Turisme de Barcelona Launches its Legacy Programme aimed at Congress Impacts

Turisme de Barcelona took a step forward in its strategy to generate value in the city through the events and congresses it hosts with the creation of the new Barcelona Convention Bureau Legacy Programme.

This new programme, presented to the members of the Barcelona Convention Bureau yesterday, aims to generate long-term positive effects in the city and the region through the congresses and events hosted by the city. By creating synergies and collaborations between local stakeholders and congress associations, the programme seeks to develop projects that have a positive impact on Barcelona, its inhabitants, and its business and research sectors. 

As explained by BCB’s director, Christoph Tessmar, “the point is to generate an impact that has a lasting effect beyond the event itself, to share and promote knowledge, professional connections, and to drive scientific and technological advancements within the framework of the economic development of the sector”.

For this, Turisme de Barcelona has created a new department within BCB to develop such projects, working closely with the different associations and organisers of the congresses. This new team is already working on four big congresses this year, three in the medical field and one in the nutraceutical industry.

The first congress is ESGE, from the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, which will take place in April. The team is currently working in collaboration with the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) in creating and designing this legacy project, aligning the congress’ activity with the goals and needs of the city. Vitafoods in May, ECTRIMS in September and the World Stroke Conference in October are the other congresses with whom the Barcelona Convention Bureau is working to develop legacy projects this year. 

As part of the services offered by the legacy programme, BCB helps associations find the right local partners and evaluate the impact generated, offering comprehensive support in managing and communicating the project to ensure its success and visibility. 

The Legacy Handbook 

A handbook has been developed as part of the new Legacy Programme for Barcelona, explaining the methodology and the necessary processes to allow for the development of the legacy project for every congress or event. 

The projects can be classified in five different categories, ensuring that the impact is diversified in different fields: 1) economic diversification 2) community 3) knowledge-sharing 4) environmental 5) sectoral. 

The programme works to promote competitiveness, ensuring Barcelona’s positioning in the MICE sector by enhancing the positive impact of MICE activities in the city, considering local opportunities and the existing institutional framework. This involves establishing communication and collaboration among various stakeholders in the implementation of innovative proposals. Ultimately, it is about exploring and exploiting all the opportunities an event can generate, be it in the economic, scientific, business or innovation fields, while integrating with the city and its social network. 

Barcelona Convention Bureau has established three different types of collaboration for those associations that want to develop a legacy project: 

1. Creating a legacy project from the start.
    
2. Supporting the associations that have their own legacy project and they want to implement it in Barcelona.
    
3. Supporting those associations that want to leave a legacy or impact in the destination, but do not have the resources to create its own legacy project, by connecting them with already existing local projects that they can collaborate with. 
    

To design, implement and assess each of the projects, a Legacy Committee will be created, which can include BCB’s legacy coordinator, the event association, the local partners and the local host. 

The legacy process starts 12 months before the congress takes places, to align the project idea with the needs of the city, and ends with the evaluation of the long-term impact/legacy of the project, at least a year after its implementation. The process also includes a communication plan that ensures the visibility of the project and the perceived impact by the community. 

Turisme de Barcelona’s president, Jordi Clos, highlights that the attraction of impact congresses is a priority for Turisme de Barcelona. He brings attention to the fact that "these congresses are the ones showing the most interest to work together in projects that allow the host city to grow socially, educationally, and also in terms of economic diversification. The experience with MWC shows how congresses and exhibitions are not only an economic and employment interest for the city, but they also play a transformative role by creating new economic activity, training young people in new disciplines, or having a clear return to the city beyond hotel occupancy, restaurants, shop sales, or trade fair activity."

The president believes it is necessary to work in the same direction to take advantage of the resources and energy created around a congress to attract certain strategic economic sectors for the city. "A congress can generate income for the host city, but it can also promote knowledge and experience exchange between participants, and even motivate and be decisive for infrastructure development. This is the purpose of the Barcelona Convention Bureau Legacy Programme: to enhance and create transformative legacy that adds long-term value to Barcelona and its inhabitants, a legacy that goes beyond the activity associated to the congress and that also has an impact on areas such as the social, economic and cultural fields."

In April, the ESGE congress will take place in Barcelona, and a legacy project is already in the making together with the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). From the AECC, they emphasise "the great value that, in a renowned scientific congress, the Association is considered as a partner in the legacy project, which involves a greater commitment from the Congress and explicit support to give visibility to the social cause, in this case, the importance of colorectal cancer screening."
 

Another of the congresses with whom the team is already working is the World Stroke Congress (WSC), happening in October. Dr. Carlos Molina, Head of Neurology at the Vall d’Hebron Stroke Center, has highlighted the legacy project in terms of "the impact that the WSC 2025 will deliver to our city. This congress is not only a scientific event to share knowledge and advances in the stroke field, but it also has a strong commitment with the local community. The legacy project is designed to guarantee that the knowledge and innovations presented during the WSC have a long-lasting impact in Barcelona. This includes awareness campaigns to prevent strokes, the importance of immediate treatment and the improvement of the quality of life of patients and their families."

In this regard, he emphasises the opportunity of this initiative to “build a healthier and more conscious future, leaving a footprint that will benefit the next generations. The collaboration between experts, institutions and the community is fundamental to reach this goal. I am proud to be part of this historic moment and contribute to the legacy that the World Stroke Congress will leave in Barcelona. Together, we can make a difference!" he concludes. 

Barcelona hosts annually around 1.500 events, more than 500 of which are congresses. The technological, pharmaceutical, medical, industrial and academic sectors are the ones that stand out the most, with an economic impact of around a thousand million euros.