The Board of Directors of the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) has announced the Valencia Conference Centre as the winner of the 2010 Apex Award for “World’s Best Convention Centre”. The Award was presented at the 2010 AIPC Annual Conference in Liverpool from amongst a group of 27 finalists who had qualified for the competition.
“We are delighted that our colleagues from Valencia have received this honour and is clear that they have set a proud example for centres in Spain”, said AIPC President Edgar Hirt. “It demonstrates the high level of performance in this area and provides an example against which other centres can be assessed”.
The AIPC Apex Award is based on an extensive analysis of customer input under the auspices of the Faculty of Science, Politics and Economics from the University of Brussels, and reflects an unbiased picture of centre performance through the eyes of its customers. The analysis covers a range of areas including such topics as congress facilities, project management, customer relations, catering and technology. “This is a very extensive process, and one that ensures an exhaustive review of competing centres”, said Hirt. “As an example, there were more than 1,000 reviews submitted and tabulated for this year’s Award.”
The AIPC Board also recognized the two runners-up to this year’s award; Bregenzer Festspiel- und Kongresshaus and the Congress Centre-Sofia. “These centres also deserve recognition along with the overall winner, given how competitive the results were amongst the 27 finalists”, said Hirt. “We also consider the entire range of competitors to be winners in the sense that the process of analysis creates a valuable insight into how their customers regard the various aspects of their operation, and this is information that centres can use to further enhance their operations”.
Begun in 2000, the AIPC Apex Award is now the pre-eminent award for the international convention centres represented in AIPC. Previous AIPC Apex Award winners have been the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia, Congress Innsbruck in Austria, the Vancouver Convention Centre in Canada – who won on two occasions – the Bilbao Conference Centre and Concert Hall. Euskalduna in Spain, Cairns Convention Centre in Australia, the Congress Centre-Sofia of Bulgaria, the Quebec City Convention Centre in Canada.
AIPC is the pre-eminent international association of convention centres, with a mission of encouraging, supporting and recognizing excellence in centre management. It’s global network of over 166 leading centres in 53 countries, combined with the active involvement of more than 700 centre management professionals ensures a broad and diversified level of industry knowledge and expertise, while its wide variety of program activities supports members in developing and enhancing their skills in the areas of operations, finance, technology, staff development, marketing, client relations and sustainability.
