Every year-end marks a time of new beginnings!

Pieter Allaerts
IACC Europe President & Global Board Director

Looking back into the recent past our members were challenged with disruptions (Covid, inflation, energy crisis, recruitment challenges) which have been heavy to carry and a lot of emotions to manage in a short period of time. We are now on our way to emerging from nearly three years of non-stop challenges with renewed optimism.

Reflecting on 2022 our IACC community has a lot to celebrate. We are thrilled with the partnership with Sweden’s leading meetings expert, Svenska Möten. The partnership sees 68 new hotels and venues becoming part of IACC’s 88 strong Swedish membership, quadrupling the association’s presence in Sweden. Also, this year, other countries were convinced of the power of IACC and we welcomed new members from the UK, The Netherlands & Spain. We can proudly say we that our European chapter now has 200 members and that we are the largest IACC chapter.

Outside of growth in membership, I am proud to sense that we have provided support and value for our members, in a number of ways.  Four Meeting Room of the Future reports were published. Just look at our Year in numbers article here to see our total engagement globally, impressive!

We represented our members at IMEX Americas and many other tradeshows. We delivered education for all our members both online as well as at IBTM. IACC will be present at MPI EMEA with education and exhibiting opportunities for members and we will also create another physical Meeting Room of the Future concept at MPI WEC in Mexico next June. It will be a busy year again next year for our staff and volunteers!

The 2022 IACC Europe Knowledge Festival was a highlight event for the chapter, thanks to the amazing speakers, venue team, volunteers, sponsors, staff and you for being a part of it. We were able to connect, learn, laugh and sing around the campfire!

Allow me to express my biggest gratitude to a very committed pool if IACC volunteers as well as the IACC leadership team. Their ambition is endless and it’s an absolute honour to work with you. You are the heart and soul of IACC!

Stay tuned for an exciting (and positive) 2023!

Wishing each and every member in Europe a warm and cosy holiday season!

Kind regards,

Pieter