This workshop by Japan National Tourism Organization’s (JNTO) MICE (Meeting, Incentive Travel, Convention, Exhibition/Event) division to encourage international conferences to be held in Japan. In their presentations, they told us that Japan currently stands No. 7 in terms of number of international conferences in the world, and the Japanese government very much wants to come within top five by 2030. This is why JNTO is offering assistance to anyone who might be in a position to steer an international conference to be held in Japan.
Because their metric is based on the definition of an international conference by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), an eligible conference must meet the following criteria:
- Be organised on a regular basis (one-time events are not included)
- Move between at least 3 different countries
- Attract at least 50 participants
(https://www.iccaworld.org/benefits/members/database/association-meetings-database/)
If your conference is eligible, JNTO may be able to:
- offer funding
- provide expertise and assistance during the bidding process
- attend the prior conference and set up a booth to promote your conference
- connect you with the city government for additional support
- have a message sent from the President of the Science Council
- have a message sent from the Prime Minister; and
- ask the emperor to make an appearance at the conference.
This collaborative process with JNTO was elaborated in the presentation by Dr. Eiji Numada, who organized the 27the International Congress of Entomology in 2024, which attracted 4278 participants and 2817 presenters from 82 countries. He described JNTO’s assistance in working the selection committee, creating the bidding paper, and preparing the bid presentation. The presentation part was aided by a consultant Adam Fullford, who also spoke at this event to teach us presentation skills. He was the one who coached Dr. Numada before he went to the selection committee to deliver his bid presentation. The bid was successful, and JNTO continued to work with Dr. Numada’s conference team to organize and promote the event, and by all accounts, the conference was a great success.
So, if you are thinking of organizing an international conference that meets the above criteria, JNTO wants you to contact them. Give them a try at: https://mice.jnto.go.jp/organizer-support/attract-support/service.html