FCM Meetings & Events (FCM M&E) has announced the appointment of Gabriella Antoniotti as the new business leader for the Americas. Antoniotti will oversee the entire meetings and events division across the United States and Canada. She will step into her new leadership role during a "transformative time" for the FCM M&E business, as the company prepares for a global relaunch targeting worldwide growth.
Based in New York City, Antoniotti most recently served as head of operations for FCM, where she was responsible for leading the complete operations of the business, managing the company’s event travel, sourcing and managed meetings, and event management departments. Now in her 10th year with FCM M&E, she has also previously held other event operations positions within the company, which included various roles in Australia.
With this move, Antoniotti will join the global M&E leadership team and help reposition the business worldwide. It also comes as the company seeks to update the way it operates on a global level.
“We now operate in more than a dozen countries globally, with future expansion plans in the works. Australia, India, and Mexico are currently thriving for us, and we really see North America, Asia, and Europe as key regions with the largest opportunities for growth,” said Simone Seiler, FCM M&E global general manager. “FCM M&E is targeting exponential growth and we’re already expanding into the likes of United Arab Emirates and South Africa—which will allow us in future to expand our workforce to the more than 365 that we already have servicing our valued customers.”
In advance of the company’s upcoming global expansion, it was determined that more than a quarter of customers allocate half their travel budgets towards the MICE sector, according to a recent “State of the Market” global survey developed by Flight Centre Travel Group. Some of the findings from the survey are below, revealing the increased demand and the percentage of travel spend that is going towards meetings, events and conferences:
- 28 percent of businesses allocate more than 50 percent of their travel spend
- 11 percent of businesses allocate between 25-50 percent of their travel spend
- 10 percent of businesses allocate between 15-25 percent of their travel spend
As part of the global relaunch, FCM M&E has also named Joanne Shaw as its new global director of enterprise sales. Based in London, Shaw brings with her extensive experience in both sales and account management.
For more information, visit www.fcmtravel.com.
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