As founding members of the Future Convention Cities Initiative, three major convention cities are collaborating to boost the events business for all of them. The Seoul Tourism Organization in Seoul, South Korea, Visit London, and Business Events Sydney in Sydney, Australia, launched the Future Convention Cities Initiative in July. With the idea that business events spur economic development, encourage investment, and create jobs, a key benefit for the participating cities will be the sharing of best practices to attract leading business events and meetings.

Fast Future Research has been appointed as the research partner, facilitator, and coordinator of the Future Convention Cities Initiative. Fast Future is also leading the Convention 2020 study on the future of major meetings and events.

Samuel Koo, President and CEO of Seoul Tourism Organization, said “We are delighted to join London and Sydney as a founding member of the Future Convention Cities Initiative. Seoul has a clear goal of being a leading global destination for conventions and events. The Initiative provides a perfect platform to generate the cutting-edge research insights and access the expertise each member needs to help drive our growth strategies. We know there will be strong interest in joining the initiative and are already talking to other potential members.”

Sally Chatterjee, CEO of Visit London, said “The timing of the Future Convention Cities Initiative is perfect for us. We expect intense global competition over the next 5 to 10 years to host the conventions for the leading growth industries. The Future Convention Cities Initiative will help Visit London and our fellow members to ensure we are positioned as thought leaders. The initiative will help shape our thinking about how destinations must evolve to serve tomorrow’s customers.”

Jon Hutchison, CEO of Business Events Sydney, said, “Our research already shows that business events can have a far bigger and longer-term impact for the economy than just the direct revenues of the event itself. The Future Convention Cities Initiative enables us to take our thinking to the next level by pooling our research resources, sharing knowledge and experience, and working with our global colleagues to tackle emerging strategic issues.”

Rohit Talwar, CEO of Fast Future Research, said, “We were delighted to be asked to be the research partner and to run the Future Convention Cities Initiative on behalf of its members. The founding members have identified a very exciting program of topics they want to explore together and this will grow as new members come on board.”