Meeting planners are asking hotels with large convention space to prove the quality of the Wi-Fi before signing any contracts. They're also willing to pay for solid Wi-Fi versus always asking for comp'd service.
The original vision at Icehotel 26 years ago combined a love for sustainability, creativity and local culture in a hotel environment, which has come to define today's corporate incentive programs.
Virtual events, the Internet of Things, crowdsourced marketing, and globalizing knowledge are just some of the trends fundamentally reworking the meetings and convention user experience.
It's surprising that more destinations don't create virtual trade shows like this. Although with virtual reality looming on the horizon and growing numbers of millennials moving into decision-making roles, that could motivate more cities to build these platforms in coming years.
At last, a U.S. tourism bureau has developed its digital meetings content and user interface on par with the best leisure content/UI available out there.
Vienna represents the missing link to date between the rise of smart city infrastructure development and destination marketing aimed at next generation conference organizers.