US based Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) has acquired the Incentive, Conference and Event Society Asia Pacific (ICESAP), marking the group’s entry into the APAC region.
Announced overnight, PCMA’s president and CEO Deborah Sexton said the addition of ICESAP “further strengthens our endeavours to enable industry collaboration and deliver superior education to this important region”.
Headquartered in Singapore, ICESAP provides education, career development and networking for corporate, agency and supplier professionals in the US$200 billion Asia Pacific (APAC) business events sector.
ICESAP will continue to operate in the region under the ICESAP brand, with PCMA to retain the current ICESAP staff and Singapore office headquarters, led by President Nigel Gaunt.
“I am delighted with PCMA’s acquisition of ICESAP. It represents the best possible future for our society. ICESAP will continue delivering on our commitment to agency accreditation, member education and most importantly, advocacy for the benefits the sector brings to the businesses and economies of Asia Pacific. A stronger ICESAP under PCMA is a win-win and will define our actions in the years ahead. For me personally, it is validation of the investment of time and money I have made over the past four years in establishing what I felt was needed for our industry in Asia Pacific,” Gaunt commented.
The move supports PCMA’s goal to straightaway bring the highest-level education to APAC. ICESAP’s certificate in Incentive, Conference and Event Management, a five-module online distance-learning programme created in association with William Angliss Institute, is highly regarded in the industry.
One of ICESAP’s key objectives is strengthening the role of intermediary agencies across Asia Pacific. Earlier this year, ICESAP launched the Agency Accreditation Scheme, a new accreditation supporting industry professionalism. The program ensures agencies operate at the highest possible standards by meeting or exceeding the Code of Conduct and prescribed Best Practices guidelines stipulated in the scheme.
