Barcelona Update 16 Contents

BARCELONA : UNIQUE CHANCE TO ATTEND TWO MAJOR EVENTS IN MEETINGS INDUSTRY THIS FALL

Barcelona is to play host to two of the most important meetings and incentives events : the EIBTM from November 28-30th , followed immediately by the SITE International Conference 2006 from November 30th to December 3rd.

The SITE event –organised by the only international, not-for-profit, professional association devoted to the pursuit of excellence in incentives- promises to add to the excellent EIBTM offer with educational seminars and information services to those involved in motivational programs. EIBTM will take place at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via halls and SITE Conference at the Rey Juan Carlos I hotel.

www.site-intl.org
www.eibtm.com

Over 100 years under construction, the incredible architecture of Gaudí’s Sagrada Família looks like finally being opened for its first religious service in the main nave at the end of 2008. The Temple has become one of Spain’s top tourist monuments with 2.4 million visits between June 2005-06, almost 6.4% up on the year before and ahead of other favourites like the Museo del Prado.

Current work on the roof of the central nave is moving along as planned. When finished at the end of 2008, the Temple will celebrate religious services there. According to Joan Rigol, head of the commission in charge of building the Temple, the Sagrada Família obtained incomes last year of 17.6 million Euro in entrance tickets and 4.4 million Euro from related souvenirs. The work, which is self-financed, will continue over the next two years on the four columns of the Evangelists. The highest tower will rise 175 metres above the Sagrada Família.

www.sagradafamilia.org

Another successful macro-congress under Barcelona’s belt! Some 33,000 delegates took part in the World Cardiology Congress held in Barcelona last September 2-6 –one of the biggest of its kind!. The city and its Gran Via Congress facilities passed the test with flying colours.

The economic impact of this medical congress was calculated at around 50 million Euro and some 25,000 hotel rooms were block booked for the event at 175 hotels in Barcelona and its surrounds.

The Gran Via facilities proved themselves flexible and efficient, with Cardiology taking up 120,000 m2 brut -hall 2 was used for the commercial exhibition and posters, while halls 1, 3, and 4 were used for meeting rooms.

One of the keys to success of the event was the Gran Via facilities’ flexibility and adaptability, plus the way that transport to and from the halls was handled.

Fifty shuttle buses linked the Gran Via site with Plaça Espanya and the metro system, while 200 private buses and 2,500 taxis covered private transport needs. The new hall 5 facilities were used as a coach dropping off and picking up point, hich according to Fira de Barcelona sources functioned “very well”.

This transport issue, though, illustrates a more generalised success factor common in Barcelona-organised macro events: co-ordination between different government agents, the council, tourism managers, trade fair, local police forces, taxi drivers and other stakeholders.

The next great challenge for Fira de Barcelona Gran Via: the EIBTM this November 28th.

www.escardio.org

Barcelona will again become the world’s capital of mobiles from February 12-15th in 2007 when it hosts the 3GSM World Congress. Last year’s event attracted 52,000 delegates and 2007’s event looks like reaching 60,000. The event will take place in Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuïc facilities, with a host of swish company events being organised across the city. With an expected 1300 exhibitors representing every element of the mobile value chain, a cutting edge conference programme featuring the most senior leaders in the industry and the GSM Association's annual Gala Awards Ceremony and Leadership Summit with 300 CEOs from operator and vendor communities, this is the premier event of its kind and a key event in the congress calendar.

www.3gsmworldcongress.com

CLEVELEND AND NEW YORK SHOW CATALAN MODERNIST MASTERPIECES WITH WORK BY PICASSO, GAUDI, MIRO AND DALI

Between 1868 to 1939 Barcelona was at the centre f one of Europe’s most dynamic art movements, the so-called Modernist genre. At that time some of the greatest names of 19th century art were working there. Now, From October 15th to January 7th, visitors to the Cleveland Museum of Modern Art will be able to follow the origins and development of modern art in Barcelona during what was an era of tremendous change. The exhibition, titled “Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí”, includes 300 works by these and other exponents of this art movement. The show comes complete with special family programmes, guided tours, a symposium and lectures related to Modernist art. From March 2007 the show will be on at New York’s Metropolitan Museum.

