Meetings and Events Industry News

San Francisco is at the forefront of showing how tourism bureaus, which rely on hotel bed taxes for funding, can collaborate with room-sharing companies that are in direct competition with hotels.

Companies from Airbnb to Marriott are implementing innovative operational strategies based on the need to be fluid and adaptable as the travel marketplace continually evolves.

The event technology scene is going mainstream, but there needs to be more research on the business case for event tech from non-biased sources to help meeting planners make smarter business decisions.

This mashup of leaders in travel, media, commerce, and IT represents the cross-industry synergies fueling the rise of the digital platform economy. It also represents the growing link between smart city development and tourism, which is going to explode in 2016.

Smarter, more advanced technology is entering mainstream discussion in 2016, so event planners and everyone else in the meetings industry should embrace that 100% and stop talking gibberish about how "meetings are about people." We know that, but people today use technology.

The FreemanXP TrendLab research provides a good example of experiential event marketing, as well as how companies can leverage their industry knowledge to develop a sellable product.

Investors from the Middle East, Europe, and Asia are salivating at the prospect of breaking into the long-closed Iranian travel and tourism market. The CAPA Iran Aviation Summit is the first look for a broad base of business interests. They will have to gauge the risks that come along with Iran's foreign policy.

CES 2016 shows how conference organizers can reposition an event from a narrow industry focus to a global forum for discussion around larger themes impacting a broader audience.

So far, 2016 is bringing a ton of new event technology, groovy startup culture, and destination data for meeting planners to help inform their business decisions.

Smart hotels are rethinking the most profitable ways to make the most of their spaces, and it is no longer just about heads in beds. Mobile apps and on-demand services are just one piece of this pie, but they are an important piece.