It’s good to have something to cheer about at the end of what can only be described for the industry as a whole as a challenging year. And IAPCO has plenty to cheer about: during 2012, eight companies were accepted into membership, bringing the total membership to a 119 from 42 countries, representing all the continents. These eight new members had to undergo the normal rigorous application process including site inspections of one of their congresses and intensive inspections of their offices and procedures. Not all applicants were so lucky, with two applications being rejected at the final stages, and countless applications not able to achieve the initial criteria.
The eight new members emanated from nearly all continents:
- Asia: GIS Group from Taiwan, a new country membership for IAPCO
- Latin America: Turismo&Convenciones and Business Congress Mexico, both from Mexico, bringing the representation within that country to three; and Acqua Consultoria from Brazil, IAPCO’s second company member from that country
- Middle East: ICOM for Organization, Marketing & Research, the second member from Egypt; and Meeting Minds Experts, the first company member from UAE
- Europe: CAP Partner from Denmark and ERA Ltd from Greece
Despite the perceived growth of, and shift to, non-European destinations, over the past four years the membership split within IAPCO remains constant with 47% of the company members being outwith-Europe and 53% from within Europe.
With steady and continual growth, IAPCO looks set to buck the trend and prove that quality is still the over-riding target for PCOs.
