IAPCO Annual Meeting Set for Dubai in 2017

March 3, 2015

Dubai has won a bid to host the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO) Annual Meeting & General Assembly in 2017. The annual event brings together approximately 100 of the world’s most influential conference organizers from 40 countries, who collectively manage approximately 7,000 meetings per year with a combined annual economic impact of more than $5 billion U.S. dollars.

Dubai’s hosting of the key meetings industry event was announced at the recently concluded IAPCO Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. The winning bid was spearheaded by Dubai Business Events (DBE), a division of Dubai Tourism, which serves as the city’s official convention bureau, in close partnership with local IAPCO members Meeting Minds and MCI Dubai. Key tourism industry stakeholders Emirates and Madinat Jumeirah also played a key role in securing the AGM.

Commenting on the win, Steen Jakobsen, director of Dubai Business Events, said: “Part of our strategy to increase the number of visitors and business events hosted in Dubai every year centers on engaging with meeting planners and industry bodies from around the world to raise awareness about Dubai as a leading destination for international business events. By hosting the members of IAPCO, we are excited to be able to show what the city has to offer to a group of people who are highly influential in determining where major international meetings and association congresses take place every year.”

IAPCO, the leading authority on professional congress organization worldwide, is the universally accepted benchmark for quality and excellence within the international meetings industry. By welcoming IAPCO members to Dubai in 2017, local tourism industry stakeholders also will have the opportunity to build relationships with key meetings decision-makers and showcase their products and services firsthand.

Michel Neijmann, president of IAPCO, said, “The quality of Dubai’s bid was outstanding and truly reflected the local cooperation of all stakeholders. The bid showed a great understanding and support of IAPCO’s quest for quality in the meetings industry, and there is no doubt that the spirit of Dubai will inspire the members of IAPCO to keep learning and developing their businesses.”