Ripples from the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus continue to be felt by the meetings industry. Today, Reed Travel Exhibitions announced that it has postponed the inaugural IBTM Asia Pacific. Originally scheduled for Apr. 6-8, the event has been rescheduled to Apr. 13-14, 2021. The location (Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands) will remain the same.

Lisa Sommer Devlin, owner of Phoenix-based Devlin Law Firm which specializes in hospitality law, has received about a dozen phone calls from hotels in the past week. They’re reaching out to her as a result of groups wanting to cancel events without penalties, due to the coronavirus. 

The Expo Group is on a roll with acquisitions. Within the past two weeks, the exhibitions and events provider has announced the purchase of Orlando-based Allied Convention Service, commonly known as Brede/Allied, and Educe, a firm committed to adding value to the events and engagement strategy for higher education institutions.

Meetingselect and Certain are partnering to extend the reach and business value of their integrated Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) and event automation solutions. Meetingselect’s corporate booking platform, which includes global event venue and conference hotel sourcing, RFP management and event budgeting and spend tracking, will integrate via APIs with Certain’s enterprise event automation solutions.

At PCMA’s Convening Leaders Conference in San Francisco earlier this month, the Meetings Mean Business Coalition announced its 2020 plans to promote the value of face-to-face meetings, as well as to safeguard the industry from financial and reputational threats. 

Curious about the new Caesars Forum, Las Vegas’ major new conference center, opening this spring? You won’t have to travel to the Strip to see it—at least not right away. Caesars Entertainment will launch a country-wide tour called “All Roads Lead to Caesars Forum,” beginning next month.

MGM Growth Properties and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust today announced that MGP and BREIT have entered into a definitive agreement to form a new joint venture to acquire the Las Vegas real estate assets of the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay for $4.6 billion. In addition, BREIT will purchase $150 million in MGP Class A shares. MGP will own 50.1% of the joint venture, and BREIT will own 49.9%. 

By now you’ve likely read the news reports and seen the photos. Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires the country has seen in decades, with many areas devastated since the fires began in September of last year. Record-breaking temperatures, months of severe drought and strong winds have fueled a series of massive bushfires across the country that have torn through bushland, mountain forests and national parks. At least 24 people have died nationwide. 

What lies ahead for 2020 and the new decade? We talked with a few experts to find out. Take a look at their 2020 trend predictions below. Then, connect with us on Twitter to let us know your take!

Food & Beverage

Dana Pellicano, Marriott’s vice president of food and beverage experience for the Americas, says we’ll see:

The Corporate Event Marketing Association and PCMA are partnering to extend the reach and membership of their respective organizations. The two groups announced on Jan. 6 at PCMA Convening Leaders that they will work together to develop and share educational programming and content.

PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat says that the main goal of the alliance is to elevate the education for both organizations.