FROM THE EDITOR

Abstract

Thailand has some of the finest conference venues in Southeast Asia, and the convention/exhibition industry is important to the development of the nation's overall tourism industry. The convention/exhibition industry is good for the tourism industry, because it helps to enhance the quality of accommodations, hospitality, and services that are located in such an exotic location. Also, it stimulates the convention/exhibition industry investment in terms of associated facilities and services. An analysis of the performance of the convention and exhibition industry in 1996 and 1997 was conducted in this paper. The results solidly suggest that Thailand has a strong convention and exhibition industry which should produce substantial economic impact in the years ahead. Recommendations for future research are also provided.     

Convention and Exhibition Center Development in Korea

Abstract

As Korea comes increasingly into the spotlight with globally recognized events and its heightened importance as an international business destination, the demand for the modern and innovative convention and exhibition facilities has increased. This paper provides an overview of Korea's convention and exhibition industry, with a special focus on the development of convention and exhibition centers. Following the delineation of the boom of convention and exhibition center development, it concludes with some pertinent issues.     

Development of the Convention Industry in Korea

ABSTRACT

The convention industry in Korea has experienced a rapid development, and the hosting of international meetings and events has emerged as a major business in Korea's tourism industry. This paper provides an overview of the development of the convention industry in Korea and assesses the current convention market by applying SWOT analysis. The country's current marketing strategies are also evaluated. The analysis suggests that Korea has great opportunities to emerge as a new international convention destination in the 21st century. The future growth of Korea's convention industry depends on whether the country can manage the challenges better than competitors with effective marketing strategies.     

A Learning Model of Trade Show Attendance

Abstract

This study examines trade show attendees' show choice behavior from a learning perspective. The purpose is to create a model that can be useful in attracting attendees, either to a show or even to a specific booth. Reasons for attending were found to be three-dimensional: shopping, career development, and general industry awareness. These dimensions were then used to develop clusters, or segments of attendees. Five segments were identified and profiled, with implications developed for each.     

What contributes to convention attendee satisfaction and loyalty? A meta-analysis

The significant economic contribution and other positive impacts of the convention industry make it imperative to understand the factors that influence attendees' satisfaction and generate repeat attendance, which is loyalty. A meta-analysis of the convention literature revealed that networking and education are the top contributors to attendee satisfaction. Interestingly, the findings suggest that convention environment is more important for loyalty than satisfaction, whereas destination image is relatively unimportant for either outcome. Perception of service quality is more important than value for both satisfaction and loyalty. The meta-analysis confirmed that there is a strong relationship between attendee satisfaction and loyalty.     

Where the World Meets

Abstract

Singapore's meetings, incentive, convention and exhibition industry (MICE) attracts over 4,000 events and over 400,000 foreign participants every year. Since 1982, Singapore has been the top convention destination in Asia and today ranks among the top ten in the world. An assessment of Singapore MICE attractiveness shows that while the country has many strengths, particularly infrastructure and management, it has a number of weaknesses, as well, including limited entertainment and cultural attractions. Further analysis shows that much of Singapore's success has been based on regional meetings, rather than truly global events. As regional competition heats up, Singapore will need to better develop the global market. To do this Singapore is attempting to leverage its well developed transportation, hospitality and human resources, along with its role as a regional and global economic center.     

论广州新会展中心的形成对广州酒店业的影响

广州会议、会展业对广州酒店业的经营影响巨大，尤其是每年两次的交易会给当地酒店带来了大量的客源。随着经济的发展，新会展中心的形成，将使广州的酒店业在需求总量上进一步扩大，但酒店之间的竞争格局会发生改变，尤其是高档酒店之间的竞争会更加激烈，在酒店布局上，形成酒店的东进、南移的新局面。     

Taking the Classroom into the Real World

Abstract

The increase in number of international tourist arrivals, the holding of the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, and a solid domestic tourism industry has had an effect on the meetings, incentive, convention, and exhibition (MICE) industry in Australia, worth A$7 billion in 1996/1997. To meet this increasing demand from the industry to train professionals for the tourism and hospitality industry, some institutions are offering specialized subjects to prepare students for employment in the MICE industry. One of the inherent problems in teaching such a subject is to introduce a practical and experiential element. This has been addressed successfully over the past two years by offering students an opportunity to take part as delegates attending a specifically designed conference while spending a night at one of the many 5-star international hotel properties with convention facilities on the Gold Coast. In 1999, 135 students stayed at an international 5-star hotel, with the hotel cooperating with the university to provide a full-day conference on conference management, including hotel inspections and workshops. Students were assessed on their experiences at the hotel with the completion of a semester report and a questionnaire on the perceptions of their stay. Almost three-fourths of the students surveyed responded that they had benefited from the visit by being able to apply theoretical concepts to real life scenarios and that this enhanced their individual understanding of the subject.     

