ICVB LOOKS FORWARD TO WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS

Thanks to the efforts of the efforts of Savas Gürsel, Chairman of the ICVB Executive Committee's Membership Committee, the ICVB Membership Promotion Meeting was held at the Konak Hotel on December 22nd.

The meeting was attended by the General Managers, Marketing and Sales Managers and Front Office Managers of four- and three-star hotels from around Istanbul. Following a luncheon for the guests, ICVB General Manager Handan Boyce made a presentation giving information about the international conference tourism market, Istanbul's standing in that market, ICVB's activities and the projects it undertakes in cooperation with the city's hotels.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Keban Hotel, the Marble Hotel, the Kervansaray Hotel, the Larespark, the Golden Age, the Lion, the Seminal, The Madison, the Lamartine, The Marmara Pera, the Yenisehir Palas, Elite Hotel and the Richmond. All participants received information about ICVB membership and expressed great interest. ICVB is continuing a program of one-on-one meetings with interested hotels.

ICVB ATTENDS 40th EFCT GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The 40th EFCT General Assembly took place from February 5th to 9th 2005 in Brussels and ICVB was represented by EFCT Board Member and General Secretary of TUGEV and ICVB Executive Committee Member Dr. Ozen Dallı. At the meeting, where important European tourism and congress destinations were represented, the importance of the EU-EFCT relationship and corporate meetings from the EU's point of view were discussed. After the General Assembly, an "education forum" was held, providing information about cooperation opportunities, communication and the strategies of congress destinations

DIRECTOR OF UIA CONGRESS ON İSTANBUL INSPECTION TOUR

With Istanbul being one of the candidates to hold the International Lawyers Union Congress (UIA) in 2007, the UIA Congress Director Guilene Valette, visited Istanbul from February 15—18, 2005 to get an update on congress facilities, hotels and entertainment venues. The decision regarding which city is going to host the 1,500 participant congress will be made by the UIA board at the end of February.

ICVB SERIES OF CONFERENCES AND PANELS TO CONTINUE

In line with ICVB's other successful events, the Bureau continues to organize a series of conferences and panels to educate future tourism professionals on the importance of congresses and congress tourism for Turkey and particularly Istanbul.

The first in the series was held on March 17th 2004 at Yeditepe University, followed by the second on November 9th at the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Foundation Center for Tourism and Hotel Management Education. Saban Ali Yasaroglu, head of the ITU Foundation Tourism Education Department, introduced Dr. Ozen Dallı, General Secretary of TUGEV, who then gave future professionals an important insight into conference tourism.

CONFEX, the United Kingdom's most important conference and incentive fair, was held from February 15th - 17th at the Earls Court Exhibition Center in London. The Princess Istanbul Hotel, Hilton Istanbul, Swissotel The Bosphorus, VIP MICE, Karavan Tourism, Lütfü Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC) and Turkish Airlines exhibited at the Turkish stand, where visitors also had the chance to enjoy a glass of wine.