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| © Francesc Guillamet |
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The EIBTM's Welcome Reception and Awards Ceremony set for November 29 th is a must for key industry players: not only is it a spectacular show and an authentic taste of the host city, region and country, the networking opportunities are second to none.
This year's welcome party, which is sponsored by EIBTM, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Turisme de Barcelona, Turisme de Catalunya and Turespaña, will include the awards ceremony which will again recognise the very best and creative events professionals in the meetings business.
With three new awards categories the full list runs: Best Conference (more than 250 people), Best Conference (less than 250 personas), Best Product Launch, Best Incentive Trip Programme, Best event in Spain, Best Host Site Marketing Campaign, Best Destination Marketing Campaign, Best Hotel Marketing Campaign. The winners will be announced on October 20th. This year's show, which will again be held in Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via M-2 halls, promises to be just as spectacular as last year's.
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www.eibtm.com/awards
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TURESPAÑA's brunch to promote the 2006 Barcelona SITE International Conference during this year's Toronto SITE event proved to be a huge success. |
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Barcelona and Spain saw tremendous interest from participants during the 2005 SITE International Conference held in Toronto from November 3 rd to 5 th. Experts from the Incentives sector from around the world took part in a brunch offered by Turespaña, which was designed to give a foretaste of the next SITE Conference that will be held in Barcelona next year just after the EIBTM, from November 30 th to December 3 rd.
The brunch event was designed by a Barcelona-based DMC group and Barcelona Convention Bureau in collaboration with the Tourism Office of Toronto. The menu included sangria, Spanish tapas, paella, fish and Creme Catalan, and of course flemenco and the famous “Barcelona” song by Montserrat Caballé and Freddy Mercury for the 92 Olympics interpreted by two opera singers. And a touch of humour came from Barcelona-based actor Toby Harper, in his role as master of ceremonies, flamenco teacher and master chef.
Airy Garrigosa, Director of Barcelona Convention Bureau and President of the Organising Committee of SITE 06 says: “ Toronto has been an aperitif for what we are preparing for the 2006 Conference. We are all looking forward and working hard to show our organisational skills and the creativity of Spain 's professionals and especially those from Barcelona .”
The Spanish branch of SITE expects to see a significant rise in members numbers over the next year. Its President, Nacho Ferrando from the Creatur Agency, is to hold various meetings and seminars to promote the training of Incentive Travel professionals in Spain with the financial support of SITE and EIBTM, which have both committed themselves to these projects.
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| © Steven Guest |
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Barcelona will face one of its stiffest challenges when it organises the European Union's Euro Mediterranean Summit this November 28. The event, to be held in the new Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) located in the new Forum zone, will again give Barcelona the chance to show itself and its convention facilities off to the world.
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| © Alimentaria |
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Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via M2 site will be completed by 2009, according to its chairman Josep Bonet. The new facilities will push Barcelona to the forefront of the European trade fair league.
Bonet told journalists during the presentation of the Fira’s Strategic Plan 2005-2016 that the trade fair would develop new growth strategies to capture big international shows and congresses, while strengthening its current product portfolio with new home-grown innovative events and established Fira market-leaders at the state level.
Once work ends on the Gran Via halls, Fira de Barcelona will have a total of 355,200 m2 of exhibition space and 7,000 parking spaces across its two facilities.
Fira de Barcelona wants to concentrate its public fairs in the emblematic Fira-Montjuïc M-1 site in Plaça Espanya, to leave the new Fira Gran Via M-2 venue for more professional/industrial events.
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www.eibtm.com/awards
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The completion budget for the futuristic Fira Gran Via M-2 extension, designed by Toyo Ito, runs to over 320 million euros. Once finished it will have 240,000 m2 and parking for 5,000 cars, making it Europe’s second biggest trade fair venue and one of the most technologically advanced. |
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| © Fira Barcelona |
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his growth comes just in time: Fira de Barcelona signed deals with 15 new fairs last year and in 2006 it expects to host 70 shows, amongst them the EIBTM professional travel fair, the 3GSM world congress, Bread & Butter, BCN Degusta –a quality food fair-, and the World Cardiology Congress. Fira de Barcelona forecasts turnover of some 100,000 million euros this year, up on last year’s 79.3 million euros.
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June de 2006
End of work on Hall 5 (26,657 m2) with 190 parking spots and the central passage hall leading to Hall 3 (2,304 M2).
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| © Francesc Guillamet |
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September 2007
Work due to finish on Halls 0, 1, 2,
bringing the total for Gran Via M2 to 162,033 m2.
2007-2009
Completion of construction of Halls 3.2 and 4.2,
the Auditorium, parking spaces.
www.firabcn.org
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© Francesc Guillamet
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| © Steven Guest |
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Barcelona became the capital of the catwalk when it staged the Bread & Butter fashion show and fair earlier last summer. The show's German organisers have signed a contract to stage the show in Barcelona 's Fira Montjuïc M-1 venue twice a year until 2008.
