A MASSIVE CHALLENGE MET

 700 participants, 50 speakers from 39 different countries, 22 million impressions on Twitter with an economic impact of more than half a million euros, the collaboration of all public institutions and 722 companies in the Girona region. An entire region involved in making it possible for the Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees to be seen around the world.

Costa Brava and Girona hosted the TBEX Europe annual tourism blogger conference for a second time. Lloret de Mar became the capital of travel bloggers with more than 700 participants and some 50 speakers from 39 countries attending the year’s can’t-miss event for creators of online travel content.

TBEX Europe 2015, the world conference for travel bloggers and travel industry professionals, brought together leading online travel bloggers, writers, content creators and professionals for a multi-day event in Lloret de Mar.
The TBEX organisation chooses an amazing destination for its conference each year in order to offer participants, professional tourism opinion leaders with social media influence, an unforgettable experience.
Prestigious international bloggers like Gary Arndt and Planet D, each with over a million followers, attended this can’t-miss event.
The conference provides an opportunity to greatly increase the area’s international renown and secure Lloret de Mar and the Costa Brava’s reputation as an unbeatable quality destination.

«We’re here for three reasons: the region is beautiful; the food, spectacular; the people, wonderful and welcoming.»

Rick Calvert, TBEX CEO

Events

Attendees were able to discover the destination and enjoy the Costa Brava’s culture, attractions and cuisine first-hand through an extensive range of events and activities offered over the course of the TBEX conference.
A reception for the speakers was celebrated in the Santa Clotilde gardens on opening day, followed by a welcome party at Sant Pere del Bosc, where guests had the chance to try their hand at blending drinks at a daiquiri workshop.
A catamaran trip around the Costa Brava was organised for the participants the following day. The group disembarked on Santa Cristina beach, where they were welcomed by Romà Codina, mayor of Lloret de Mar, and Ramon Ramos, director of the Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board.

Participants had the opportunity to taste what the destination has to offer with a cocktail and tasting outside the Hotel Santa Marta, complete with typical Girona dishes, food certified with the Girona Excel·lent seal of quality, DO Empordà wines, local beers and cava. Entertainment was provided by performances by Els Cremats havaneres group, gegants indians from Lloret de Mar and castellers from Salt.

Share knowledge and make contacts

TBEX is an annual event that provides travel bloggers an opportunity to increase their knowledge and make interesting contacts. It is a meeting place for bloggers and potential sponsors, the possibility for advancing in this field and having enriching experiences motivating participants to attend.
All conference sessions were held at the Evenia Olympic Resort event venue. PreBEX workshops were celebrated from 29 to 30 April; these training sessions with experts in writing, brand management, and technology were held for small groups of 6 to 12 participants.

The conference days on 1 and 2 May were kicked off with keynote speakers, followed by three daily parallel sessions divided into five thematic areas.
At the end of the session there was a space for speed networking, a format that encourages participants to efficiently make contacts.

Experiences

Trips throughout the region that included a range of experiences were organised for the days before and after the conference. A total of 16 trips were taken in Girona, where the 151 participants experienced cultural outings, sports events and culinary delights in a host of different spots whose names were included in the many articles the attendees wrote over the course of the conference.

The last stage of this experience were 22 blogtrips that were organised throughout Catalonia, half of which were to the province of Girona

Organisers

The Catalan Regional Government’s Catalan Tourism Board, the Girona Provincial Council’s Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board and the Lloret Tourism Board, together with New Media Expo (the American company responsible for organising TBEX), successfully promoted the European edition of TBEX Costa Brava Catalunya 2015.
The event also featured the participation of more than 722 Girona businesses from the tourism and transport sectors.