The BestCities Client Workshop is one of the many unique services offered by the industry renowned, global alliance and provides an exclusive opportunity for clients to experience one of the ten BestCities destinations; meet the BestCities partners; and learn more about their convention facilities and bureau services.

In 2013, the biannual, workshops will be held in both Australia and North America; showcasing the cities of Melbourne and Houston to an exclusive group of international association meeting planners. 

Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau will host the first of the two meetings from 9-12 April followed by Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau who will hold their first-ever client workshop following IMEX America 2013.

Clients attending the Melbourne workshop will see the best of this vibrant city by foot, boat and helicopter; visiting areas such as the Docklands, Yarra Valley and Port Phillip Bay. Site visits to some of the city’s world-class venues such as the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and Crown Entertainment Complex are also on the itinerary as well as plenty of time to sample some of the incredible dining that has made Melbourne famous.

According to BestCities Chair Jerad Bachar, the client workshops have proven to be one of the most successful services offered by the alliance for both meeting planner and partner.

"The workshops enable clients to gain an insight into BestCities as well as a particular destination," said Mr Bachar. "The hosting partner showcases their city, conference facilities and business acumen to a handpicked audience and all ten BestCities partners have the chance to build a stronger relationship with meeting planners they may not have had the opportunity to meet without this program," he said.

Richard Yore, Director of Sales, Meetings and Conventions for Tourism Vancouver agrees.

“Hosting a BestCities Workshop in 2010 gave us the perfect opportunity to conduct a site visit for the Societe Internationale d' Urologie and introduce them to the principles of holding an event in a BestCities destination,” he said.  "The client was delighted with the visit and left not only knowing our city better but also realising that we were definitely the right choice for their Congress.”
Janna Malseed from the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science recently attended a BestCities workshop in Edinburgh and couldn’t be happier with the results.

“As an organizer of international meetings, I found the BestCities workshop the epitome of one stop shopping, providing the opportunity to meet with ten different cities from around the world all in the wonderful city of Edinburgh, Scotland.   We had an opportunity to visit sites in Edinburgh that gave us first-hand knowledge of what Edinburgh has to offer as a meeting destination.  Each of the other cities involved in the BestCities workshop also provided valuable information on conference facilities and hotels that can fit into a wide variety of budgets.”