ASIA, in particular China, India and Japan, has come onto the radar of Spain’s authorities in their bid to further boost the country’s global standing in the business events sector.
To achieve this the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), which includes the Spain Convention Bureau (SCB), has signed an agreement with Marca España – a government-backed organisation that promotes Spain as a brand – to actively participate in overseas destination promotions.
SCB’s director, Marta Moran, said the annual EIBTM in Barcelona is already helping to raise MICE interest in the country.
“I’m getting more appointments each year with interested companies from countries such as India and Japan at both EIBTM and IMEX (in Frankfurt),” Moran revealed.
Moran sees these two countries, along with China, as being the main target markets in Asia, a region she described as being “an incipient market for us”.
ICCA’s latest ranking of top destinations for association meetings had placed Spain in third position, right after the US and Germany, for hosting 562 ICCA qualified meetings in 2013.
Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, high commissioner for Marca España, said Spain had seen a 14 per cent increase in attendance at MICE events last year. But the numbers were “clearly insufficient”, he said, given the potential offered by the country’s broad diversity of regions.
According to FEMP secretary general, Ángel Fernández, Madrid hosted 186 congresses in 2013, up from just 65 in 2008 during the western economic crisis.
The country attracted a record 60 million tourists in 2013, shared de los Monteros
