Skift Take

Destinations from Vienna to Los Angeles are promoting their smart city infrastructure and technology to engage meeting planners and attendees.

The Skift MeetingsIQ newsletter defines the future of meetings and events with an emphasis on disruptive strategies that improve knowledge sharing.

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What You Need to Know

Vienna Tourism Director On the Rise of Smart Tourist Boards

University of Vienna Economics Business

Remember when “exclusive luxury” was considered a good thing? Vienna is a classic case of a mature, iconic destination brand challenged with the need to reinvent its 20th century value proposition for 21st century travel demands.

So the Vienna Tourist Board is positioning itself as a “smart tourist board”—aligned with the worldwide smart city phenomenon—which takes advantage of Vienna’s top rankings in livability, academia, and intelligent urban tech, design and infrastructure. [Skift]

Social Quote of the Day

“14% of the conversation that takes place around events is attendees expressing anticipation.”

@eventbrite on Twitter

Destinations

The Strategy Behind Los Angeles Tourism’s New Meeting Planner Site

Finally there’s a meetings-specific destination website template for the tourism industry to follow with the new Meet Los Angeles portal. This is how you engage next generation meeting planners and attendees with digital content. [Skift]

France Tourism Bureau Rises to the Occassion Following Paris Attacks

Five days after the terrorist attacks in Paris, a luncheon in Washington, D.C. reaffirms the power of travel, meetings and life going on. [Convene]

Minister Of Tourism In South Africa Outlines Opportunities For MICE Industry

South African Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom explains how South Africa is evolving into a world class business events destination due to general rising interest in the African continent. [South African Tourism]

Pittsburgh Innovation Case Study: Can A Midsize Rust Belt City Compete With Silicon Valley?

Pittsburgh and other second-tier tech cities—including Raleigh, St. Louis and Minneapolis—are places with strong university pipelines, affordable living costs, great quality of life, and collaborative tech ecosystems that planners can leverage. [MIT Technology Review]

HOSPITALITY

When Millennials Grow Up They Want to Stay at Hilton

The Resonance 2015 Portrait of the U.S. Millennial Traveler shows that 49% of millennials regularly or occasionally use sharing services like Airbnb, but they’d rather bed down in a real hotel. [Resonance]

Hyatt Tests Facebook Messenger as a Customer Service Channel

Hyatt is the first hospitality company to use Facebook’s Businesses on Messenger service to connect with guests on the platforms they’re already using. [Skift]

HSMAI, Cvent Release White Paper on the Voice of the Customer

HSMAI and Cvent just released a new paper called, “The Voice of the Customer: How Meeting Planners are Sourcing Venues – And What You Can Do About It.” It explores the sourcing journey and provides recommendations for hotel sales and marketing pros. [Hospitality Net]

Kimpton Hotels Predicts Top Meeting Trends of 2016

Kimpton Hotels’ Director of Catering Dino Bavaro shares his predictions for the top five meeting trends next year, including the rise of virtual reality and customizable meeting spaces. [Successful Meetings]

A Sneak Peek of Canopy by Hilton

The first Canopy by Hilton lifestyle hotel will open in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2016. Here’s an advance look. [Meetings & Conventions]

Events & Venues

Personalization Key To The Future of IBTM World

IBTM senior exhibition director Graeme Barnett says, “Every day, the information available to us is doubling, but in some ways it makes it harder to filter what we need. It’s almost a fog of information.” [CIT Magazine]

Power Site Inspections: 8 Ways to Demystify even the Most Complex Destination Effectively

DMAI’s EmpowerMINT team explores how to get the most from any site inspection, but especially in a gateway city with multi-faceted offerings. [DMAI EmpowerMINT]

How To Make Your Meetings Contagious

Wharton School professor Jonah Berger will discuss his bestselling book, “Contagious: Why Things Catch On,” at PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2016 conference in Vancouver. [Convene]

Tips & Comments

Skift MeetingsIQ is curated by meetings industry veteran Greg Oates. Send story ideas and feedback to [email protected].

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Tags: los angeles, meetings, meetingsiq, south africa, vienna

Photo credit: The new MeetLA.com website features a groovy venue finder to source creative meeting spaces like Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown L.A. Discover Los Angeles

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