News
GLOBAL SNAPSHOT
AMERICAS
America ’ s AHLA gets behind the No Hidden FEES Act The American Hotel & Lodging Association ( AHLA ) president & CEO , Chip Rogers has spoken out in support of the No Hidden FEES Act , introduced in the US House of Representatives . The AHLA represents 30,000 members from all segments of the industry , including the 16 largest hotel companies in the US .
“ The No Hidden FEES Act creates a single standard for mandatory fee display across the lodging industry – from short-term rental platforms to online travel agencies , search engines , metasearch sites , and hotels ,” said Rogers .
EUROPE
Swisscom Broadcast acquires virtual event platform Veertly Four years after developing the first prototype and two years after closing a seed financing round , the virtual event platform Veertly has been acquired by fellow Swiss company Swisscom Broadcast .
Swisscom Broadcast is part of the Swisscom Group telecommunications provider .
Events hosted on the Veertly platform range from small workshops and networking events to large corporate conferences and international exhibitions . Veertly has served clients in more than 20 countries mainly in the DACH market .
ASIA
Monica Lee-Müller wins JMIC Profile and Power Award 2023 Monica Lee-Müller , managing director of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre , received the JMIC Profile and Power Award for 2023 at IBTM World in Barcelona .
The JMIC recognised Monica ’ s outstanding leadership and significant contributions to the events industry . One of her key initiatives was the Think Before Plastic campaign , launched in 2018 , which has made a substantial impact on sustainability efforts at the HKCEC . The campaign successfully phased out 1.7m pieces of disposable plastic annually .
ASIA
Sarawak secures RM346.5m worth of events Sarawak ’ s business events industry closed 2023 having secured 95 secured national and international events with an estimated total economic impact of RM346.5m for the Malaysian destination .
From 2024 until 2028 , Sarawak expects to welcome 42,000 delegates who are projected to spend RM188.3m , generating tax revenue of RM20.8m . In 2023 , Sarawak hosted 107 business events , 7 % up on 2022 . The total economic impact of these events stands at RM372m with 45,000 delegates contributing RM202.2m to the economy . These figures are a 62 % increase on the previous year .
6 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 128