Meet in Reykjavík PR

1/26/2016 International Meetings | www.themeetingmagazines.com file:///S:/Marketing%20MIR/PR%20&%20Press/Articles%20on%20MiR/English/International%20Meetings%20_%20www.themeetingmagazines.com.html 3/8 Additionally, Hazeltine notes, "I could do more business there if they had fewer visa restrictions, and not allowing Israeli passportholders to get a visa is a deterrent for a lot of our groups." But the benefits to meeting in Dubai are many. For one, it's likely to boost attendance. "It's an exciting destination and attendance is good because it's a new destination with new business opportunities," Hazeltine points out. Moreover, she calls the city "easy to work with," noting that her contacts were fluent in English, responded quickly and were easy to negotiate with — all attributes that help planners working in international locations. Looking to the future, Dubai will host the World Expo in 2020, a mega event held every five years that attracts millions of visitors and global leaders. City tourism officials believe it will propel Dubai forward as one of the world's top destinations for international meetings and events. Fiji — South Pacific Adventures Collette is a travel company so it makes sense that it sets its global sales meetings in the destinations it covers. "We sell travel, and we offer unparalleled travel experiences on over 160 tours to every continent," says Dan Sullivan Jr., Collette's president and CEO. "Hosting our sales meetings in destinations where we offer tours provides training and knowledge to our sales managers that we can't provide through a webinar or brochure. When they get to experience a destination firsthand, they have the enthusiasm and personal stories to share with group travel professionals." In December 2014, the meeting took place on Fiji's Denarau Island at Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa, which has the meeting space Collette needed. "The staff was extremely helpful in arranging anything that was needed," Sullivan says. "The Sofitel is perfectly located a short walk from Port Denarau Shopping Centre, which hosts the Hard Rock Cafe Fiji and a number of shops and restaurants, perfect for downtime or regional team dinners." The team also worked closely with Tourism Fiji. "They connected us to all the organizations we needed to plan alongside. Our vendors, especially Rosie Holidays, were extremely willing to help us coordinate activities for the sales team to help them sell this destination in the future. Of course, we could not have hosted this meeting in Fiji without the support from Fiji Airways, who is our key partner to this destination." Sullivan has high praise for Fiji as a destination but is aware of its challenges, too. "Fiji is an exciting destination, but we knew it would take a significant amount of planning based on its location." He also notes, "It's also important to be familiar with Fiji and its culture/weather, etc. We knew that we needed a backup plan for events in case the weather didn't cooperate." As for highlights, Sullivan says, "Captain Cook Cruises provided us with a fullday excursion out to a private island. It was certainly a highlight of the meeting!" But perhaps the best event of all was taking the sales team to one of the Collette Foundation sites. The entire group volunteered with projects such as painting and gardening to help Koroipita Village with much needed attention (learn more in this video of that day: www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9NYedLEDu4). Fiji is committed to the international meetings business. In November, Tourism Fiji announced the establishment of the country's first convention bureau, expected to launch in 2015. Last year, Sheraton Fiji Resort opened a new convention facility, the largest on Denarau Island, which seats

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