Barcelona as an international centre for major congresses

Barcelona has established itself as a centre for major congresses of over 2,000 delegates in 2016 and will again host important events that have visited the city before. The calendar of events covers all sectors and for another year the Mobile World Congress will be the event with the greatest number of participants, with 95,000 professionals expected to attend, according to data from Turisme de Barcelona’s Barcelona Convention Bureau

MWC – One of the major events this year

The following events stand out on the calendar of congresses planned for 2016: the International Liver Congress 2016 (ILC) will take place in April (from the 13th to the 17th), and will be attended by 9,500 specialists in hepatology. This event was previously held in the Catalan capital in 2007 and 2012, and brings together scientific leaders, policy-makers, patients’ groups, and the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

From 4 to 7 May the 17th European Congress of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) will take place, and will bring together in Barcelona 4,000 specialists in sports medicine, traumatology, knee surgery and arthroscopy. The congress, which takes place every two years, was last held in Amsterdam, where 3,000 professionals attended it.

The 2nd European Stroke Organisation Conference will also take place in Barcelona in May, and will bring together 3,000 specialists in strokes from the 10th to the 12th of the month. And Barcelona will also be Europe’s capital of human genetics with the European Human Genetics Conference 2016 that will be held from the 21st to the 24th of May for the 49th time with 2,500 participants expected. This event was previously held in Barcelona in 2008.

For several years now Barcelona has been building a place for itself amongst the cities with the most business tourism activity in the world.

Agreement to ensure that tourist activity benefits the whole city

Two of the strategic objectives of the agreement that has been signed by the CC.OO. and UGT trade unions, Turisme de Barcelona and the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona are to work towards making tourism in the city an economic activity that benefits all of the citizens and to encourage new frameworks for social dialogue within the sector.

Amongst other points, the agreement aims to “ensure that tourism will continue to be a source of wealth for Barcelona and its inhabitants and that, in conjunction with other economic activities, it will contribute to the creation of synergies in the labour market that will make it possible to move towards full employment in the city”. Tourism creates over 120,000 direct and indirect jobs in the city.

First guided tour for people with reduced mobility

People with reduced mobility are also a priority for the tourism sector, and so, through its Barcelona Sustainable Tourism programme, Turisme de Barcelona has created the Easy Walking Tour Gòtic product, a new guided tour of the Gothic Quarter without architectural barriers that lasts an hour and a half.

Turisme de Barcelona is already working on developing further regular accessible routes and different versions of tours that can be made to measure on request for other groups such as people who are blind or have reduced vision and people who use sign language.

(font: MAKING Barcelona-BarcelonaTourism)