Building global connections across cultures will be the focus of this year's event in Tokyo

BestCities Global Alliance is set to champion cultural understanding within the business events industry, following the announcement of this year's global forum theme: Building Global Connections Across Cultures.

Building on the success of last year's inaugural event in Dubai, the second BestCities Global Forum will place in Tokyo at the luxurious Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, from 4-7 December.

Hosted in partnership with the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB), the forum will feature education sessions, practical workshops, relevant case studies and interactive breakouts. Influential speakers will include “accidental executive” and former CEO of Tourism Vancouver Rick Antonson and global leadership and cultural intelligence expert, Miriam van der Horst, owner of Learning 360.

Following this year's theme, the event will offer insight into how to build professional relationships across cultures and develop effective leadership skills in a global context.

TCVB will also coordinate a diverse programme to immerse participants in Japan’s heritage and culture, while revealing insights into the city and its institutions. With preparations quickly progressing towards 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Hiroo Ichikawa, executive director of The Mori Memorial Foundation, will also be discussing the strengths and opportunities of Tokyo in the next decade.

BestCities board chair, Jonas Wilstrup, from Wonderful Copenhagen, said: “Building global connections across cultures is at the very heart of BestCities ethos and long-term success. We are 12 partners that recognise the collective strength of working together, adding value not only for our individual cities, but our clients too.

"This year’s Global Forum will be addressing both the challenges and opportunities when dealing with international stakeholders, providing informed practical advice and peer-to-peer learning in a way, that will genuinely help and support senior association executives to take their future meetings to the next level.”

Registration for the BestCities Global Forum Tokyo is now open. Free to attend, with round-trip flights, accommodation and meals for all attending qualified international association executives covered by BestCities.

The BestCities alliance is made up of convention bureaus from Berlin, Bogotá, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Houston, Madrid, Melbourne, Singapore, Tokyo and Vancouver.

Original Article: cei.asia/article/bestcities-unveils-plans-for-2017-global-forum/436738/…