New international award for Turisme de Barcelona

The Barcelona Convention Bureau wins the M&IT award as best overseas convention bureau

• The Barcelona Convention Bureau takes home another international award as Barcelona is poised to host IBTM World at the end of November

• Turisme de Barcelona, finalist in the City Nation Place Awards for its Barcelona Workation project

Barcelona, 21st October 2021.- Turisme de Barcelona’s Barcelona Convention Bureau (BCB), has won one of the most important accolades in the UK events industry, the M&IT Bronze Award in the Best Overseas Convention Bureau category. The awards are organised by Meetings & Incentive Travel, the leading UK magazine in the sector. The BCB received the award for its work in promoting the incentive and congress sector in order to adapt to the new requirements of an industry that is evolving, particularly in the fields of sustainability, digital transformation and technology.

The award comes during a week that saw BCB director, Christoph Tessmar, nominated as one of the 100 most influential people in the events industry by Eventex, which organises the world’s number 1 awards in the sector celebrating professionals, events, brand experiences, marketing initiatives, technology and MICE service providers.

This year, the Barcelona Convention Bureau (BCB) launched its first advertising campaign with a video promoting the values of the city and province in the meetings sector. The video, entitled Barcelona, the place to meet, showcases the city’s attractions. With music by Stay Homas, it shows what an inspection trip to Destination Barcelona entails and presents the city’s main attributes and values (creativity, sustainability, technology, innovation…). The video includes specific sequences highlighting why the city is a go-to destination for congresses and conventions.

According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) rankings, Barcelona is one of the top five international congress cities. BCB has more than a hundred bids on the table for the next few years and, as Christoph Tessmar pointed out “even during the pandemic we have launched new bids, including major congresses such as the UITP Global Transport Summit 2023 and IADR 2025. Barcelona is well positioned and Mr Tessmar emphasised the great strides it has made in digital technology, with the launch of the BCB’s own LinkedIn account and the numerous meetings held in Barcelona to reinforce the legacy of congresses in Barcelona. With the latter in mind, Tessmar reminded us that IBTM World, the leading meetings industry event held in Barcelona in December every year, will provide definitive proof of the city’s reactivation.

The Barcelona Convention Bureau is Turisme de Barcelona’s specialised MICE programme which has been co-partnered by Barcelona Provincial Council since 2017. The programme’s mission is to promote Barcelona and its neighbouring counties as a congress, convention and incentive travel destination, and to offer free and impartial advice to professionals interested in organising their meeting in Destination Barcelona.

The programme has more than 400 associate members and an extensive network of partners from the public sector based locally and across the counties, which is coordinated by Barcelona Provincial Council.

New international award for the Barcelona Workation project

This week Turisme de Barcelona also received the news that it has been selected as a finalist in the City Nation Place Awards for its Barcelona Workation project. The winners have been announced in London on 4th November at the City Nation Place conference. Barcelona Workation is the name used by Turisme de Barcelona to promote Barcelona and its surrounding area as the ideal destination for temporary distance working. Its main objective is to attract people who can work remotely and are looking for a new experience away from their usual place of residence. Distance workers are a group who combine work and leisure with travel being the prime motivation behind this new concept. This group could potentially account for 25% of the population of Barcelona’s main tourism markets, who already work remotely on a permanent basis or frequently do so. Turisme de Barcelona launched its Workation campaign with the slogan “Move your desk. Change your Life” in the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands with an offer including four products from Destination Barcelona (Barcelona and its region), and is expected to expand to other markets and new products.

For further information:

Lali Ferrando lferrando@barcelonaturisme.com T. 646 467 715