Bread & Butter began in Berlin in 2001, but organisers wanted a second venue in the south of Europe; they eventually chose Barcelona because of its “culture, cosmopolitan nature, … modernity and openness”. With 45,000 visitors and over 700 participating brands of clothes, accessories, and shoes, Bread & Butter is held in Barcelona in January and July. |
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www.breadandbutter.com
Last July, brands showing at the fair held lavish parties throughout the city and according to Karl-Heinz Müller, Bread & Butter President, “the atmosphere was great, and people were excited.”
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Tourists to Barcelona now have a handy new guide to carry with them during their stay in Barcelona . Aimed at the quality tourism segment, Barcelona Style Pocket Guide features tourist sights, restaurants, shops, places to make for in the evening, and just about everything that makes the Barcelona experience so special.
The new guide, an offshoot from Book Style's hard-backed, glossy coffee-table guide found in the city's four and five-star hotels, has the backing of Turisme de Barcelona. According to tourist board managing director, Pere Duran, “the guide fills a gap in the market and covers visitor need for quality information.".
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| © Fira de Barcelona |
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About 100,000 copies will be handed to guests staying more than two nights in some 116 hotels, covering 16,200 city hotel rooms. The guide will be edited twice a year.
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| Hilton Diagonal Mar |
Open |
5* |
433 rooms |
| Hesperia Tower |
Jan 2006 |
5* |
300 rooms |
| 1898 |
Open |
4* |
169 rooms |
Congress organisers now have even more choice when looking for hotel accommodation for their clients in Barcelona.
Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona . The Hilton chain now has two top hotels in Barcelona thanks to the inauguration of the Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona in the new Forum zone. Located besides the Barcelona International Convention Centre and Forum auditorium, this 433-room, five-star facility offers splendid views of the beaches and excellent meetings facilities.
www.hilton.com |
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| © Steven Guest |
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Hotel Hesperia Tower is an inspiring new 105-metre high building, which is due to open in January 2006. With 280 rooms, 19 luxury suites, and a presidential suite that overlook the new Fira de Barcelona Gran Via halls, the hotel is ideally located between the city and the airport. Inside there's a 5,000m2 convention and congress centre, spas, and to top it all off a huge crystal dome which will house “Evo”, a restaurant run by chef Santi Santamaria, one of the world's rising gourmet stars.
www.hesperia.com |
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| © Steven Guest |
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The 1898 Hotel is a four-star superior hotel that opened in October. Located overlooking the Ramblas, this hotel's rooms have a distinctly colonial feel. The character of the building, once the headquarters of Compañía de Tabacos de Filipinas, and its excellent facilities, like the spa, and indoor and outdoor pools, meetings rooms and business centre, make the Hotel 1898 ideal for the executive traveller looking for a boutique option.
www.nnhotels.es/ |
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| © Steven Guest |
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| © Steven Guest |
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Great chefs are teaming up with Barcelona hotels to create some of the most exciting experiences for even the most travelled of guests. This city has shot to the world's culinary attention thanks to gourmet guides like the Michelin bible, which awarded city chefs 9 stars this year.
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| © Steven Guest |
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Now city hotels have come to the conclusion that they can differentiate themselves by making their restaurants icon features through to the direct collaboration of star chefs or simply via their involvement in the overall management of the restaurant. |
The Drolma restaurant under chef Fermí Puig offers its exquisite gastronomy at the hotel Majestic; the Arola in the Arts; Àbac in the Park Hotel; Gaig in the Cram. And not to be outdone, the Hesperia Tower -due for inauguration in January 2006- has managed to pull off a coup de grace by attracting top chef Santi Santamaría to its kitchens, while the Hotel Florida has signed up Dani Bouzá. Hotel Omm's trendy Moo restaurant, which is very in with the designer crowd, is run by the Michelin-starred Roca brothers while the Hotel Palace 's Caellis restaurant is under the management of Roman Fornells.
Hotel restaurants have certainly taken on a whole new management model, and guests are sure to benefit. |
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| © Steven Guest |
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According to the "European Cities Monitor 2005" by property agents Cushman & Wakefield, Healey & Baker, Barcelona is the fifth best city to locate a business in Europe. This study of 501 corporate executives working in Europe also voted Barcelona the best city in Europe regarding its quality of life. Topping the overall ranking was London, followed by Paris, Frankfurt, and Brussels. Madrid was in 6th place. The executives was also found the city best city in terms of its international promotion, which recognises the effort that the city puts into attracting new investments and it topped the category looking at cities that have most progressed, with 20% of all the executives placing Barcelona first. Another element that highlights Barcelona prominence in European business circles was the fact that it came third in the category business centres with most corporate headquarters, after London and Paris.
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