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The 29^th National Congress of the Spanish Congress Organising Companies was held on the 16, 17 and 18 of February in La Llotja in Lleida, attended by professionals from the Ambassadors Programme of the Catalunya Convention Bureau.

National and international speakers took part in the congress, as well as the medical companies and associations, which dealt with several topics of interest for the meetings industry and showed the latest tendencies from the sector. One of the most outstanding is the need to look into a new more useful, interesting and innovative congress model for attendees. The speakers from the professional associations agreed that the professional organisers of congresses must provide an added value when organising a congress, opting for innovation and a change in the business model. New experiences must also be created, which are memorable and of quality, in which the host destination undertakes a relevant role.

Mention should be made of the different workshops that dealt with the use of new technologies, which are becoming the key factor of congresses. This is the case of the correct use of Twitter to achieve a congress attaining greater diffusion, multimedia posters and the tendency of virtual meetings, which facilitate the projection of events. 

Finally, mention should be made that Lleida is a privileged city to host congress tourism, both for its geographical location and for the programmes it offers linked to the natural environment, sport, wine tourism and gastronomy, which complement professional meetings and trips.

On the 19 February, at the match between Barça and Leganés at Camp Nou some of the Ambassadors that form part of the Catalunya Convention Bureau met. The attendees had the opportunity to network while enjoying the match from the director’s box, to which they were invited by the Barcelona Convention Bureau.

– Congrés de la Sociedad Española de la Neurocirugía – SINEC 2017 (Barcelona, 17 – 19 de maig): Tindrà lloc al CCIB i el seu tema a tractar serà “Preservació de la funció neurològica: un paradigma irrenunciable”.
– Innovate4Climate (Barcelona, 22 – 26 de maig): Conferencia i saló sobre la Financiació i la Innovació per la lluita contra el Canvi Climàtic.
– XXXV Congreso Nacional de Riesgos (Tarragona, 6 – 8 de juny): El tema del congrés és regadiu, és a dir, la presentació i debat sobre les seves novetats, idees, nous mètodes i experiències.
– I Conferència Mundial de Conservació de Sòls i Aigua sota el Canvi Global (CONSOWA) (Lleida, 12 – 16 de juny): El seu objectiu és analitzar el present i preveure el futur de la conservació dels recursos d’aigua i el sòl i promoure col·laboracions en aquest àmbit.
– 19th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON 2017) (Girona, 12 – 16 de juliol): És la segona vegada que ICTON té lloc a Catalunya i es concentra en les aplicacions de les tecnologies transparents i òptiques en telecomunicacions, la informàtica i noves aplicacions. 

The 19 December saw the Act of Recognition of the representatives of the Ambassadors Programme of the Catalan Tourism Agency and the Catalonia Trade & Investment Network of Ambassadors. The reception was held in the Sant Jordi Hall of the Palau de la Generalitat and brought together more than 100 ambassadors, who received an emblem of gratitude for their work from the President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont. The act also had the participation of the Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget.

During his institutional speech, Carles Puigdemont thanked all the ambassadors for their “work, dedication and personal commitment to the good of Catalonia” and highlighted their professional talent. “You are people who earn respect and who respect others”, emphasises the president of the Generalitat, who encouraged those attending to continue in their task of recommending Catalonia, which is, in his opinion, “productive for business” and which is “worth investing in”.

After the speeches and the awarding of the emblems, there was time for networking between the attendees in the same Sant Jordi Hall, which closed an act of well-deserved gratitude for the more than 130 Ambassadors who already form part of the programme promoted by the Catalunya Convention Bureau.

The good position of Barcelona as a destination of congresses and meetings is increasingly more evident and, recently, the Catalan capital has been placed in third position in the prestigious world ranking drawn up by the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) to establish which are the most relevant cities and states in MICE tourism (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions). Specifically, Barcelona organised 180 events during 2015 and is placed ahead of other very important destinations in the sector such as Vienna or London.

The Catalan city was hot on the heels of the first two in the ranking —Berlin (195) and Paris (186)— and acts as a pole of attraction to boost the organisation of events all over Catalonia. In this link you can consult the ranking of the ICCA, which also highlights the fourth position of Spain, placed behind the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The consolidation of Internet has made possible the growth of the collaborative economy and the appearance of numerous platforms that facilitate an exchange between users. Tourism, and in particular the world of events, is not removed from this reality and, in fact, 30% of the attendees at the Mobile World Congress 2016 no longer stayed in conventional hotels, but in “collaborative” accommodation. The tendency, which affects other spheres, such as transport, seems to be unstoppable, and on the 2 December diverse Catalan and international players debated about the challenges of this economy in the Casa de Convalescència in Barcelona.

The seminar, which had the participation of European politicians, researchers, representatives of online platforms and representatives from the hotel world, came to three conclusions of consensus for the tourism sector:

1) It is essential to regulate the collaborative economy for many reasons (security, competence, urbanism, tax reasons, etc.).

2) The platforms must be transparent with the Administration in order to clarify which accommodation is illegal among those they publish on their webs.

3) The collaborative economy is not the enemy and its capacity must be evaluated to generate quality tourism that enriches specific regions as well as its capacity to produce jobs in the context of crisis economy.

In this link you will find more information about the seminar organised jointly by the Department of Business and Knowledge – Catalan Tourism Agency of the Generalitat and by the network of European regions NECSTour.

One of the tendencies that will have a major effect on the meetings, incentives and convention trips sector during 2017 will be the holding of events in privately-owned singular spaces, such as a luxury loft or mansion with garden. As could be seen in several sessions of the International Fair of Incentives, Business Trips and Meetings (Ibtm World 2016) held in Barcelona last December, the online platforms that commercialise houses and unique spaces are noting a big increase in demand, especially amongst young people, more accustomed to exploring new formulas for organising events. The analyst Rob Davidson considers that this tendency will be consolidated and will force hotel establishments to adapt their offer to the new requisites of the young public and the business tourism sector in general. 

In this link you can consult the full report of tendencies for congresses published by Rob Davidson in the setting of the Ibtm 2016. 

– Mobile World Congress 2017 (Barcelona, 27 February – 2 March): The most important event in the world in the mobile phone sector, which annually brings together more than 100,000 professionals. It should also be noted that within the congress itself is 4 Years From Now, a reference encounter for entrepreneurs.

– eFintech Show 2017 (Barcelona, 22-23 March): Second edition of this exhibition and cycle of conferences about the world of technological solutions in banking and finance. More than 500 people participate, among them technological executives in banking, finance, the press, venture capital, analysts, bloggers and entrepreneurs.

– 29^th National Congress of Congress Organiser Companies, OPC 2017 (Lleida, 16-18 February): Annual encounter of the congress organisers of Spain, which will show the changes in a sector in constant transformation.

In Spain last year more than 20,500 conventions, congresses and conferences were held that brought together around 3,800,000 attendees. These figures, taken from the annual report of the Spain Convention Bureau, are possible to a large extent because of the good positioning of Catalonia to attract international events. In fact, along with the Community of Madrid, Catalonia is the area that received more congress delegates in 2015 in all the state.  

This report, which highlights that the most important sectors are still the medical-health and economic-commercial ones, stresses the growth of congresses in destinations of less than 200,000 inhabitants, such as Girona, Lleida, Lloret de Mar, Tarragona, Sitges, Castelldefels or Reus.