The US is mostly in the spotlight right now for its current political situation. Millions are being invested in meeting infrastructure at neuralgic locations such as New York or Las Vegas. The MICE industry, however, is struggling with disgruntled delegates who face difficulties entering the country. Paul Van Deventer, President and CEO of Meeting Professionals International (MPI): “MPI believes that it is critical to strike the right balance between enhanced security and travel facilitation. We continue to encourage the administration to enhance our country‘s safety, while also promoting it as a welcoming destination for international travellers.”

Many European countries, including Germany, are part of the Visa Waiver Programme for visa-free travel of up to 90 days. Nevertheless, the number of international visitors has slumped in recent years, also hitting the MICE industry hard. 88 per cent of respondents to a new study by the US Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) complain about visa problems. They report that, compared to 2017, it was more difficult for their delegates to obtain a visa last year. But the North American metropolises Las Vegas, Washington DC and New York are now making big efforts to attract events and delegates.

IMEX America, a mainstay of the industry, will again be hosted at the Sands Expo & Convention Center Las Vegas from 10 to 12 September 2019. There, at the latest, Venetian Resorts and Sands Expo will present the new Venetian Meetings Virtual Planner. It provides organisers with a virtual tool for planning their events in the Venetian and its exhibition halls. But especially 2020 will be an exciting year for the self-proclaimed “Meeting Capital of the World”. Then Caesars Forum will open its gates with 28,000 sqm of flexible event space and the two largest pillarless ballrooms in the world, right in the centre of the Las Vegas Strip. Conferences worth 132 m euros have already been booked for the new forum. The renovation of Las Vegas Convention Center is still in full swing. By the end of next year, it will be expanded by 56,000 sqm of exhibition space and linked to the airport by an express underground public transportation tunnel. The 3.5-bn-euro World Las Vegas Resorts will provide the city with 3,500 extra hotel rooms and approximately 14,000 sqm of conference space.

Washington DC is resilient despite the 35-day government shutdown in December 2018 and January 2019. The “DC is Open for Business” campaign, launched in 2013 after the last major shutdown, still manages to highlight the US capital’s advantages for meetings. Also and especially in extraordinary political situations. Since January, the “Connected Capital” campaign has also been promoting meetings in the fields of sustainability, transportation and government advocacy. These efforts are bearing fruit: In March, 18,000 people attended the 77th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Washington. New direct flights from Rome, Tel Aviv and Lisbon, as well as the appointment of Destination DC President and CEO Elliott Ferguson as the new Chairman of the US Travel Association, further boost this development.

A little further north on the east coast, in New York City, more hotels are under development than in any other US city: By the end of 2021 it will boast a total of 140,000 hotel rooms. 10,000 of these will be added in 2019 alone. The TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport is opening next May with 512 guest rooms, five hospitality suites, 4,600 sqm of event space and 45 event rooms for 1,600 people. Just like NYC’s other airports, JFK is to be overhauled and revamped by 2023. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in the heart of Manhattan is currently undergoing a 1.3-bn-euro transformation and expansion in order to fulfil its future event potential. In 2021 it will already start operating again with 111,500 sqm of additional space.

In San Francisco, the George R. Moscone Convention Center shines in new splendour after a four-year refurbishment. One year after its reopening, the team under new GM Bob Sauter will welcome the PCMA Convening Leaders Conference in 2020. Further investments abound everywhere – even up in the air. At the end of last year, Miami Beach Convention Center completed its three-year renovation and can look forward to a modernised park in June 2019. The Astrodome stadium in Houston, Texas, is to be transformed into an event space by 2020 with a budget of 91.8 m euros. United Airlines‘ offering is not made up out of thin air: Planners now have access to a MICE tool for their support.

The Top 5 most popular meeting destinations in North and South America include Toronto and Montréal, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). Toronto posted a record-breaking 26 congresses in 2018. “The record number of citywide conferences speaks to Toronto‘s place as the hub for innovation, technology, finance and business within Canada,” says Johanne Bélanger, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto. She is already in the middle of preparations for the MPI World Education Congress (MPI WEC), which will take place in Toronto from 15 to 18 June 2019.

Montréal has also broken records in recent years: In 2017, the city was named the leading American city for international events by the Union of International Associations (UIA). That same year, the ICCA honoured Montréal as the number 1 for international meetings in North America. Not without reason: In 2017, 149 international conferences took place in the Canadian metropolis.

In 2019, Montréal will once again be a venue for major events, such as the 27th Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, which expects more than 4,500 visitors in May at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. A resonance that Heidi Welker, Chair of Meetings Means Business Canada, likes to express in figures: “Business events are a thriving and vital part of our tourism industry that contributes 29 bn euros in direct spending in Canada.”