The activity developed by Bilbao Exhibition Centre in 2017 generated an economic impact in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 84,141,619 Euros. The economic impact of last year resulted in tax revenues of 10,382,962 Euros for the Basque Tax Office, and the generation of 1,759 jobs. Since its inauguration in 2004, BEC has had an accumulated impact on the GDP of 1,101 million Euros.

During the past year, BEC held a total of 205 events of various types (trade shows, congresses/conventions, concerts, shows, etc.), which amounted to an occupancy rate of 283 days. In terms of participation in all the events held in 2017, Bilbao Exhibition Centre welcomed a total of 848,823 visitors.

The different activities undertaken within Bilbao Exhibition Centre were distributed as follows: 30 Trade Shows, which hosted a total of 2,429 exhibitors, 156 Events at BEC Conventions and 19 shows in Bizkaia Arena.

The resulting economic impact generated by BEC is derived from the external activities in the hotel and catering services, transport, commerce and recreational and cultural activities, which amounted to 59.4 % in 2017, as well as from the trade show activity developed at BEC, which accounts for the remaining 40.6 %.

In terms of the source of the economic impact, about 64.3 % comes from the trade show activities, 20.4 % from BEC Conventions, 13.7 % from Bizkaia Arena and 1.6 % from other activities. Likewise, 59.3 % of this impact is generated by the exhibitors and organisers, while the remaining 40.7% is from the visitors.

It is worth noting that during 2017 a total of 98,970 people from various countries and communities in the rest of Spain attended the events held at Bilbao Exhibition Centre, which has meant more than 79,000 overnight stays in Basque Country hotels. This information confirms the overall importance of trade shows and business tourism as one of the main attractions of the tourist industry in our community.

2018, A YEAR FOR CONSOLIDATION

2018 is defined as a period for consolidating the launch of Bilbao Exhibition Centre. In the trade show section we must highlight the celebration of the 30th edition of the International Machine Tool Biennial. Industry 4.0, smart production, integrated systems, international opportunities, innovation and trends. BIEMH will mark this year with a very ambitious proposal, in which it will expand its role as international leader in advanced manufacturing with new spaces like “Be Digital”, which will address the management challenges of big data, cybersecurity or software solutions for the automation of production processes.

In addition, BEC event schedule includes the holding of the MTV 2018 awards ceremony. The ceremony, which will be held on 4 November at Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), will present the awards for the year’s musical achievements, with performances from the most important artists of world-renown and concerts by the best groups on the market. Lastly, the agenda of BEC Conventions for 2018 will provide international conferences such as Routes Europe 2018, World Metro & Light Rail Congress 2018 and Euro PM2018 Congress & Exhibition.