Valencia Conference Centre celebrates its 20th anniversary with ambassadors

The Mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, and the Chairwoman of the Valencia Conference Centre’s board of directors, Sandra Gómez, attended a commemorative gala to mark the 20th anniversary of the municipal venue. It was a year in which the VCC was given AIPC’s APEX Award for the World’s Best Convention Centre in 2018. Members of the venue’s Ambassadors’ Club, a group of leading individuals from the business, academic, medical and artistic worlds who have helped to bring to Valencia a series of meetings, congresses and national and international events, also attended the birthday gala. The VCC Ambassadors’ Club now has 500 members. Over the two decades events at VCC have been attended by two million people. The events have also brought an economic impact of €1.1bn on the city’s economy “The numbers speak for themselves,” said Sandra Gómez, Chairwoman of the VCC’s Board of Directors and Head of Economic Development at the Valencia City Council. She said of the 2,700 events held, “850 have been congresses and conventions”. Gómez added that international events accounted for over 40% of business at the centre. The Mayor praised the architect Sir Norman Foster for doing “a good job”, but added that the building was only the beginning. “It was then up to us to continue the good work and adapt the venue to the times. Its excellent services had to be continuously improved and updated, combining technology, a great professional team and a firm commitment to modernisation in order to compete in the challenging world tourism market with better profit margins.” Gómez said the economic impact of the centre and its business was equivalent to 36 times the cost of the building.