The Valencia Conference Centre reports business up a third in 2018

The Valencia Conference Centre’s Board of Directors has reported a rise in business of almost a third last year compared to 2017. The Board was meeting to approve the venue’s annual accounts for the 2018 financial year. According to Sandra Gómez, the Valencia City Councillor for Sustainable Economic Development and Chairwoman of this self-governing municipal body, “the figures submitted consolidate the economic recovery that has taken place in recent years, with a 32% increase in business compared to 2017”. Profit for the year came in at just over €1.5m. In its 20th anniversary year, the Conference Centre held more than a hundred events, while there was a 56% rise in the number of delegates coming through the doors compared with the previous year. The Board says the medical sector spearheaded the effort, being the main customer. VCC business also meant 90,729 overnight stays were recorded for 2018, a figure up 36% on 2017. The numbers of participants in events coming from overseas doubled. Big vents held during last year included the Framesi Convention, the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters’ Congress, the 19th European Congress on Trauma & Emergency Surgery, Euromembrane 2018 and the 32nd European Society for Vascular Surgery Congress. The venue sales team reported 800 sales and inspection visits in 2018. As a result, the Centre presented 88 new bids and won 65. Currently, 52 congresses and conventions have been confirmed in the Conference Centre’s portfolio until the end of 2022. Gómez says the results have been helped by €360,000 worth of investment in the facilities designed to meet organiser demands. “More breakout rooms, the improvement of stage equipment and elements to optimise the production of sustainable energy from the photovoltaic roof are just some of the initiatives implemented,” Gómez explained. Gómez added the building had stepped up its social commitment during the year, holding  charity events and actions that contributed to research projects, and training healthcare workers for developing countries. The Centre was also chosen as the World’s Best Convention Centre by the International Association of Conference Centres (AIPC) for the second time in its history.