• BEFuture, supported by the European Union’s Single Market Programme, offers 30k funding to 80 SMEs for innovative practices in the business events sector.

• Over three years, the project aims to make the industry more sustainable and resilient.

The BEFuture project, led by the Catalan Tourist Board, successfully held an industry Think Tank workshop in Barcelona to positively impact Europe’s business events sector. The workshop was an important step towards realising the project’s goal of developing a more sustainable, regenerative, resilient, and responsible industry by collecting best practices and enhancing the sector’s competitiveness.

“We are delighted and excited to get the opportunity to do this important work together with a strong team of partners. We want to explore alternative business models, together with other ecosystems and make BE a future-proof industry, aligned with current trends and needs.” said Sònia Serracarbasa Head of the Catalunya Convention Bureau (Catalan Tourist Board), at the workshop organised by the project partners during IBTM World in Barcelona.

Since its preliminary launch in September 2023, BEFuture has organised a couple of Think Tank workshops to model future scenarios and will publish a call for best practices addressed to SMEs in February 2024. The project plans training programs, a mapping of key stakeholders, a white paper, and an acceleration program in 2025 offering 30k in funding to at least 80 SMEs from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

The project involves a network of stakeholders, including convention bureaus, BSOs, and international industry associations. The consortium consists of ACT (Agencia Catalana De Turisme), B. Link (B. Link Barcelona Strategic Projects SL), Tipik (Tipik Communication Agency), TVL (Toerisme Vlaanderen), Linkeus, Vdvo (Verband Der Veranstaltungsorganisatoren E.V.), ETFI (Stichting NHL Stenden Hogeschool), Unimib (Universita’ Degli Studi Di Milanobicocca).

BEFuture was awarded a grant by the European Union under the Single Market Programme “Sustainable Growth and Building Resilience in Tourism: to support the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises”.

For more information, view the background document