The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has appointed Anju Gomes as its new director Middle East.
Anju has been based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since 1996 and has spent a significant portion of her career working in senior positions across both the association and corporate meeting industries, specializing in local and international stakeholder relations, sales and service optimization, and event management. She is also the former MENA head of events, finance and administration for the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).
Anju Gomes will be based at ICCA’s Middle East Office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where the association is registered with the Dubai Association Centre. Gomes will represent the region at the fourth ICCA Middle East International Meetings Forum from September 18 - 19 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and at the 58th ICCA Congress from October 27 - 30 in Houston, Texas.
Gomes will continue the work of ICCA’s Middle East Regional Office, which was established in 2012 in response to the growing importance of the international association meetings industry to regional development strategies.
The period since ICCA set up permanent representation in the Middle East has been marked by rapid growth in both ICCA engagement and the local market. The region reached the 50-member milestone in 2017 and was the fastest-growing region between 2006 and 2016, with the number of meetings increasing from 100 to 255 in a decade. According to ICCA Statistics, this growth of over 250 percent was the largest for any region in the world during this period.
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