IN A BID to attract talent and clarify the role that meetings play in the tourism industry, the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA) hosted students from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and University of Las Vegas, Nevada – Singapore Campus at a dialogue session last Friday.
ICCA president Arnaldo Nardone told TTG Asia e-Daily that the session acted as a platform to showcase “the power of the meetings industry worldwide”.
Nardone explained that students tend to be “very confused about the meetings industry”. “They tend to lump the meetings and tourism industries together. It is just not right,” he said.
Invited students had the opportunity to interact with major MICE industry players, including Pieter Idenburg, CEO of Suntec Singapore, Juan José Garcia, director of sales and marketing for Viajes Iberia Congresos, as well as Nardone, to find out how they entered the MICE sector and managed to thrive.
Nadone said the meetings sector’s long-term success depended on the quality of its human resources.
“Students need an opportunity to explore their career options, and see for themselves if the meetings industry is indeed for them,” he said. “All they need is someone to instil them with the confidence to make their own decisions, and to steer them towards realising their full potential.”
