CCIB (Barcelona International Convention Centre) closes 2016 with record €35.6 million turnover

The Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) hosted a total of 112 events in 2016. These attracted 537,384 visitors, up 12.14% from the previous year.

In terms of business volume, the CCIB posted revenue of €35.6 million, a record increase of 19.5% (€29.8 million in 2015). “The clear improvement in the national market and the extraordinary behaviour of the international market, along with confirmation of Barcelona as a top-notch tourism destination, particularly for business tourism, have been key,” explained CCIB Managing Director Marc Rodríguez.

Recurring and international events, key to growth

The centre’s occupancy rate –with an economic impact of more than €3.3 billion since it opened in 2004– benefits from Barcelona’s ideal positioning in financial/economic terms and as a city of knowledge, as well as from its facilities and leisure and cultural offering. As a result, 40% of the events held at the CCIB in 2016 were international, making up 88% of its income.

One significant figure is the CCIB repeat clientele rate. The number of recurring events rose to 46.4%, making up 56.65% of the total business volume and pointing to positive growth in the future.

Diversification: corporate events, congresses, fairs and concerts

Noteworthy among the events held in 2016 include the Gartner ITXpo Symposium (7,800 participants), an important yearly meeting of the technology sector that has been held at the CCIB since 2011; the pre-Mobile World Congress event Samsung Unpacked (5,000 participants); and the Openstack Summit 2016 (5,200 participants), which brings together leaders in ICT and the cloud computing community in more than 500 sessions.

In terms of congresses, the CCIB continues to be the benchmark location for large international medical and scientific events, including CIRSE (6,700 experts in cardiology), EANM (6,300 experts in nuclear medicine), NIPS (4,800 experts in neurology) and ESMO (3,200 experts in oncology).

Nevertheless, diversification remains at the heart of the CCIB’s success. This can be seen in the 2016 editions of the STS fair (40,000 participants from the beauty and cosmetics sector), Fira Magic (esotericism), Security Forum (security) and InteriHotel (interiors design showroom for the hotel sector). Also, the annual convention of the European film distribution industry, CineEurope (3,500 participants), held at the CCIB for the fifth year in a row, celebrating its 25th anniversary. The 8th annual gala of the Gaudí Awards also deserves a special mention, organised by the Catalan Academy of Cinema, which returned to the CCIB in January 2017.

In the music arena, the CCIB Auditorium once again welcomed some of the hottest events of the year.

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The CCIB remains firmly committed to the environment and has a strict policy for waste management, recycling and offsetting its CO2 emissions. The latter involves purchasing carbon credits from solidary projects. This social side is where the CCIB focused its charity efforts in 2016, hiring more workers at risk of exclusion and participating actively in initiatives promoted by organisations and foundations in the city. All in addition to the work it has been doing since 2011 as one of the co-founders of the Barcelona Fòrum District association.

Previsions 2017

In 2017, the CCIB expects to maintain the positive results seen in recent years, both in terms of revenue and number of events and participants.The latter is expected to once again hit the 500,000 mark. The increase in returning clients is worth noting, now making up more than 50% of all events held and of business revenue.

All of these factors point to sustained growth of the centre’s activities in the future.

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