The importance of Business Tourism continues to expand around the world, with a growing number of destinations entering the market for Conferences, Exhibitions and Incentive Travel. In most countries in the developed world, income from Business Tourism now represents between one-third and one-quarter of all tourism spending. Destinations in the developing world have also understood the potential benefits of Business Tourism, and in such countries investment in facilities for Conferences and Exhibitions is at an all-time high.

The worldwide expansion of Business Tourism has been matched by increased interest, on the part of educators and researchers, in the phenomenon of business events as an academic subject and as a field of theoretical and empirical investigation. As a result, there has been considerable growth in the number of Universities offering courses related to Business Tourism and Business Events, and research in this field is increasing.

The annual ATLAS Business Tourism meeting has become the most important international annual forum for the exchange of ideas and the sharing of best practice in teaching and researching this subject. This year's conference will focus on a broad range of topics that are related to education, research, and management in the field of business events. The topics will be explored from an empirical, conceptual or methodological point of view.

??Examples of original initiatives in the field of teaching or researching meetings and business events or examples of co-operation between employers and educational institutions.

??Case-study material with potential for illustrating key issues in the development and management of Business Events.

If you wish to submit a paper proposal, please fill in the form on the ATLAS website, at www.atlas-euro.org. The abstract should have a maximum of 250 words. The deadline for the reception of abstracts is October 15th, 2007.