The second joint congress of the Spanish Trade Fair Association (AFE) and the Spanish Association of Conference Centres (APCE) officially opens today, Thursday 4 July at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, reaffirming the successful collaboration between the two associations.

The event aims to highlight the positive impact of congresses and trade fairs, addressing different challenges currently facing the trade fair and congress industry at national level. To this end, a full programme of content has been designed with the participation of leading experts.

Madrid, 4 July 2024 – The 2nd joint AFE-APCE Congress officially opens today at the BEC and ends on 6 July. The meeting, organised by the Association of Spanish Trade Fairs (AFE) and the Association of Spanish Conference Centres (APCE), brings together around 220 participants in total, far exceeding the initial forecasts and the figures of the first edition, which counted around 180 participants. BEC is both the host and co-organiser of the congress.
The president of AFE and general manager of BEC, Xabier Basañez, pointed out that

“It is a pleasure to welcome the professionals of the Spanish trade fair and congress sector to our facilities for this second edition of our congress, in which we have far exceeded the participation forecasts, thus demonstrating the wisdom of our decision to organise it jointly. It is even more satisfying to be able to share with all the attendees the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of our exhibition centre”.

The president of APCE and managing director of the Valencia Conference Centre, Sylvia Andrés, said

“The 2nd joint AFE and APCE Congress is a unique opportunity to address current challenges in our sector and share best practices that will allow us to move forward. This event provides us with the perfect platform to exchange innovative ideas, strengthen our strategies and create synergies that will drive the growth and competitiveness of our organisations. I am convinced that together we can make a significant and lasting impact on the exhibition and congress industry.

The 2nd AFE-APCE Congress, under the slogan “Legacies that transform; Congresses and fairs: the impact beyond the event”, brings together in the same space representatives of fairs and congress centres, mainly from Spain, with the aim of creating synergies, promoting the strengthening of the sector and formulating strategies to generate a greater economic impact.

The content programme covers key topics such as: the economic and social impact of MICE, sustainability, Artificial Intelligence, what clients value when choosing a venue or conference centre, integrated marketing management, talent management and retention, leadership and purchasing and contracting as a strategic factor, as well as others that affect the present and future of the industry. To this end, the meeting’s agenda has been structured into different presentations and round tables, which will allow attendees to exchange best practices and experiences, design strategic lines and actions to promote the development of the activity, as well as to promote optimisation in the management and quality of the services provided by the sector. In addition, the programme includes spaces for networking, the generation of business and collaboration opportunities, and a social programme, which began yesterday with a guided tour of the San Mamés stadium and a welcome cocktail, which will continue today, Thursday, with the official congress dinner at the Guggenheim Museum, and will continue on Friday and Saturday with other activities so that attendees can discover and enjoy the host city. As part of the official congress dinner, the AFE and APCE awards will be presented, which recognise the merit and endorse the management of people and organisations that contribute to boosting congress and trade fair activity.

Expert speakers

The congress will be attended by a number of guest speakers and leading voices from the sector, who will be providing the content of the programme with dynamism. The top representatives of the organising bodies, Sylvia Andrés, president of the Association of Spanish Conference Centres (APCE) and Xabier Basañez, president of the Association of Spanish Trade Fairs (AFE), together with other executives from the member companies and organisations of both associations, will be taking part in the congress; and also prominent speakers, such as Kepa Olabarrieta, director of the Bilbao Convention Bureau; Manuel Valero, economist of the Studies Service of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; Manuel Moreno, CEO of Fluge Barcelona; Oliver Wykes, COO of Wind Europe; Nick Dugdale-Moore, regional director for Europe of UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry); Jorge García, director of Marketing and Sales of Valencia C. F.; Pedo Pablo Ramos, trainer and specialist in the development of people, teams and organisations; and Amparo García, COO of Zeus.

Also participating will be José Domingo Martín, Executive Director of the Spanish Society of Medical Radiology (SERAM); Raúl Quevedo, Manager of the Spanish Society of Urology; Blanca León, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations of the Association for the Progress of Management; Pau Fernández, Business Development Manager of AIM Group; Salvador Aragón, Chief Innovation Officer and Professor of Innovation at IE Business School; Javier Llácer, Director of the Technological Services Unit of the Technological Institute of Informatics (ITI); Salvador Aragón, Chief Innovation Officer and Professor of Innovation at IE Business School; Javier Llácer, Director of the Technology Services Unit at the Instituto Tecnológico de Informática (ITI); Jorge Sanz, Director Data Services at Integra Tecnología; Raúl Calleja, Events General Manager of SHOW2BE; and Gaizka Aseguinolaza, Executive Director of Grupo Iruña. Sponsorships and institutional support The event is sponsored by different companies and institutions. In the Platinum category: ASCÉNDER, BOSCH, FLUGE Audiovisuales, Grupo MARVA, Montoro OR, Ondoan, On Site, S.L. and Panasonic Connect. In the Gold category: AURMAN, BIDICO, Extreme Networks, IberStand, Grupo Iruña, Master Silla, Premium and Telesonic. In the collaborators category: CONTRASTE, Grupo Alse, Grupo Intermedio, IDOM, ISS, Kaiku Café Latte and Xeria. The event’s media partners are Grupo Punto MICE and Eventoplus. The congress also has several institutional sponsors: the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the City Council of Bilbao, the City Council of Barakaldo and the Chamber of Commerce of Bilbao.

Sector figures

As far as the activity of the sector in 2023 is concerned, we can comment on the following figures:

• Total number: 433 trade fairs, 375 congresses and 195 conventions.
• Economic impact: 13,000 million euros (direct, indirect and induced production).

Information on the congress is available on the website www.congresoafeapce.com including the programme of contents, parallel activities, forms of participation, sponsorships and practical information, among others.

The Association of Spanish Conference Centres (APCE) was founded in 1995 to implement common actions aimed at enhancing the value of Conference Centres as a physical space and organisational structure, which acts as the backbone of congress and meeting tourism in Spain. It also seeks to enable the exchange of experiences and ideas, as well as to draw up proposals and agreements with the administrations. At present, 33 conference centres are members of the Association.

The Association of Spanish Trade Fairs (AFE) is a non-profit organisation that was set up in 1964, currently has 39 associate members and represents the trade fair sector in Spain and internationally. In terms of trade fair activity, Spain is among the leading countries in Europe, along with Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.