ICCA president Arnaldo Nardone made an observation which stopped me in my tracks and stuck with me recently. He commented on the cultural burden of hospitality prevalent in many Asian countries, which requires hosts
to take care of extensive aspects of their guests' stay.

Sharing from my own experience, I've been taught coming from a Chinese family to fight for the bill at the end of the meal, to take the trouble to introduce your guests to activities and attractions, and to make sure they have a full and enjoyable itinerary when in your country.

Having to go to such great lengths to care for guests, sometimes to the extent of my own inconvenience, I'd always thought those on the receiving end would love it.

However, Mr Nardone, who is from Uruguay, said it could be stifling. "There isn't even time to take a walk around and form my own view of the destination sometimes – no time to shop, or get a real feel of the country and its people. These would help us decide if the venue or destination is suitable," he sighed.

What an eye-opener!

How ironic that my colleague Brad Foster of micenet Australia, just wrote an editorial about a travel trade event where whole contingents of delegates ran off before entertainment even began. How rude it seemed.

However, some of the escapees told me they'd had to stand all day and after making short work of the delicious range of canapés and light snacks, they just had to go somewhere to sit down. As it was a standing dinner cocktail event, their feet were sore beyond the point of courtesy to the host.

What does this all meet for event organisers and others in the meetings business? Be willing to look beyond your norms to understand your clients. Tune in to their needs, which because of diplomacy, might only be expressed in the most euphemistic ways.

Speaking of listening, have a look at our Talking Point (page 22, I Heard a Rumour) this issue. It's good to start a new year with a plan to get to the truth of matters. Elsewhere in the magazine, we find out how The Cotai Strip is the new star of Macau (page 29, Contemplating Cotai), how Malaysia's Langkawi and Sabah and Indonesia's Bali have honed their meeting offerings, and how Singapore has tapped the civil aviation industry for multi-million dollar events.

Meetings industry income worldwide in 2010 was $600 billion, and results for 2011 are bound to exceed that when they come in. This really is a market worth crossing the cultural divide for and tuning into.

Pauline Tan
EDITOR

pauline@micenet.asia