2018 closed with nearly two hundred business applications and the prospects of a series of innovative, quality activities to promote Girona province’s business tourism offering to professionals from the Spanish, French, German, Austrian, Swiss, Scandinavian, British and Benelux markets.

Authentic activities

The commitment to promotion formats with a distinctive seal will be highlighted in activities such as the Afterwork MICE Costa Brava Girona, an event targeting the Spanish market that will be held in Madrid halfway through the year, and the Costa Brava Challenge Week, which will bring together professionals from European agencies and members of the Costa Brava Girona Convention Bureau (CBGCB) for four days to take part in workshops, fam trips and a variety of activities.

The TastEmotion formula, after its successful debut last year, will travel to Antwerp, Amsterdam and Stockholm in 2019.

MICE Territory

The Costa Brava Girona Convention Bureau will also take part in different events organised by third parties in the province. These include the M&I Tour de MICE Costa Brava networking sessions for top-level European MICE professionals, which will be held from 3 to 6 October.

Last year, Meeting & Incentive Forums organised the first MICE Masters at the PGA Catalunya Resort, with very good results. This year, the meeting’s theme will be a cycle race. Cycling is a sport that has been practised for many years in the Girona area; it is a popular location used by top-level professional teams to train and has been the venue for Sea Otter Europe since the event began.

The Iberian MICE Forum Luxury Edition Costa Brava-Girona will be held from 4 to 6 November. At this meeting, MICE professionals from international agencies interact with representatives from Spanish companies in the sector, with involvement from the CBGCB.

Presentations, trade shows and seminars

After the experience of the Afterwork MICE South of France –Corporate– in Toulouse last year, the agency SOP Events –also from Toulouse– has invited the CBGCB, accompanied by firms from Girona, to take part at its annual festival and to present the province’s meeting and event offering to over three hundred professionals from this agency’s major corporate accounts.

The province’s business tourism offering will also be promoted through participation at Europe’s leading events for the sector, such as the M&I Forum Europe in Benidorm in April and the MICE Places, which will be held in Lyon and Paris in May and July, respectively. Girona MICE will also be represented at international trade fairs such as IBTM World and IMEX.

Activities for the associations segment

The seminars, congresses and events in different sectors that will be held in Girona Province throughout 2019 significantly include collaboration with Congrés SEMES Girona 2019, the National Congress of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine. Its expected 2,700 participants will make it the congress with the highest attendance ever organised in the city of Girona.

The action plan was presented to members of the CBGCB at the annual general meeting. Domènec Espadaler, the Bureau’s chairman, welcomed around fifty members who gathered at Hotel Ultonia in Girona to attend the event, at which the activities held in 2018 were reviewed and the new advisory council, which includes new representatives, was approved.