Delegates from almost all of EFAPCO’s 13 member countries are set to gather in Estoril for two days of intensive Congress sessions set to examine an extensive range of issues and challenges facing the international meetings industry.
The delegate profile for the Federation’s 5th Congress also includes some non-members keen to study the benefits of membership plus a group of students from Spain.
Described as a “Green Congress in a Green Venue” the event will tackle the theme: “The World Has Changed: Start Acting”. Hosting the event, the Estoril Congress Center, is certified as a green venue by Green Globe International and has been described as a European leader in terms of sustainable business tourism.
The Congress will be looking at a variety of 21st Century Challenges including:
* The Future of Corporate and Association Meetings
* The European Commission’s Approach to Conference Organisation
* Women Leadership and the Meetings Industry
* The value of Face-to-Face events in the era of Facebook
* How the media respond in the delivery of international solutions
* A sustainable vision of the Meetings Industry
* The value of air links in the positioning of destinations
* Using science to influence attendee behaviour and performance at meetings.
Keynote presenters include Jose Manuel Bastos, Head of Unit Conference Organisation at the European Commission talking about the EC’s Approach to Conference Organisation, global futurist Rohit Talwar, James Latham, Producer at MEETINGS:review, Pedro Rocha dos Santos Director of the Estoril Congress Center offering a sustainable vision for the Meetings Industry and Jon Bradshaw, CEO with The Meetology Group.
A series of illustrious female personalities will be presenting a session on women leadership in the meetings industry including: Isabel Amaral President of APEP; Anne De Smet, President of BAPCO the Federation’s Belgian member association; Isabella Lenarduzzi, Managing Director of JUMP and independent financial consultant Mariana Abrantes de Sousa.
In tandem with the Congress some of the brightest students in the global meetings and incentive travel industry will be taking part in an IMEX-MPI Future Leaders Forum, offering a comprehensive range of insights into how to build successful careers in the still-expanding meetings and events industry.
EFAPCO Vice President Helena Weinstein, who is hosting the Estoril Congress said: “We have lined up some top-flight keynote speakers and the Congress should give the Future Leaders Forum students another excellent experience of our industry. We have also arranged for them to meet members of the Portuguese Young Entrepreneurs Association.”
Developed and organised jointly by the IMEX Group and MPI, the Forum was held, with great success, alongside the last EFAPCO Congress, in Brussels in 2010.
Congress hosts include Turismo de Portugal, Estoril Convention Bureau, Estoril Congress Center, Porto Convention Bureau and APECATE, Portugal’s EFAPCO member association.
And delegates will be welcomed in the opening session by Carlos Manuel Lavrador de Jesus Carreiras, Mayor of Cascais and Frederico Costa, President of Turismo de Portugal.
The deadline for low registration fees has been extended to January 10 to encourage extra participation.
