Barcelona launches to attract new congresses with an unprecedented aid program

A visitor arriving at Barcelona to participate in a congress, convention, exhibition or incentive trip spent 115 euros per day (accommodation apart), which is almost 52% more than a holiday or leisure tourist. It also invests more in hotels, and as 84% ​​already know the city, they do not visit its icons, but rather generate a much more decentralized consumption of the city. The so-called MICE tourism represented almost a 20% in the city in 2019 and had an economic impact of 1.9 billion annually. The brief radiograph shows the strategic importance of relaunching the sector as soon as possible in the Catalan capital. A mission that he city ​​Hall face with a injection of three million euros for the extraordinary plan Barcelona MICE Destination Support Program that it will pilot Tourism of Barcelona.

It will do so from its executive arm, the team of Barcelona Convention Bureau (BCB), dedicated to attracting and promoting congresses and conventions. His work has been translated for decades into an impactful curriculum: the city is the fourth organizer in the world of congresses (the first among the non-state capitals) and for 20 years it has remained in the ‘top 5’ of organization of these professional appointments. The pandemic has wreaked havoc in this area, limiting them to the virtual or hybrid sphere, but the goal is take flight with an ambitious international promotion plan. The municipal contribution will be added to the consortium’s own budget and it is also expected that the figure will end up growing with contributions from the private sector.

The challenge of relaunch the metropolis as a tourism leader of the “event industry” will be based on both build loyalty some of the appointments already contracted, as in capture new ones. The program includes grants that can support the recruitment process, its promotion or the time of the celebration. The various actions will cover part of expenses of these events or their services, to favor the choice of Barcelona among strong competition. The President of Tourism of Barcelona, Eduard torres, has opted to promote face-to-face as much as possible, to the extent that the health situation allows it, and has detailed that if the 2022 programming could be fully face-to-face, it would add some 380,000 delegates, being one of the most powerful on the continent.

90 applications for the next few years

Uncertainties continue to hover over these encounters, but the deputy mayor Jaume Collboni highlighted that the Catalan capital has 150 congresses and conventions confirmed until 2023 included, some of large format (such as the world appointment of mobile telephony or cardiology), but also many others for a few hundred professionals but of relevance for the sectors they mobilize. At present, a 40% are from the medical and scientific field, while 15% are from the area of ​​technology and telecommunications. The new program is specifically aimed at congresses with more than 500 participants and linked to the digital, scientific or creative sector, which “provide criteria of sustainability and return to the city.” On the horizon that is drawn until 2027, the BCB works on 90 applications submitted.

Related news

Collboni has underlined that the importance of congresses goes far beyond the mere celebration, taking as an example the Mobile World Congress (MWC), whose legacy has been to make Barcelona “one of the most important technological hubs in Europe and the world” . For this reason, to choose the proposals to be encouraged, a technical committee will be used in which there will also be representatives of Fira de Barcelona, ​​Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B: SM) and the Barcelona Hotel Guild.

About him coveted congress and convention traveler, other data have been noted: traveling alone or with colleagues, have an average of 38.2 years, spend the night an average of 4.7 nights, and 73% try local restaurants.