The International Congress and Convention Association has over 1,100 member companies and entities from 100 countries throughout the world 

Bilbao Exhibition Centre continues to look to the future and work on capturing and organising prestigious international events. With this objective in mind, it has become a full member of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) this month. The ICCA is the only organisation that brings together leading suppliers with the experience and expertise at managing international events, including transport and locations aspects.

The incorporation of the BEC to the ICCA has numerous advantages, but above all it provides great business development opportunities as it is a platform where over 1,100 companies and entities from almost 100 countries from around the world work together. International meeting planners can find solutions for their events within the ICCA network: site selection, general assistance for delegates, etc. In short, solutions to fully plan any convention.

BEC will therefore strengthen its brand among national and international colleagues, and it will also benefit from the Association’s database, by having access to information on the interest of different collectives around the world (medical, scientific, commercial, professional bodies, etc.) to organise an event or congress. The networking generated allows its members to meet new potential clients and to exchange information on events that are likely to change headquarters.

“Almost all specialities have an association that holds one or more meetings at regular intervals”, notes the ICCA, also recalling that the associations “rarely return to the same destination within a short period of time”. In this sense, it is estimated that there are around 24,000 association meetings organised on a regular basis. The ICCA data base has echoed 80% of them.

The Kursaal in Donostia and the Baluarte congress centre in Pamplona are two of the ICCA members that are closest to the BEC, in addition to the Bilbao and Donostia Convention Bureaus. Congress centres from other Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Gijón and Valencia are also members.

The first event in which BEC will take part as a member of the ICCA will be the General Assembly of the Iberian Chapter (Spain and Portugal), which will have over 62 participants. The event will be held in Oporto from 10 to 12 April. In addition to the activity report, it will also include an educational programme with presentations and debates on relevant topics for the sector.