5th IMWF 2021 in Turkey Ends on a High with Forums, Awards Night and More

by  Mugdha Gaonkar Business Events | November 25, 2021 | News

IMWF Turkish Airlines Titanic Mardan Palace

The fifth edition of International MICE and Wedding Forum (IMWF) 2021, an annual platform powered by Inventum Global, hosted from 18 to 22 November 2021, concluded on a high note in Antalya, Turkey. The event was attended by around 250 delegates from nearly 40 countries including England, India, Italy, Lebanon, Russia and the USA.

The event featured thought leadership forums, B2B meetings in the day, different themed events for each night and more.

The opening speech of the night was delivered by Neşet Koçkar, Chairman, ANEX Tourism Group.

During his speech, Kockar stated, “We went through hard times; pandemic was hard especially for our industry. In my opinion, we will be better than ever when we are at the end of the pandemic era. Because people are bored of staying home for a long time and they are longing for new experiences and visiting new places. As Turkey, we were so lucky compared to the other countries during the pandemic since we had a Minister of Culture and Tourism who is one of us and knows the industry as well as we do. Therefore, I would like to thank our minister once again in your presence.”

Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkish Republic Minister of Culture and Tourism, who was also present at the event, said, “Our country is one of the leaders of the international MICE sector. According to most statistics, Istanbul is one of the top destinations for international meetings, congresses and events. We are not focusing on only one goal. The potential of our country is to offer more than that. We are mentioning an extremely important sector. At this point we can state that destination weddings have a volume of 300 billion dollars in global scale.”

He added that a wedding has a volume of at least 500 to 600 US dollars daily spending per person, making them an important area of tourism. Turkey's “safe tourism” certificate programme has played an important role in making it one of the leader destinations for tourism, wedding, and similar organisations, revealed the speaker.

"The world is experiencing a significant turning point. We have adapted changes to our lives. These changes have become standards of our lives, works, and principles of our sectors. The numbers and figures clearly state that we are on the right path. We continue to share this achievement with our national and international stakeholders. I would like to conclude my speech by thanking all institutions, organisations and individuals who have devoted themselves in order to realise IMWF. I sincerely wish this forum will pave a way for fruitful results, cooperation and connection,” Ersoy surmised.

The closing ceremony continued with an awards ceremony, where partners including Turkish Airlines, Titanic Mardan Palace, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, and Inventum Global and other stakeholders were felicitated by N Fuat Ersoy, Managing Partner, IMWF. 

The night concluded with live music, stage shows and fun moments for attendees.

(EVENTFAQS Media was a media partner to IMWF 2021.)