Argentina's Hosting of the ICCA Congress: Boosting Meetings Industry Growth

2. Mrs. President of ICCA, Nina Freysen-pretorius • Messrs. Members of ICCA Board of Directors • Messrs. Members of Organizing Committee of 54th ICCA Congress • Messrs. Delegates of 54th ICCA Congress • Messrs. Ministers of the National Executive Power • Messrs. Secretaries of State • Messrs. Governors of ArgentineProvinces

3. Messrs. Provincial and Departmental Tourism Ministers and Secretaries • Messrs. Presidents, Directors and Partners of Federations, Associations and Chambers Related to Tourism • Messrs. Presidents and Members of Tourism Bureaux in the Argentine Republic and AOCA Partners • Members of the Press

4. As Tourism Minister of the Argentine Republic, I am honored to welcome you and I am proud that our country can host such a remarkable event like the 54th Worldwide Congress of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). Besides, I would like to transmit the warm greetings of our President, Mrs. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

5. Hosting this Congress in Argentina is the corollary of the hard work developed during this administration, with the purpose of professionalizing every player in this segment and positioning our country as one of the main destinations in the world for international events.

6. At worldwide level, the Meeting Industry registers the major growth in the tourist activity and it is the second most important travel reason after leisure and vacations. At both national and regional level, meetings and conventions industry has been increasingly acknowledged as it offers tourist destinations a significant opportunity to boost revenues while becoming an important driver that generates employment and investments.

7. It is worth mentioning the importance of a segment that annually generates in the world about 1,500 million dollars while it also permits reducing the volatility of receptive tourism and the seasonal nature of tourist demand.

8. Aware of this reality and advised by Mr. Arnaldo Nardone, past president of ICCA and one of the most important international experts in this matter, we developed in 2008 a specific marketing plan for the Meeting Industry, which permitted us to substantially increase the number of national and international events being held throughout our country, with a territorial diversity of meetings’ organization and fostering the creation of new bureaux that actively participate in capturing events for Argentine cities.

9. Likewise, in 2010, along with AOCA –the association that gathers Argentine private sector players related to the Meeting Industry- and the University of Buenos Aires, we created the Economic Observatory of Meetings Industry which annually collects information about the number of events being held in the country and, mostly, it conducts surveys with the attendants in order to learn more about their impact. Our Observatory’s Statistical Report 2014 confirmed the organization of 4,871 meetings at 281 cities in our country, generating revenues for more than 2 thousand million dollars.

10. But, besides economic benefits, the Meetings Industry generates a strong impact on knowledge and education in each destination. And, therefore, we are convinced that all professionals in this field should understand the needs and expectations of meeting organizers, bearing in mind that it is a segment with features that make it absolutely different in respect of other tourist products. In this perspective, all strategies for its development should be varied and highly specialized. And, the organization of ICCA Congress in Argentina would certainly help us to make decisions in this direction.

11. As previously noted, from the Ministry of Tourism, the National Institute of Tourism Promotion and the Argentine Association of PCO’s and Meeting Suppliers, eight years ago we developed a marketing plan for the Meeting Industry and we started to work strongly in its promotion in Argentina as we understood it was a segment we should encourage.

12. One of the plan’s first recommendations was to actively participate in all ICCA congresses and trainings. It should be said that before that plan, Argentina occupied the 36th position as venue of events all over the world at the international ranking and we only had 7 Congresses and Convention Bureaux. Currently, only 8 years later, we are in the 18th position, having experienced a growth higher than the 250% regarding the quantity of international congresses being held in Argentina, and we already have 29 Bureaux contributing to the organization of events with professionalism and quality standards and we are working with tourism official departments at different cities and, of course, with the INPROTUR.

13. By 2007, only two Argentine meeting destinations appeared at the ICCA ranking. Nowadays, there are 12Argentine destinations at this international ranking, a very important fact that reveals the federal nature of our plan and work.

14. We actively participated in different congresses and tourist-related activities at both regional and worldwide level, but I would like to point out the active role we had at ICCA: together with all the Meeting Industry in Argentina, we had a dream and we worked for it: to host 2015 ICCA’s Congress and this achievement could not have been possible without the joint work done between the public and private sector and the support of Latin American countries.

15. And now we are all here, at this imposing Kirchner Cultural Center, opening this outstanding event, which could not have been possible without the commitment of this team, of which I feel really proud.

16. I am convinced that this event shall be a great opportunity for our visitors to experience all Argentina can offer: from its warm people, landscapes, gastronomy, wines and a great number of attractions of such a city like Buenos Aires, which during the last 6 six years is positioned as theN°1 city in the Americas for venue of international congresses.

17. I would like to finish this message thanking ICCA for having chosen us to host this important event, to salute its current President, Mrs. Nina Freysen- Pretorius and all visitors, welcome them to Argentina and wish them fruitfull and successful days at this 54th ICCA Congress.

18. We hope that all we have done from the Ministry of Tourism may serve as a starting point to face outstanding challenges and, above all, to continue working all together. Thank you very much!