The Costa Brava’s principal tourist destination Lloret de Mar hosted 207 corporate events in 2009

Lloret de Mar, June 2010.- Lloret de Mar was the chosen venue for the MITM 2010 Euromed, Meetings and Incentive Travel Market, one of Europe’s most important specialised fairs in meetings and incentive tourism, which took place on 9th, 10th and 11th June. For three days the Costa Brava city was the focal point for potential customers in this segment both for Lloret and the Costa Brava as a whole.

The MITM, now in its 14th year, has taken place in 8 different countries in Europe and the Mediterranean region, bringing together more than 1,130 buyers of incentive, meeting and event services. The fair took place at the Olympic Conference Centre of the Evenia hotel group (the event’s main organiser and sponsor) and was supported by the Lloret Convention Bureau (LLCB), which put together the entire event and meeting schedule.

Xavier Crespo, the Mayor of Lloret, stated, “The interest in hosting the MITM is a consequence of Lloret de Mar’s wish to consolidate and publicise its offer and that of the area in the business tourism segment.”

The event organisers declared that when invitations were sent out to MICE buyers to take part in the MITM 2010, many prominent users and buyers of incentive trip, conference and convention services from all over the world expressed an interest in attending. Given that more visitors than exhibitors were invited, registration for the event was closed 2 months before the start date.

In total, the MITM received more than 200 requests to attend the fair from conference and event organisers.

In the words of GSAR Marketing, “this shows that many event organisers from all over Europe and North America are interested and are looking for venues with something out of the ordinary, different from Frankfurt, Washington or Mexico, offering new opportunities to smaller venues from all over the world, such as Lloret.”

The event in Lloret de Mar was attended by conference, convention, event and incentive trip organisers from 22 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, India, Italy, Lithuania, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the USA.

More than 2,000 meetings between exhibitors and visitors were scheduled during the fair. It is estimated that this will generate business worth 10 million Euros for Lloret in terms of the spending by future incentive, conference, convention and event groups on accommodation, eating out, excursions and shopping etc.

Meanwhile, the social programme devised by the Lloret Convention Bureau has enabled potential customers from Western and Eastern Europe, the USA, Canada, India, Argentina and Egypt to discover Lloret de Mar and the possibilities offered by the destination for this important market segment. The visits included a sample of the main cultural and natural attractions of the area. There were also events catering for the specialised Spanish and European press that gathered in Lloret.

The Lloret Convention Bureau

The Lloret Convention Bureau was set up at the start of October 2009 with a specific mandate to promote this growing tourism sector, for which purpose it has had the support of its 50 current members, who come from the private and public sectors. They include conference centres, hotels, restaurants, specialised service agencies, outstanding sites and agents involved in culture, leisure and other activities in Lloret de Mar. The steady progress made in 2009 has continued with the holding of the MITM event, undoubtedly the organisation’s most important achievement to date.

Incentive trips, workshops, product presentations and meetings with less than 50 delegates continue to be the main types of events held in Lloret and, as such, constitute the main source of income. However, large-scale events such as the MITM are gradually making inroads. Overall, more than 200 corporate events were held in Lloret de Mar in 2009, attended by a total of 20,000 delegates.

Type    Number of events    Percentage (of TOTAL)

Product presentations    43    20.77%

Incentive trips    52    25.12%

Workshops    38    18.36%

Meetings of les than 50 delegates    29    14.01%

Conferences    10    4.83%

Conventions    24    11.59%

Festivals and others    11    5.31%

The average participation per event was 97 delegates. In this respect, a significant increase took place in 2009 of meetings with between 50/100 and 100/200 delegates.

Number of delegates    Number of events    Percentage (of TOTAL)

Up to 50 delegates    68    32.85%

Between 51 and 100 delegates    64    30.92%

Between 101 and 200 delegates    46    22.22%

More than 200 delegates    29    14.01%

As occurred in 2008, the most noteworthy economic sector in 2009 was the commercial economic sector, representing 37.20% of the total, closely followed by the cultural sector, with 30%. Together, these two sectors account for 70% of the corporate events held in Lloret de Mar in the whole of 2009.

Activity sector    Number of events    Percentage (of TOTAL)

Academic sector    7    3.20%

Cultural sector    64    30.92%

Commercial economic sector    77    37.20%

Medical-healthcare sector    7    3.20%

Public sector    4    1.93%

Scientific sector    1    0.48%

Others    45    21.74%

Regional events stand out strongly in the breakdown according to coverage, representing 63% of the total. As regards the remaining events, 25% are international while 11% are national:

Origin:    Percentage (of TOTAL)

International    25.12%

National    11.11%

Regional    63.77 %

Last of all, in respect of the seasonal nature of events in Lloret de Mar, as in 2008, events are clustered in certain periods of the year, in April, May and June and in October, November and December. The medium season can be defined as the period from January to March while the summer months (July and August) make up the low season, which is logical if we take into account that this is typically the holiday period.