Some 6,000 of the world’s leading conservationists will meet in Barcelona in 2008 for the World Conservation Congress. The experts are members of the IUCN environmental agency, which forms part of the United Nations. The IUCN decided on Barcelona because it offered the best combination of conditions compared to the other 11 cities that had applied to host the event. The IUCN is in charge -amongst other things- of which species are categorised as “in danger of extinction” and the criteria establishing the category of “natural park”. The last congress held in Bangkok in 2004 brought together 5,000 people. The 2008 congress will be held in the International Barcelona Convention Centre in the Forum area.

www.iucn.org

Barcelona’s four and five star hotels now account for 63% of all hotel beds in the city and the quantity of five-star and luxury hotels has doubled in just two years.

Now Barcelona has opened a new four star hotel, the 132-room Hotel Barcelona Center at the very centre of the mid-town Eixample area (C/Balmes 103-105). This hotel offers meetings rooms and business facilities.

Another deluxe property will open in 2007: the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona with 144 rooms right on Passeig de Gràcia.

And due to open at the end of October is the Hotel AB Kipper, a five star hotel with 235 rooms with all the latest technology and facilities just off the main city beaches and next to the brand new Barcelona Biomedical Reseach Park (PRBB).

Barcelona’s mid-town Passeig de Gràcia has become the city’s main magnet for luxury shoppers and international brands. Top jewellers Chopard and fashion icon Gucci are just two of the latest shops to open there. According to real estate agents CB Richard Ellis, luxury fashion is increasingly specialised in Passeig de Gràcia. Valentino and Dolce & Gabana are due to join the list of fashion marques along Passeig de Gràcia the fourth quarter.

Turisme de Barcelona, the city tourist board, estimates Barcelona will receive some 400,000 congress delegates this year, 20% more than 2005. Barcelona has now become one of the top congress cities in the world!

According to the Union of International Associations (UIA) Barcelona is the fifth-top city for international congresses in the world. The UIA’s ranking of cities shows Barcelona was rated 5th in 2005 -up from its 7th place in 2004’s ranking where it had stood for the previous three years. Barcelona came in above three key competitors which all have international associations and United Nations headquarters located there, namely Geneva, New York and London.

	Top meetings cities
	Paris	294
	Vienna	245
	Brussels	189
	Singapore	177
	Barcelona	162
	Geneva	161
	New York	129
	London	128
	Seoul	103
	Copenhagen	98

And according to the UIA, Barcelona has managed to perform best in the meetings sector of all the Olympic cities.

www.uia.org/

Barcelona is to gain a new 55,600 m2 park in the heart of Poblenou, the neighbourhood currently being developed for the futuristic 22@ new economy business and residential zone. The so-called Poblenou Central Park is designed by Jean Nouvel, a prize-winning French architect who also created the striking Agbar Tower.

According to him, “the park will be a place of tranquillity where people can escape the hustle of city life.” It will be like a Romantics’ dreamworld with draped rose bushes, arches and pastel shades. The park should be opened by the end of 2007.

Les Arenes, a one-time bullring being converted into a destination shopping and leisure centre, will be the home of Barcelona’s future Rock Museum. The museum’s promoter, Jordi Tardà, has recently acquired Paul McCartney’s library which once stood in the Beatle’s house in Forthlin Road, Liverpool. The Rock Museum, due to open in 2008, will have special exhibit rooms dedicated to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, with memorabilia from Hendrix and Madonna, too. The Arenes centre is set to become a much visited facility with its privileged location in Plaça Espanya close to the Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc site. Also inside the complex there’ll be a gym, an auditorium, and shops.