Unlike the previous years, the 2020 AGM had to be held online due to COVID-19 travel and gathering restrictions. In 2017, IAEH members gathered in Aarhus, Denmark, for the 1st IAEH AGM. The 2nd IAEH AGM took place in in Bangkok, Thailand; and the 3rd, in 2019, was held in the Gold Coast, Australia.

The 4th IAEH AGM was chaired by Susan Sawbridge (New Zealand Major Events and IAEH Chair) and involved 35 individual members representing 24 host destinations from 15 different countries matching the number of organisations represented at the 2019 AGM.

The programme included, in addition to the AGM formalities, a guest speaker from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and breakout rooms that offered members an opportunity share insights in smaller groups.

 

New Directors

Members in attendance approved the group of directors who will act for the period of 2020-2021. The group who led the work of the IAEH for the period of 2019-2020, formed of Iain Edmondson, Lars Lundov, Rick Traer, Paul Bush, Perttu Pesä, Stuart Turner and Susan Sawbridge (IAEH Chair), has two new members – Sally Edwards and Alan Kidd. The two new directors introduced themselves and had their appointment formally approved at the AGM.

Alan Kidd is President and CEO of Sports Events & Tourism Association and Sally Edwards is Senior Advisor for events and festivals at Dubai Tourism.

 

Guest Speaker

Michel Julian is Senior Officer at the Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness department, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). 

His work at the UNWTO Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness department covers the analysis of current and future tourism trends. He contributes to the preparation of key reports such as the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. His field of work also includes the study of tourism products and segments, outbound markets and marketing techniques.

Michel Julian joined IAEH members as guest speaker and delivered a presentation on the impact of COVID-19 on tourism and key trends for the post pandemic future of tourism and major events. The slides used by Michel in his presentation are available for members only on the IAEH Resources page.

 

Breakout Rooms – Summary of the discussions

Members on the call were assigned to 5 different groups to discuss topics including changes in bidding and hosting process as immediate consequence of the COVID-19 crisis. The key findings of the group discussion will be shared on a separate post.

 

Meeting recording

The 2020 IAEH virtual AGM has been recorded and is now available for members only – CLICK HERE.

 

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