The honorees at the 6th Recognition Night have all played key roles in enabling the capital to host 20 major conventions this year, attracting over 29,000 visitors.
• Organized by Madrid City Council’s Visitors & Convention Bureau, the event acknowledges the professionals who promote the capital as a venue for conventions and congresses
• Its 4th place in the ICCA 2012 rankings and the number of conventions and congresses held in Madrid last year have made the capital a top destination for convention tourism
• The city’s presence at trade fairs, its services for event organizers, and the hosting of road shows are other key aspects in the promotion of convention tourism in Madrid
• The event was sponsored by Paco Roncero Catering and NH Hoteles, representing Madrid’s superb cuisine and hotel establishments
A tribute to all those who promote convention tourism in Madrid. Last night, Madrid City Council’s Visitors & Convention Bureau hosted a new edition of Recognition Night, an event that shines the spotlight on the professionals and institutions that promote Madrid’s image as a venue for major congresses and conventions. Held at the Cecilio Rodriguez Gardens in El Retiro Park, the event was attended by the head of the Arts, Sports and Tourism Department, Pedro Corral, along with representatives from the tourism industry.
For the sixth year in a row, Madrid City Council rewarded the support and trust of key professionals who have selflessly become the capital’s greatest ambassadors. On this occasion, the 23 award winners represent 20 of the main conventions that Madrid has already hosted in 2013 or is scheduled to host later in the year. The conventions, which involve sectors like medicine, science and technology, will bring over 29,000 visitors to the city.
Madrid, a top venue for major conventions
This initiative represents just a small proportion of the actions undertaken to attract professional events to the city of Madrid. Among other actions, Madrid City Council’s Visitors & Convention Bureau provides services for event organizers and attends the main convention tourism trade fairs in Spain and around the world, as well as organizing road shows and presentations aimed at bringing conventions to the Spanish capital.
In order to promote convention tourism in Madrid, this year’s advertising budget has been increased by 68%, thus helping to promote Madrid’s many strengths as a venue for major conventions in specialist publications and digital media.
Leader in convention tourism
Thanks to the work carried out by Madrid Visitors & Convention Bureau, along with the efforts and collaboration of tourism industry professionals, Madrid has become a leading business tourism destination. The capital has broken its own record and snatched fourth place in the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) 2012 rankings, firmly establishing its position as one of the top five convention tourism destinations in the world. The capital has beaten leading event organizers such as Barcelona, London and Singapore.
This is clear recognition of our city’s organizational capacity. In fact, in 2012 alone, Madrid organized over 6,500 conventions and more than 1,900 national and international congresses.
Sponsors
The event was sponsored by Paco Roncero Catering and NH Hoteles, outstanding examples of the quality of Madrid’s cuisine and hotel establishments.
Paco Roncero Catering provides the new catering service for the Madrid Casino. This service is endorsed by the expertise of chef Paco Roncero (holder of two Michelin stars and three Repsol suns), who manages to create the finest and most innovative cuisine in the very heart of Madrid and deliver it anywhere in the world. NH Hoteles is one of the leading hotel chains, with approximately 400 hotels and nearly 60,000 rooms in Europe, America and Africa. It holds third position in Europe’s business hotel rankings. The city of Madrid has six establishments belonging to the NH group, all partners of Madrid City Council’s Visitors & Convention Bureau.
2013 Honorees
This year’s award winners were:
• 4th European Narcolepsy Day: Rosa Peraita-Adrados, Chair of the OC
• Annual Meeting of the Soc. for Veterinary Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine (SVEPM): Raquel Vargas and Beatriz Martinez, OC directors
• 18th Neumomadrid Congress: Mª Jesus Rodriguez Nieto, Chair of the OC
• 45th European Symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots: Ignacio Lombo, Chair of the OC
• International Congress of Life Assurance Medicine (ICLAM): Javier Aparicio Hurlot, Chair of the OC
• European Lisp Symposium (ELS’13) and European Common Lisp Meeting: Juan Jose Garcia Ripoll, Chair of the OC
• European League Against Rheumatism (Eular) Congress: Emilio Martin Mola, head of rheumatology at La Paz university hospital
• 41st. Int. Forestry Students’ Symposium and General Assembly: Javier Lopez Chacon, Chair of the OC
• Biennial Conference in Sol-Gel Science and Technology: David Levy Cohen and Marcos Zayat, ICMM science professors.
• Conference of the Int. Ass. for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG): Javier Heredia, Full-time Researcher at the Spanish Institute of Geology and Mining (IGME) / Dept. of Geo-scientific Research and Prospection
• 26th Int. Workshop on Helicobacter and Related Bacteria: Javier Perez Gisbert, Chair.
• 28th International Aerosol Congress & Exhibition (FEA): Carlos Galache, Chair of the OC
• 15th Spanish IT Congress (CEDI): Daniel Mozos and Victor Robles, Joint Chairs of the OC
• World Congress of Paediatric Dermatology 2013: Antonio Torrelo Fernandez, Chair of the OC
• Acute Cardiac Congress: Hector Bueno, Elected Chair of ACCA (Acute Cardiovascular Care Association)
• 21st Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy: Juan A. Bueren, Chair of the Spanish Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.
• 64th National Congress of the Spanish Society of Otolaryngology and Cervico-Facial Pathology (SEORL-PCF): Luis Maria Gil-Carcedo, Chair of SEORL
• 13th Ibero-Latin American Endodontics Congress: Ana Mª Arias Paniagua, Chair
• International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications (ICRERA 2013): Miguel A. Sanz Bobi, Chair of the OC
• 25th European Conference on Biomaterials. Julio San Roman del Barrio, Chair of the OC
