Opens To Its Strongest Educational Line-Up

Delegates To Benefit From 35 Esteemed Industry Speakers and New Show Initiatives
Collaborating with the best minds and expertise in the field, IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific 2013 is set to deliver its strongest educational line-up this year with dedicated tracks catered specifically to the knowledge objectives of Association Executives, high-level Corporates accountable for performance targets and Corporate Travel professionals.

Headlining the show’s entire education programme is today’s opening Keynote Address delivered by Mr Rohit Talwar, CEO of Fast Future Research. His topic shed insights on the future of business travel and business events, emphasizing the 5 megatrends that cannot be ignored, including the evolution of traveller expectations, the growing emphasis of the guest experience, impact of new innovative business models, technology and the emergence of a multisensory internet platform as well as new capabilities required of future industry leaders. Sharing her perspectives and insights on the subject was keynote panelist Ms Supawan Teerarat, Vice President, Strategic and Business Development of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), alongside moderator Joseph Bates, Vice-President – Research of GBTA Foundation.

This year, delegates can expect to benefit from the knowledge of 35 speakers from across the industries – the show’s largest to date. “Every year, IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific is committed to enhancing the value that it delivers to all delegates and stakeholders. The industry is extremely dynamic and so are we. This year, the event’s accomplishments to raise the benchmark as a leading international MICE and Corporate Travel show is certainly one of our best yet,” said Mr Darren Ng, Managing Director of TTG Asia Media.

Ng continued, “Engagement through knowledge enhancement has always been a central component of IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific. This year, we have taken the emphasis on education to another level with a couple of new thrusts dedicated to Association Management and Corporate Performance.”

The debut of the show’s Association Day Forum and Corporate Performance Forum will take place tomorrow (2 October) and the day after (3 October) respectively. As part of a specially tailored one-day programme for Association Executives, the forum will be featuring carefully crafted topics on Association Management, spanning best practices, industry trends, updates and outlooks that benefits both suppliers catering to the Association business as well as the Associations themselves. Associations Executives will also have opportunities to engage with NTOs/CVBs during the destination presentations specially catered for them. The Corporate Performance Forum happening on 3rd October will focus on topics helping corporates accountable for performance targets to meet their objectives.

To bring the show to another level, organisers have also leveraged on technology to enable delegates to truly experience the event. Launched this morning, delegates received a copy of the Day 1 Video Dailies containing links to short event video clips in their email inbox. These video dailies are also available on the video sections of the event websites for delegates who want to catch up on the previous day’s highlights.

Another aspect of the organiser’s technology leverage efforts is with the IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific’s Smartphone event app that now features an exclusive chat feature that enables all registered delegates to send messages to one another via the app, thus providing an added facility for them to engage and connect with each other before, during and after the event.

“The new initiatives of this year’s show – from the Show Preview, Smartphone App to Video Dailies, are extremely useful for exhibitors like us. I like that we can catch up on event activities that we have missed through the video dailies because we are constantly at out booths. The Show Preview is also great for smaller companies like us who don’t get as much publicity as the bigger organisations. The Smartphone App will also be useful to keep information on the show handy at all times,” commented Dimple Danvani, Manager – Business Development of Sampran Riverside.

Rounding up the first day is the evening’s Opening Ceremony and Welcome Reception hosted by Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau. Held at the Plaza Athenee, A Royal Meridien, TCEB played host to all event delegates at the evening’s function themed ‘Connecting Asia’, referencing the business and networking connections between Thailand and the surrounding Asian regions.

“Hosting the Opening Ceremony provides an opportunity for TCEB to showcase Thailand as Asia’s Capital for business events connections. This year’s event marks an important milestone as the industry enters a new phase of development and collaboration. The exposure we are receiving in turn is tremendously beneficial for Thailand as the MICE destination,” explained Mr Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, President of TCEB.

For more information, log on to www.corporatetravelworld.com | www.itcma.com