Aggregate data provided by the Spanish Association of Conference Centres’ (APCE) has revealed that in 2012 its member venues held a total of 4,647 events and welcomed 4,064,048 visitors. An economic impact of around €1,300 million was generated from these activities.
The APCE has published a report based on statistics released by its members for the events held in 2012 which shows that Spanish venues held a total of 405 congresses during the year in which 574,813 delegates took part. They also held 252 conventions which were attended by 287,578 participants and 1,132 conferences with a total of 391,272 visitors. The direct and indirect economic impact generated from these activities is estimated at €1,300 million.
One of the report’s first conclusions was an increase in the number of delegates per meeting in 2012. This was especially significant in congress activity and was mainly due to the efforts of some member centres in promoting international events. In fact, over half of the delegates attending congresses and conventions in 2012 came from abroad.
In general, although the majority of venues seem to have maintained their activity at similar levels to the previous year, the overall number of participants rose by 4% due to greater numbers of congress delegates at some venues.
In terms of types of events, there were no major differences compared to 2011; 76% of congresses and 56% of conventions were national and international meetings, whilst the number of national and international participants rose to over 80% at these events. However, there was a sharp increase in the number of international delegates taking part in conventions from 30% in 2011 to 51% in 2012.
It should be mentioned that this increase in the number of international participants generated a greater economic impact for the destinations in 2012.
José Salinas, Chairman of the APCE’s Board of Directors and CEO of the Valencia Conference Centre pointed out that, “despite the obvious effects of the current economic crisis on the domestic market, the results of the study carried out by the Association highlights the efforts made by some member centres in promoting international events which has produced an increase in the number of visitors compared to the previous year, thus generating a greater economic impact.
If we want to continue to progress, we need to stay one step ahead of the industry in this highly competitive market. To achieve this aim, the APCE tries to highlight the superior quality of its conference centres over its competitors, and promote continuous innovation which serves to maintain Spain’s leading position as a tourist destination.”
