Certified International Convention Specialist (CICS)
Stand Out in the Business Events Industry with Your CICS Designation!
The Certified International Convention Specialist (CICS) is a globally recognised entry-level certificate program, ideal for operational-level individuals who are new or emerging in the exciting world of business events.
This course is designed to equip business events professionals working in DMOs, CVBs, PCOs, AMCs, venues and hotels with the essential skills and knowledge needed to advance in the meetings industry.
The curriculum covers the fundamentals of business events:
- Understanding association behaviour and governance
- Strategic bidding processes and bid development (site visits and bid presentations included)
- Stakeholder mapping and decision‑making dynamics
- Ambassador programmes (how to engage local associations)
- Destination promotion and collaboration within the destination ecosystem
Course Eligibility: Is the CICS Right for You?
Who is this course for?
This programme is designed for early-career business events professionals looking to strengthen their core knowledge and skills.
Eligibility is based on a combination of:
- Are you working in a DMO, AMC, convention bureau, PCO, convention centre, hotel or other professional venue?
- Are you actively involved in attracting and winning international association conferences to your destination?
- Do you have 1-4 years of industry experience?
- Do you have clear learning goals?
To help ensure the right fit, participants may complete a short pre-course self-assessment, with a post-course survey used to support learning evaluation and development.
Course Formats: Learn Your Way
You have the following options on how to gain your certification:
- Access the online LMS platform to start learning ahead of the class.
- Come together with international peers for 3-days of active learning with two expert instructors to guide and challenge you and bring the content to life.
- Continue learning via the online learning modules in the LMS platform.
- Prepare, take and pass the online exam within one year after the in-person class.
- Access the online LMS platform to start learning ahead of the class.
- Come together with international peers for 6 webinars spread over 7 weeks. Each webinar runs for 3.5 hours (including breaks) and is led by an experienced instructor who will guide and challenge you and bring the content to life. Live online bid presentations and feedback during last webinar.
- Continue learning via the online learning modules in the LMS platform. Offline group work required.
- Prepare, take and pass the online exam within one year after the in-person class.
- This class is offered based on demand and requires a minimum of 10 participants.
- Access the online LMS platform to start your learning journey. Anywhere, at any time.
- You have up to one year after sign-up to complete the online learning modules.
- Prepare, take and pass the online exam to obtain your certification.
By completing the CICS you will win more business for your company and equip yourself with the skills, credibility, and confidence to succeed in a rapidly evolving industry.
Course Content: What You'll Learn
Are you currently attracting international associations to a destination, a venue or bureau? ICCASkills provides the knowledge and know-how that will allow you to get more business to your destination. The curriculum covers the fundamentals of business events:
- Understanding association behaviour and governance
- Strategic bidding processes and bid development (Site visits and bid presentations included)
- Stakeholder mapping and decision‑making dynamics
- Ambassador programmes (Hhow to engage local associations)
- Destination promotion and collaboration within the destination ecosystem
This module provides a comprehensive examination of the global meetings, conventions, and events industry, emphasizing how it intersects with tourism, destination development, association management, and the broader economy. It explains the motivations of clients, value propositions of international conventions, supply chain dynamics, and emerging global trends.
Across all chapters, the book equips learners with the knowledge needed to understand the meeting industry’s structure, stakeholders, impacts, and operational requirements.
This module focuses on the end‑to‑end process of bidding, selling, and securing meetings and conventions for a destination. It introduces sales fundamentals, account research, partnerships, ambassador programs, bid brief development, bid strategies, bid promotion, and the design of impactful bid presentations.
The book prepares learners to understand and execute the competitive processes that determine whether a destination wins or loses major events.
This module focuses on convention marketing, market segmentation for business events, and the structure of the international supply chain that supports the global meetings industry. It also includes a full chapter on media relations and crisis communication, ensuring learners understand how to manage marketing communications in both normal and high‑pressure situations.
Overall, the book equips learners with essential knowledge on marketing strategy, segmentation, distribution channels, stakeholder roles, and media engagement.
This module provides a comprehensive overview of the core suppliers and organisations that make up the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) ecosystem. It covers convention bureaus, venues, hotels, PCOs, DMCs, EMCs, exhibition service companies, and the essential destination product factors that shape competitiveness.
The book prepares learners to understand the roles, operations, and interdependencies of these organisations, as well as how destinations structure and differentiate their product offering to attract business events.
This module focuses on three core pillars essential to modern destination marketing and business events management:
- Sales & Marketing Planning: How destinations develop strategic and tactical plans that guide their sales, marketing, and promotional activities.
- Technology Systems & Infrastructure: The digital tools, platforms, and systems that support event delivery, marketing operations, customer data, and stakeholder engagement.
- Sustainable & Regenerative Events: Current sustainability practices, regenerative principles, and destination strategies for future‑focused event management.
The book prepares learners to plan strategically, apply technology effectively, and adopt responsible and regenerative practices in the meetings and events industry.
This module examines the future of convention destinations, focusing on how data, environmental scanning, futures research, and evolving industry roles shape long-term strategic direction. It highlights how convention destinations must adapt to shifting global trends, stakeholder expectations, technological change, and sustainability pressures.
The book equips learners with the foresight and strategic planning tools needed to build “future‑fit” convention destinations capable of competing in a rapidly changing environment.
This module explores how conventions drive economic transformation, focusing on the shift toward knowledge‑based economies, intellectual capital, and sustainable development. It explains how business and professional events act as catalysts for innovation, talent development, and policy advancement.
The chapter also highlights the evolving role of convention bureaus as capacity builders and examines practical examples, such as Sydney, to demonstrate how destinations can leverage conventions for long‑term societal benefit.
Overall, it positions conventions not just as tourism drivers, but as strategic tools for economic, social, and intellectual advancement.
The ultimate goal of any destination should be for the full supply chain to all exclaim: "We are the bureau!"
Ready to Stand Out in the Business Events Industry?
Get in touch
ICCA Education Team: education@iccaworld.org
Alpha Tower, De Entree 57, Amsterdam 1101 BH, The Netherlands
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