In 2013, the member venues of the Spanish Association of Conference Centres (APCE) held a total of 4,682 events and welcomed 3,880,987 visitors. These activities generated an economic impact of around €1,200 million. The latest statistics relating to activities carried out at Spain’s leading conference centres in 2013, compiled by the APCE, reveal that Spanish venues hosted a total of 365 congresses, which were attended by 430,909 delegates. They also held 294 conventions
which were attended by 265,519 participants, and 1,051 conferences, with a total of 468,492 visitors. The direct and indirect economic impact generated from these activities has been estimated at €1,200 million.
According to the study presented, the number of national and international congresses and conventions, which is the core business of conference centres, remained relatively stable, given that some venues showed a slight increase in the number of conventions held,
although the number of congresses fell slightly during the year. The year also saw something of a decrease in the number of participants, in both corporate events and meetings.
This drop in delegates was mainly due to a reduction in the number of foreign visitors. These visitors represent a higher average spend than Spanish participants and consequently, this has resulted in a lower economic impact for the cities in which the conference centres are located.
In terms of types of events, the dominant trend of recent years continued, with 76% of congresses and 56% of conventions being national and international events, whilst over 80% of visitors were national or international delegates.
According to José Salinas, the Chairman of the APCE’s Board of Directors and CEO of the Valencia Conference Centre, “the figures for meeting tourism in 2013 were not particularly favourable as a result of the adverse economic situation currently facing the industry.
However, and despite growing competition, the constant efforts of Spanish conference centres to provide innovative, quality services, featuring the latest technology, means that some centres expect the situation to improve slightly in 2014, a forecast which we hope to
consolidate during the year”.
