MPI World Education Congress (WEC) 2025 and 2026 city destinations confirmed

Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world’s largest industry association for meeting and event professionals, has confirmed its destinations for the next four editions of its World Education Congress (WEC), including announcing the two cities hosting the 2025 and 2026 editions. WEC is MPI’s signature event, drawing approximately 2,500 event professionals annually. The event aims to provide leading edge education and share industry innovations. A competitive Request for Proposal process reviewed a selection of prospective destinations in the WEC destination review process. MPI selected the following as its 2023-2026 editions of WEC: WEC heads to Riviera Maya, Mexico in June 2023 at the Barcelo Maya Riviera resort. This will mark the second time since 2019 that WEC has taken place outside the US. “In the Mexican Caribbean, we are very excited to be hosting the World Education Conference 2023, where we will have the opportunity to showcase not only all the beautiful sceneries that our destination has, but also the facilities, meetings infrastructure and the high-quality service that the meeting professionals of the Mexican Caribbean offer,” said Dario Flota, CEO for Quintana Roo Tourism, “We are confident that WEC 2023 will be a great experience.” It had been previously announced that WEC returns in 2024 to St Louis, Missouri, where it was last held in 2012. In 2025, WEC will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, where for the first time in more than a decade, WEC will return to the southeastern US. “It is an honour to host MPI WEC and welcome the industry to Louisville in 2025,” said Cleo Battle, president and CEO at Louisville Tourism. “By hosting one of the industry’s major think tanks, we are moving our business forward together and creating growth opportunities for both Louisville as a destination and our peers. We are looking forward to welcoming our industry’s own to experience the Kentucky International Convention Center’s $207m renovation and expansion downtown, just steps from Louisville’s world-class tourism assets and historic Whiskey Row.” And, also recently announced, WEC will make its way to San Antonio, TX in 2026. “San Antonio is very excited to host the World Education Congress (WEC) for the first time in 2026. We appreciate that MPI has placed such confidence in San Antonio, and we are honoured to host this exceptional event,” said Marc Anderson, president & CEO, Visit San Antonio. “San Antonio offers an experience unlike any other, where a cutting-edge, modern meeting scene has evolved amid a city full of rich culture and history.” “We are thrilled about our future WEC destinations,” said Annette Gregg, senior vice-president of experience for MPI. “Each of these areas is unique, with authentic and diverse cultures. Their destination assets will help us craft incredible experiences for our WEC participants.” This year’s WEC will take place in San Francisco, CA, 21-23 June, 2022, where MPI will celebrate the return of meetings and events together as a global community. Registration for WEC San Francisco is now open. Visit mpi.org/wec for more information. The 2022 edition takes place at Moscone Center West in San Francisco, CA. WEC San Francisco will be an in-person event. MPI has a global community of 60,000 meeting and event professionals including 13,000 engaged members. It has nearly 70 chapters and clubs with members in 75 countries.