7/29/2019 About Icca

1/5

About ICCA

ICCA is the global community for the meetings industry, enabling its members togenerate and maintain significant competitive advantage.

ICCA was founded in 1963 by a group of travel agents. Their first and foremost aim was to

evaluate practical ways to get the travel industry involved in the rapidly expanding marketof international meetings and to exchange actual information related to their operations in

this market. This initiative soon proved to have been taken at the right moment: themeeting industry expanded even more rapidly than foreseen. As a result of which

candidates from all over the world applied for ICCA membership. Not only congress travelagents but representatives from all the various sectors of the meetings industry.

ICCA now is one of the most prominent organisations in the world of international meetings.

It is the only association that comprises a membership representing the main specialists inhandling, transporting and accommodating international events.

ICCA's network of over 950 suppliers to the international meetings industry spans the globe,

with members in 88 countries. All companies and organisations which have a strategiccommitment to provide top quality products and services for international meetings shouldconsider ICCA membership as part of their long term plans.

International meeting planners can rely on the ICCA network to find solutions for all theirevent objectives: venue selection; technical advice; assistance with delegate transportation;

full convention planning or ad hoc services. ICCA members represent the top destinationsworldwide, and the most experienced specialist suppliers.

ICCA has offices in the Netherlands, Malaysia, U.S.A. and Uruguay.

ICCA's History: a short walk through the first half century of the association'sdevelopment

We would like to thank and pay tribute to Martin Kinna of the Convention Partnership, pastBoard member and regular ICCA Congress stalwart throughout much of this period, and

without whose prodigious memory this history would have been impossible to compile.Martin has now retired but has been a generous, much-respected mentor to many of the

current generation of meetings industry leaders.

1962

The concept of ICCA was first discussed by travel agents Moises Shuster from Mexico andJean Claude Murat from Paris, to take advantage of the then-new phenomenon of

international association meetings which were being stimulated by the introduction of

commercial jet aircraft, and particularly the potentially lucrative medical meetings field.The unique original idea was to share information between friendly business owners basedin different countries to obtain competitive advantage and win a bigger slice of the travel

revenue from this fast emerging market. Sharing information about international

association meetings for business advantage continues to be the central theme of ICCA'sMission almost five decades later.

1963

7/29/2019 About Icca

2/5

Moises and Jean Claude involved five other travel agents from other regions of the world in

their discussions, and the International Congress and Convention Association was duly

founded by these seven original members in Paris. Later that year ICCA held its first formalmeeting of the association in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, attracting a grand total of 16

participants! From its very beginnings ICCA was conceived as a genuinely global entity. Theseven founders have now sadly all passed away, but todays ICCA is recognisably the

offspring of their original, visionary concept.

1965Membership steadily increased, especially in Latin America, and KLM became the first airline

to become involved in ICCA, although the rules at that time meant that they could

only have "associate member" status. A "First Technical Secretary" was appointed based inParis to run the association as a volunteer leader, the first ICCA logo was designed, and the

momentous decision was made to open ICCA to other types of members in addition to the

original travel agency category. Later that year the Mexico Tourist Board became the firstdestination marketing organisation to apply to join.

1966

ICCA started marketing itself seriously: the first ever brochure was published.

1967

On 13 October ICCA's legal status was confirmed under Dutch law with the first formal setof notarised Articles and By-laws, which were to become the subject of many futurerevisions and heated debates at ICCA General Assemblies.

1969The first official Head Office was set up in The Hague in The Netherlands. By now therewere 76 member companies, including the first "Ancillary Services" member, the car rental

company Avis.

1971

ICCA continued to grow, and the very first geographical Chapter was set up covering LatinAmerica. Geoffrey Grey-Forton became Acting Executive Director, and management of theassociation started to become more professional and less volunteer-led in character.

1972Membership now passed 160 companies from 41 countries, and a major restructuring of theassociation into eight Categories was approved at the annual General Assembly in Paris.

This structure remained in place until 2006, although it wouldnt be until 1978 that all

member companies were given equal governance rights. At this stage, only companiesfrom the original Travel Agency Category could stand for President or hold seats on theBoard.

1973

John E Moreu was appointed as the first full-time, salaried Executive Director, and the HeadOffice moved from The Hague to Amsterdam, the city where ICCA continues to be located

today.

