Benidorm arouses the interest of the Professional Organization of Congresses for MICE tourism

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, held this morning, early in the morning, a working session with the board of directors of the Association of Professional Organizers of Congresses and Events -OPC Spain- which is holding its 35th congress in Benidorm until Saturday National at the Luxor Convention Center.

In the meeting, with the directive of the sixteen regional delegations that make up OPC, Toni Pérez had the opportunity to know the assessment of the different presidents on the general situation of the sector, the knowledge about the Benidorm destination and the Benidorm MICE product, transferring the experience, facilities, and services that Benidorm offers for this tourist segment since the motto focuses on 'the value of the experience', where Benidorm, Pérez said, “traditionally has always offered very good numbers”.

Pérez highlighted that the MICE bet is traditional in Benidorm, only now, through Visit Benidorm, has developed a product line that "in the last computed year has hosted 152 events, of which 68 have been international, with 42,500 MICE clients.

It is, the mayor pointed out, "a product in Benidorm to which new hotels are added every day that, due to facilities and services, are included in the MICE portfolio" and come to expand, he added, the tourist offer of Benidorm.

Benidorm highlighted Pérez, "is much more than Sun and Beach, our star product" and the MICE segment, he insisted, "is increasingly valued for the extra congress that Benidorm offers."

A prominent aspect of the tourism of events, congresses, and incentives in the contact this morning has been its factor of breaking seasonality, pointing out Pérez that they constitute a deseasonalizing bulwark "that converts the low season into the nice season, giving the examples lived in Benidorm at the beginning of this year with the events of Handball, Cyclocross World Cup or Benidorm Fest prolonging the good data until this congress.

After the work session, on the way to the inauguration of the congress, the mayor pointed out that "Benidorm has managed to arouse the interest of the sixteen delegations and more than 200 congressmen who have attended", highlighting that "right now Benidorm is an envied model". , as several of the attending presidents have highlighted.

At the inauguration of the congress, the president of OPC Spain, Matilde Almadoz, highlighted that at the level of congresses and events "the year is looking good" although "some uncertainty floats". From OPC-Valencian Community, José Vicente Castaño has praised "Benidorm's commitment to MICE Tourism" and the "leadership of Visit Benidorm", an organization that he has set as an example of "value and effective tourism management".

The former Secretary of State for Tourism and current adviser to the Secretary General of the UNWTO, Bel Oliver, has praised the work carried out in the field of tourism by "the government team of Benidorm City Council and in particular its mayor", who has called "my friend", recalling Benidorm's certification as the first DTI in December 2018, and asked to "learn from Benidorm's way of acting in Tourism".

For his part, the regional Secretary of Tourism, Francesc Colomer, congratulated OPC Spain for choosing Benidorm for its 35th congress, highlighting the characteristics and offers of Benidorm in this field and highlighting the general commitment of the entire Valencian Community for MICE tourism, pointing out that "it is a segment that is already part of the tourism ecosystem." Colomer finally made a plea for presence as a determining factor of Tourism for congresses and Events.

And on the importance of recovering face-to-face attendance, the mayor closed his intervention, stressing that "without it, the unique and incomparable spaces that host these sessions cannot be enjoyed." Pérez concluded his intervention by pointing out the key to this MICE commitment: “behind a congressman, there is a prescriber and a new visitor”; hence the importance of the professionalism of the destination and organizers in MICE Tourism.