The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) held their Annual Meeting & General Assembly in Tokyo from February 7 to 10, at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa. Kicking off the start of IAPCO’s 50th year, the meeting gathered over 102 attendees from 32 countries/regions, creating a new record for attendance in this commemorative year. The active business sessions and creative social programmes were all very well received by the attendees, many of whom were visiting Japan for the first time.

The delegates were representatives of Professional Congress Organisers (PCO), who are members of IAPCO from across the globe. Among them are Core PCOs, who influence associations’ choices of international meeting destination, as well as PCOs whose forte lies is incentives. This meeting offered a great opportunity for these PCOs in particular to gain valuable information firsthand about everything that Japan has to offer as a destination to conventions & incentives, including Japan’s strengths in planning and operating international meetings and events.

IAPCO 2018 Tokyo was hosted by three IAPCO members here in Japan: Congress Corporation, Japan Convention Services and JTB Communication Design, with the generous support of the Japan Tourism Agency, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau, Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau, as well cooperation from many other entities.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all of the organizations who provided support for this commemorative meeting, the 2nd time in 25 years for IAPCO to come to Japan and Asia, and hope this will bring a renewed interest in Japan as a meetings & event destination.