1974

The first semi-automated information system was introduced, making the sharing of ICCAdata much simpler. Regular paper "bulletins" were sent to members with thelatest information about specific international association meetings.

7/29/2019 About Icca

3/5

1977

ICCA joined the Information Revolution with the setting up of its first computerised

database, a massive investment and commitment at that time for a relatively small tradeassociation.

1978

Equality arrives! ICCA's By-laws were amended to give full and equal governance rights toall members, regardless of which Category they belonged to.

1982

Growth continued, with 264 member companies and organisations in 69 countries, and

Head Office staff increased to seven.

1987

Dick Ouwehand was appointed as Secretary General, following the retirement of JohnMoreu.

1990

ICCA elected its first female President, Jacqueline Pietri from Nice Convention Bureau.

1995

Dick Ouwehand retired, and Tom Hulton took over, with the job title changing first toExecutive Director, then to CEO. This year also saw the first edition of ICCA's Research,Sales & Marketing programme, originally known as the "ICCRM", our most important annual

event for frontline sales, marketing and research executives, as its name now suggests.

1997ICCA renamed its annual most important event as the "ICCA Congress", and encouraged

industry leaders from outside the membership to attend a much more comprehensivestrategic education programme.

1998ICCA opened its first regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

1999

ICCA set up a representative office for North America.

2001

The regional office for Latin America opened in Montevideo, Latin America.

2002Martin Sirk was appointed as CEO. Membership by this date had climbed to just over 600

companies and organisations.

2006A new governance structure was adopted as part of a major strategic review, with eight

Categories reduced to five Sectors, and new Board representative positions created for fivegeographical regions, ensuring that ICCA's global character is always fully reflected by the

make-up of the Board of Directors.

2007

7/29/2019 About Icca

4/5

ICCA Head Office moved to the current office building in Amsterdam; Asia Pacific office

moved into new premises in Malaysia to enable the association to set up a new Global

Research Centre to work alongside the established Head Office Research team.

2010-2012In 2010 Arnaldo Nardone was elected as President at the 49th ICCA Congress in Hyderabad,

India. In 2012 he was re-elected at the ICCA Congress in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ICCA membership now encompasses more than 950 member companies and organisationsfrom 88 countries worldwide, and the association continues to be the most knowledgeable

global source of research tools, and sales and marketing opportunities relating to the

international association meetings sector, as well as one of the most respected networkingorganisations for senior meetings industry executives.

FUNCTIONS OF ICCA

Cost-effective way to win international association meetings business. Link up and do business on a truly senior and global networking platform representing all

sectors of the meetings industry.

Attend a strong, custom-designed education programme for senior industry practitioners. Promote your organisation to the international meetings industry. Get access to valuable resources. Belong to a trade association that delivers creative solutions for each member's

unique meetings-related objectives.

ROLE OF ICCA

International association meetings research, sales & marketing goalsIdentify more prospective clients

Build in-depth knowledge of target clients and their events

Communicate more effectively with prospective clientsDesign a better strategic approach to intl association sectorIncrease face-to-face client opportunities

Win more bids/make more sales

Strengthen your company/destination competitiveness in the international

meetings fieldBuild effective networks

Compare yourself to competitors/identify your strengths & weaknessesPromote your developments and success storiesTrain your teamUnderstand market and client-need trends

Conduct business with other ICCA members

Build supplier-client relationships with ICCAs meetings management members

Communicate your companys expertise, products & services to potential ICCA memberclients

http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=84http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=85http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=86http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=87http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=88http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=80http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=84http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=81http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=83http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=83http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=83http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=82http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=85http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=88http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=87http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=90http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=89http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=86http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=91http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=91http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=91http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=92http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=92http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=92http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=92http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=91http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=86http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=89http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=90http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=87http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=88http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=85http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=82http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=83http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=81http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=84http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=80http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=88http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=87http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=86http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=85http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?mincat=84

7/29/2019 About Icca

5/5

Exchange business leads

Form partnerships, mergers, consortia or user-groupsHost ICCA events

Advocacy

Understand and promote Green/CSR dimensions relating to meetings industry

Understand and promote the economic importance of meetings.

http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=94http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=93http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=95http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=98http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=96http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=96http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=98http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=95http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=93http://www.iccaworld.com/cdps/benefits2.cfm?subcat=94