Trends Affecting the Convention Industry in the 21st Century

ABSTRACT

Competition among international convention destinations has increased dramatically in the past decade due to the heavy investment in infrastructure, marketing, and human resources, fuelled by the desire to reap the industry's significant economic benefits. This article details the major trends that are expected to shape the convention industry in two key markets-the United Kingdom and Australia-in the next five years. Using the Delphi technique, the study establishes principal business, social, technology, and political trends, discusses their impacts and highlights similarities and differences in the study results from the U.K. and Australia.     

Attendees’ needs and service priorities in a large convention center: Application of the importance–performance theory

The study identified attendees’ needs and service priorities when attending an exhibition at a large convention center. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires from 566 subjects attending five different exhibitions. The results indicated that overall cleanliness of the convention center, a well-maintained facility, and helpfulness of guest services personnel were top priorities for attendees regarding the convention center's facility services. Attendees also attributed high importance to the following features of the convention facility: directional signage within the convention center, availability of high quality lodging near the convention center, sufficient restrooms throughout the facility, and ability to get cell phone signal. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were found between the level of importance and performance of the majority of the facility services and features of the convention center. Implications for decision makers regarding these importance–performance gaps are discussed.     

Reconnoitering relationships among value,trust, affect,and loyalty at association events

Meetings and conventions organized by associations are considered the most competitive industry segment due to the number of associations and their frequency of regular meetings and events. The success of association events may result from greater attendees' loyalty. This loyalty, in turn, may be determined by association event value they received from the event, trust in the association, and by feelings or affect elicited by the association. However, little research has been done on the value of attending an association event in relation to association trust and affect, leading to loyalty toward an association and association event. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among “association event value,” “association trust,” “association affect,” and loyalty in the context of association events. The survey has been disseminated to those who had attended an association event no more than 1 year prior to taking the survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the hypotheses. The findings suggest that attendees' perceived value at an association event builds loyalty toward the association. In addition, association trust and affect mediate the relationship between value and loyalty toward the association.     

Evaluation of Web Site Performance: Korean Convention Centers

With strong government support for the convention industry, several international-scale convention centers have been established in major cities in Korea. The convention centers have developed Web sites as an online marketing tool for meeting planners. The purpose of the study is to identify and compare the current performance level of the Korean convention centers' Web sites and to provide useful strategies to improve Web site performance. The results revealed that the Korean convention centers should improve the customer- and marketing-related aspects on their Web sites among four perspectives in Web site performance evaluation. Recommendations are made on how the Korean convention centers can improve the effectiveness of the Web sites.     

Estimating the Economic Impact of Convention and Exhibition Businesses,Using a Regional Input–Output Model: A Case Study of the Daejeon Convention Center in South Korea

Past research on the economic impact of convention and exhibition businesses has neglected disaggregated expenditures of these consumer groups. The primary reason for this neglect is that estimating the economic impacts of these businesses is complicated and requires comprehensive surveys of various consumer groups. Thus, this study estimated expenditures based on surveys to different consumers such as convention and exhibition visitors, convention and exhibition organizers, and exhibitors. This study also employed a regional input–output (I–O) model and then matched the types of expenditure patterns with the I–O table. Survey results show that exhibition visitors spent the largest amount (US$153 million), followed by convention attendees (US$48 million), convention organizers (US$47 million), exhibition organizers (US$3.3 million), and exhibitors (US$2.8 million). The results of the I–O model indicate that the Daejeon Convention Center generated US$488 million of output impact, US$102 million of income impact, US$233 million of value added impact, and 10,211 jobs.     

