Lions Forum in Colombo with 2,500 delegates
View(s):The 44th ISAAME (India, South Asia, Africa and Middle East) Forum 2016 involving Lions Clubs to be held in Sri Lanka on November 30-December 3 will probably be the largest ever MICE tourism event in Sri Lanka.
MICE means Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events and Exhibitions.
ISAAME is expected to attract a minimum of 2500 foreign delegates from over 62 countries from South Asia, Africa and the Middle Eastern region together with delegates representing 20 guest countries from Europe, America and Asia. The largest MICE event so far is believed to be the 1,600 visitors that Walkers Tours organised in January 2015 for a conference involving staff from Phillips India.
Since Sri Lanka doesn’t have a single venue that can take more than 1,000 guests in a single hall, the ISAAME forum will take place in several venues in Colombo due to the size of the event. The inauguration ceremony will take place in the banquet hall of the Temple Trees whilst the main conference and closing ceremony will take place at BMICH in Colombo. As the headquarters hotel Cinnamon Grand Colombo will also a host a significant part of the conference, the organisers said in a media release.
“It is the fourth time this international conference is happening in Sri Lanka. Unlike in the past it is the first time a forum of this magnitude is taking place in post war Sri Lanka. The international body has indicated that well over 2500 delegates will attend this conference. However we are forced to restrict foreign delegate’s registration to a maximum of 2500 registrants. We are most certain that these high spending delegates will patronize and make good use of our resources, culture, heritage, food and hospitality and they would most certainly contribute towards the foreign exchange earnings of Sri Lanka. We are also of the view that these delegates will definitely be repeated visitors to Sri Lanka.
In fact the direct and indirect, long term and short term benefits from this conference will have a major impact on the Sri Lankan economy,” the organisers said in a media statement.
The forum will focus on the challenges facing the Lions movement in the world based on the theme “Towards the New Century of Service”.