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El Punt Avui dedicated a full-page article to the relevance of the Ambassadors Programme in the promotion of event tourism in Catalonia. The articles, titled “Magnets of congresses” and published on the 16 November, quotes Xavier Espasa, managing director of the Catalan Tourism Agency and Miquel Pons, ambassador since 2014.

This link goes to the full article

The report produced by the English analyst Rob Davidson reveals that in 2015 the events tended to be more experiential and multi-sensorial than ever, and that the sector is becoming increasingly committed to innovative and unique spaces.

Neurologists and cognitive psychologists agree that the more senses that are aroused in an experience, the better we remember it. This theory is easily transferable to the organisation of events, which this year have explored the sphere of immersion and have tended to be more experiential than ever on a world scale. These are the findings detailed in the report published by the analyst Rob Davidson within the setting of the latest meeting of Ibtm World in Barcelona, which invites the organisers of events to stimulate the touch, smell and taste of attendees in order to absorb better the information and experience the place they visit. The possibilities are considerable: improvised concerts, smell sensors, sessions of yoga and massage, visits to the local food markets…

Neither does Davidson forget that the sight is the most important sense in our sector and that the appearance of the spaces where the meetings are held is really key in marking the difference, in order to avoid our event being conventional. The decoration, design, colours, lighting, gadgets… All the elements form a whole, as well as the choice of location. Where should an event be held so that it stands out? The Ibtm World report answers: in an innovative, infrequent and unique space. In this sense, Davidson refers to the drag and drop venues, which refers to the construction of temporary spaces for a congress or meeting in unexpected places that usually has other uses. The report relates this tendency with the success of the collaborative economy and cites a reference case, that of the French start-up SnapEvent, which acts as an intermediary between the organisers and the people who rent out their properties (houses, private gardens, terraces, attics…) as unique venues to hold them in.

The commitment to multi-sensorial events and the drag and drop venues has been particularly visible this year in a city such as London, which appears as a benchmark in the Ibtm World report. The web page of the Convention Bureau of the English capital refers to the report in an inspiring article, which asks us to reinvent the organisation of events from the imagination and innovation. We should take note: the new tendencies in meetings and congresses are no longer the future but the present.

While in 2014 Barcelona was placed as the second city in the world with the largest number of participants in international congresses, Catalonia has its foot on the accelerator in attracting professional events of an international sphere

According to the annual report that the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), in 2014 Barcelona occupied second place in the ranking of cities with the largest number of participants in international congresses. The report also places the Catalan capital among the top five cities in the world where more congresses are held. In economic terms, these figures represent an income of 1,469 million euros for the city and two million hotel stays (77% of which were foreigners).

The rest of the territory is committed to and works to attract international professional events in the different destinations of the network of congresses in Catalonia. Some examples of cities that hosted international events 2014 and 2015 are:

• Three big events (the IX European Conference of Archives, the Annual Conference of the International Council of Archives and the XIII Conferences of Image and Investigation) in Girona, with a total of 922 people registered from 90 different countries

• A French cardiology congress with 40 participants in Val d’Aran

• The International Forum of Education and Technology and the International Congress of University Teaching and Investigation in Tarragona, with a total of 600 attendees

• The World Congress of Travel Blogs (TBEX EU 2015) in Lloret de Mar, with 700 participants.

For more information, you can consult the executive summary of the report.

On the 7, 8, 9, 10 and 14 of July 2015 there will be a second round of regional meetings in which the programme will be presented to possible new ambassadors in Catalonia.

The meetings, which will be of a similar format to those of last year and will be completely exclusive, will be held so that the candidates for ambassador can find out first-hand about the programme and its advantages, and to respond to all the doubts that those attending may have.

If you know someone who could be an ambassador —professionals recognised in their field and active members of associations, institutions and national and/or international professional associations—, we would be grateful if you could let us know by writing to ambassadorscatalunya@intermedia.cat.