After the resumption of MICE activity in 2022, the Costa Brava Girona Convention Bureau is presenting an action plan and objectives aimed at enhancing the positioning of the destination’s business tourism offering in its priority markets (Spain, France, United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, Benelux, Germany and the United States).
The Costa Brava Girona Convention Bureau’s (CBGCB) Action Plan and Objectives for 2023 have been developed along the four strategic lines for promoting the destination: digital strategy, market intelligence, engagement with the sector and sustainability.
In the area of sustainability, the training actions targeting Costa Brava Girona’s tourism companies will continue. Resources will be made available to organisers and agencies to facilitate the organisation of sustainable events at the destination, such as the programme of corporate social responsibility activities implemented in partnership with five local social entities and the province’s eight natural parks.
The plan also intends to develop new proposals targeting the mobility and sports sector.
Furthermore, the CBGCB will continue to foster synergies between MICE companies and institutions in the Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees, so that they can work cohesively to meet the needs of event organisers, agencies, associations and corporate clients.
CBGCB-organised actions
During 2023, the CBGCB will organise two events at Costa Brava Girona. The first will be organised in spring for agencies in the United Kingdom and Belgium. The second will be organised in autumn and will target MICE and Premium agencies in Germany. Both events will conclude with fam trips to show the destination’s MICE offering.
Together with other product clubs operated by the Costa Brava Girona Tourist Board, a multi-product roadshow will be organised in the United States, presenting the Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees’ MICE offering in Chicago, New York and Miami.
Once again, the Afterwork MICE, the annual meeting of Spanish organisers and agencies with representatives from the CBGCB’s member companies, will be held in Madrid.
Participation in MICE events
The CBGCB will present the Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees’ MICE offering at the business tourism sector’s leading meetings to continue increasing the number of contacts among professional organisers who are looking for alternative destinations to the major European cities.
As well as taking part in trade fairs such as the IBTM World in Barcelona and the IMEX Europe in Frankfurt, it will attend work sessions targeting the association and corporate segments, devoting some of the sessions to specific sectors such as mobility or sport.
The Costa Brava and the Girona Pyrenees will provide the meeting point for European organisers and agencies who will take part in international events such as the Break The Ice Forum or the MICE Trophy Karnten, among other events that have chosen our destination.
Promoting the destination
Continuing from the contacts made with agencies and professional groups with prescriber potential, it is planned to organise fam trips, including one with event planners from Airbus and another that will be organised after the IBTM with representatives from North American agencies who are members of SITE (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence).
The marketing agendas for promoting the destination’s MICE offering will concentrate on the French market and on recruiting and locking in Spanish receiving agencies.
We will also continue to take part in the Catalunya Convention Bureau’s “Ambassadors Catalunya” programme and maintain support for the members of associations’ governing bodies to present the destination as a candidate venue for congresses and major events.
2022 in figures
The action plan was presented on 31 January during the Costa Brava Girona Convention Bureau’s annual assembly, held at the Hotel Terraverda at Empordà Golf.
The results for the CBGCB’s activities during 2022 were presented during the meeting. One encouraging sign of the recovery of MICE activities at Costa Brava Girona is the growth in the number of queries received, with an increase in excess of 80% compared with the previous year.
During 2022, 31 promotional actions were carried out, between CBGCB- and third party-organised events.
More than 1,000 contacts were made with event organisers from 33 markets, particularly from France and Spain. Of these, 196 visited the destination to see first-hand the Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees’ MICE offering.
