News and Insight

On January 22, 2025, Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government hosted the Tokyo MICE Symposium. This year's symposium featured insightful keynote speeches and an exciting panel discussion themed "Increasing Participant Satisfaction at Business Events."

Simultaneous Delivery from a Tokyo Island and Central Tokyo
Tokyo has numerous areas with convention facilities, each offering diverse opportunities for unique business events. To try something different for this year's Symposium, two areas were selected, the centrally located Takeshiba area (at Bay Side Hotel Azure Takeshiba) and Hachijojima Island (at Hachijo Town Multipurpose Hall Ojare). The event was simultaneously delivered across these venues seamlessly connected by conference call.

The online communication system, Discord (also used for live broadcasts) was used, and because we set up a robust communication environment at the Hachijojima Island venue, the video and audio between the venues ran flawlessly for a heightened participant experience. This format gave participants the chance to experience a new kind of business event, broadening their horizons about what is possible for business events in Tokyo.

Showcasing the charm of the host city
The Symposium provided participants with many insights regarding business event trends as well as providing numerous examples to give them ideas on how to utilize the charms of the host city in event planning.

Bringing the Symposium to an exciting conclusion, a Hachijo Daiko (Island drumming) performance communicated the local culture of the island to participants, leaving them energized and inspired.
At the Takeshiba venue, an exhibition corner was set up showcasing local products that could be used for venue decoration, coffee breaks, and dinner. Selected as examples of how to utilize the charms of the host area, various local products from Hachijojima Island including Hachijo Island shochu (a traditional Japanese spirit drink) were featured at the exhibition.

Participants were presented with sweets from each area to take home making the event even more memorable. At the Hachijojima venue, as an example of traditional Tokyo sweets, participants received a dorayaki (a Japanese cake filled with sweet beans), with the logo of the organizers on it for a unique touch. At the Takeshiba venue, participants received Hachijo Sable biscuits, popular as an island souvenir.

Sustainable Initiatives
Sustainable business events don't only protect the environment but benefit the host city and participants while promoting diversity, improved working conditions and education for the next generation. TCVB continuously strives to improve sustainable practices in Tokyo's business events industry. At the Symposium the following sustainable initiatives were adopted to make it as environmentally friendly as possible.

・ Paperless distribution of symposium materials via 2D codes, etc
・Reduction of one-use plastics
・Utilization of green energy
・Promotion of public transport to the event

The Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau will continue to support new technologies and sustainable initiatives to meet the needs of event organizers and enhance the significance of business events in Tokyo.