Exploring Content and Design Factors Associated with Convention and Visitors Bureau Web Site Development

Abstract

Convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) have become important organizations within the tourism industry. The International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus (IACVB) reported that it represents approximately 500 destination management organizations in 30 countries (IACVB, 2003). As one of the most important components of the tourism industry in the United States, the Convention and Visitors Bureau performs various activities to facilitate destination marketing and development, with the aim of enticing leisure and convention customers to their particular city or region. Meanwhile, meeting planners are using technology to enhance their ability to produce and execute meetings that demonstrate a high return on investment. Consequently, CVBs' websites have enormous potential in selling a destination and facilitating the meeting/convention planning process. This paper explores the content and design factors associated with convention and visitors bureau web site development. It also demonstrates how planners utilize the Internet and CVB websites.     

Convention Center Wars and the Decline of Local Democracy

ABSTRACT

Convention centers have emerged as a focal point in an intense competition among cities for a share of the economically important meetings and exhibition market. In this paper, we present abundant evidence to show that cities can substantially benefit by capturing a share of this market. However, the cost and size of the meetings facilities that are appropriate for particular cities will vary with local circumstances. We argue that such local considerations are ignored because of the political influence that the meetings industry now exerts when cities make decisions about building or expanding convention centers.     

Analytical Reflections on the Economic Impact Assessment of Conventions and Special Events

Abstract

Over the past decades, the growth of the convention and event industry has enhanced an awareness of its economic significance to local, state, and national economies. Accordingly, many industry and academic studies have introduced various methods for accurately assessing the direct and indirect economic impacts of conventions and special events. Among them, the input-output (I-O) model is widely used for the economic impact assessments. This article first reviews economic impact studies in the convention and event tourism sector and then discusses issues related to the I-O model framework.     

会展旅游发展模式之探讨

会展业的发展需要其他行业为之提供相关服务，旅游业是其一。因此，讨论会展旅游也成为题中应有之义。本文在明确会展旅游概念的基础上，依据旅游业和会展业的一些特性，结合我国旅游企业的行为特点，围绕协会的功能的发挥和游戏规则的建立，试图构建旅游业与会展业协同发展的,模式来推动我国旅游业更深地融入到会展业中，促进在我国尚处起步阶的会展旅游走向成熟。     

Corporate social marketing in tourism: to sleep or not to sleep with the enemy?

ABSTRACT

Social marketing is regarded as an effective consumer-oriented approach to promoting behavioural change and improved well-being for individuals, communities and society. However, its potential for tourism, especially sustainable tourism, remains under-researched. This article examines the utilisation of social marketing by tourism businesses. A search strategy identified 14 behavioural change programmes that involved tourism businesses. Half of these programmes label themselves social marketing; the others tend to be part of corporate social responsibility efforts, using a form of corporate social marketing (CSM). Most programmes seek to encourage pro-environmental behaviours in tourists, tourism businesses and other stakeholders including suppliers. Although tourism businesses can develop social marketing programmes alone, typically they collaborate with public and non-profit agencies as partners and sponsors. The strength of the tie between the promoted behaviour and the sale of a company's product varies considerably. It is suggested that social marketing can make significant contributions to environmentally sustainable tourism. However, this research also suggests that social marketing is not a substitute for, but rather an essential complement to, technological and regulatory approaches to climate change. Changing behaviour is a long process: without a long-term commitment from private sector companies, CSM programmes will fail to achieve behavioural change goals.     

Relationships and Factors Influencing Convention Decision-Making

Abstract

This paper examines the views of key decision-makers in the convention industry as part of a CRC for Sustainable Tourism research project. In particular, it examines the relationships between the main participants, the key factors for a successful convention and the emerging trends within the industry. In order to explore these influences, the research method used structured interviews with international convention associations, professional conference organizers (PCOs) and international delegates. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with nine international associations from Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as eight PCOs, all of whom facilitate international conventions within Australia. Nineteen international delegates were also interviewed at two international conferences. The findings from these interviews suggest that the decision-making process for conventions is influenced by a complex set of relationships between the three sets of interviewees. The study revealed that the relationships between the convention bureaus and convention centers were very important. The interviews confirmed the findings of previous studies regarding the key success components for a convention, but also pointed to emerging trends in the convention sector that will impact upon success in the future. These trends included the increasing number of female conference delegates, the increased need for Internet facilities for conventions, and the high priority placed by convention participants on the safety of the convention destination.