It is comprehensively delivering on the task it was designed for; over these 19 years it has hosted 2,700 events which have attracted 1,900,000 visitors, and this, in turn, has meant 1,983,000 overnight stays in the city.
The Valencia Conference Centre opened its doors on 2nd July 1998 tasked with working for Valencia and Valencians by attracting conferences and conventions to the city. It has comprehensively delivered on this task as over these 19 years it has hosted 2,700 events that have pulled in 1,900,000 visitors, which in turn has meant 1,983,000 overnight stays in the city.
The meeting tourists the Centre attracts spend three times as much as holiday tourists and it is also a type of tourism that reduces seasonality of demand. Furthermore, not only has it delivered on its task of drawing visitors and wealth to the city but it has also done so with such a high level of quality that in 2010 it won the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) 2010 APEX accolade for World’s Best Congress Centre. This award recognises the excellent level of customer satisfaction with the Conference Centre, as shown by the comments they leave after their visit to the Valencia venue: “The choice of the Conference Centre as the setting for the symposium has been crucial. Our attendees are amazed and extremely satisfied with the quality and services they are receiving. The impression is very positive and it is highly likely that this will help us to bring similar conferences to the city,” said Narcis Cardona, ITEAM Director and co-organiser of the PIRMC.
"After organising meetings at other venues, the Conference Centre caught our eye for this larger conference as it also provides a more powerful and attractive image for the event. On top of that the service in the rooms is fantastic, the room technicians are amazing and the catering has been really popular with our attendees”, said Dr. Jose M. Lagaron, Head of the Novel Materials and Nanotechnology Group, Spanish Council for Scientific Research [CSIC]).
“During the ICCA European Client / Supplier Business Workshop it was a pleasure to work with its highly qualified and accessible staff, who always keep one step ahead to meet the customer’s requirements and needs at all times. Everything from organising the event to holding it, the staff, the venue and the destination exceeded my expectations”, said Claire Jackson, Project Manager Membership Services ICCA.
Confident about the future
The Centre’s future prospects are very upbeat as at present it has 42 confirmed events, including 31 conferences and conventions, scheduled up to 2022 which will lead to 90,000 overnight stays in the city. In addition, over 60% of its operations planned for 2018 are international.
Moreover, as the culmination of these 19 years the Valencia Conference Centre is celebrating its anniversary following a complete makeover inside: Valencia City Council has recently invested 1,600,000 euros in refurbishing various aspects of the building to enhance sustainability, efficiency and savings while it has also upgraded all the facility’s audiovisual equipment. This
refurbishment has included fitting the Conference Centre out with the most advanced audiovisual equipment for projection, lighting, image, sound and conference systems.
This technological transformation coupled with the versatility of its infrastructures and Norman Foster’s distinctive design for the building have kept it competitive and a leader in its field while also securing its position as a flagship building and venue of choice for large meetings. And that means it will continue driving the local economy by drawing business tourism to the city.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
