The business events industry was severely impacted by COVID-19 which prevented travel and therefore in person events for over two years in most destinations. Apart from diversification into MICE-related activities, CDM personnel took the opportunity to upskill by enrolling in professional certification courses offered by international MICE associations made available by TCEB - Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau. With skies gradually reopening, and Thailand is considered among most ready destinations, we look forward to working with meeting planners and incentive houses on their travel projects again. 

It was a 4-year journey and a milestone for CDM-Conference & Destination Management, the PCO of the WFDSA World Congress XVI “Tomorrow is Now”, Virtual Edition. For the first time, the WFDSA World Congress was delivered as a virtual event.

The congress was organized by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations in partnership with Thai Direct Selling Association. The 16th WFDSA World Congress welcomed attendees logging in from all over the world to meet industry’s leading figures, as well as policy makers, representatives from consumer organizations, academia, media and many others interested to learn and share the latest trends in the sector and to network.

The virtual platform allowed delegates to share experiences and opinions with special focus on trends driven by technology, evolving marketing and consumer development and other issues of importance in doing business in today’s ever-changing marketplace. In addition to the live broadcast, participants had access to on-demand recordings to view at their own convenience. All sessions that took place were available on-demand for 2 months following the Congress.

The congress was originally scheduled to take place from 30 September to 2 October 2020. In April 2020, the congress was postponed to 2-4 March 2021 due to COVID 19 situation. In July 2020, the congress was further postponed to 6-8 October 2021. In August 2021, the congress was moved to completely online on 6-7 October 2021 which caused a radical change in the strategic planning of the congress; from creating congress program and topics that suit online format, managing sponsors & partners’ expectation and benefits, facilitating speakers and delegates from different time zones, to boosting more registrations.

The congress was attended by 1,300 delegates from 49 countries which exceeded the anticipated number of 800 delegates. More importantly, the virtual congress served to maintain cohesion among members and stakeholders during challenging times as well as creating mindfulness for possible future crises.

Since late January, the business events industry was pushed into the most severe crisis in history, quite on a global basis.

While the world is coping with the pandemic and working towards restarting economies, here is a collection of visuals of the embracing sentiment created at different instances of the rapidly evolving development of COVID-19. Stay well, and stay strong.