Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is pleased to announce that Successful Meetings* has nominated Etsuko Kawasaki, Executive Director of Japan Convention Bureau, as one of the 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry for 2018. She is the first ever Japanese expert to join the ranks of this group, selected based on open call nominations from industry experts, internal research, and readers.
Kawasaki has been contributing to the globalisation of the Japanese meetings industry through collaboration with international industry associations such as ICCA, MPI, IAPCO and PCMA to reach prominent professionals in the industry. A new campaign with the advertising slogan “New ideas start here” was launched this year under her supervision to increase branding recognition both at home and abroad. The campaign differentiates Japan’s business events from general tourism, and features why organisations take their meetings to Japan.
“It is my great honour that I was selected as one of the 25 Most Successful Influential People,” Kawasaki said. “I will do my best to enhance our global campaign and develop our industry further so that Japan will attract more business events in the future,” she told Successful Meetings.
*Successful Meetings is the leading magazine of the global meetings industry. It features the latest news concerning meetings, conventions, incentives, and trade show professionals. Based on its access to a wide variety of groundbreaking information in the field, it annually recognises the 25 Most Influential People who are contributing to the betterment of the meetings industry. Other key influencers included in the list this year included Sherrif Karamat, President and CEO of PCMA and Martin Sirk, CEO of ICCA.
For more information: https://www.japanmeetings.org/
About Etsuko Kawasaki
Kawasaki joined Japan National Tourism Organization in 1992. She has a total of 14 years of experience in the business meetings industry, and has been the Executive Director of Japan Convention Bureau since 2016. She is the first female executive in JNTO.
About Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)
As the official tourism board of Japan, JNTO uses its 20 offices worldwide to engage in a range of promotion activities with the goal of encouraging international travellers to visit and explore the destination.
About Japan Convention Bureau
Japan Convention Bureau, a section of JNTO is a professional body which promotes Japan as a destination to host international meetings, incentive tours, conventions, conferences and business events. Together with 5 convention specialists in strategically located overseas offices at offices, Japan Convention Bureau offers beneficial information, neutral advice and assistance to business meeting and event planners worldwide.
