Catalonia, an appealing destination for conference tourism

Catalonia was home to a total of 5,250 conferences and conventions with almost one million visitors in 2008, the catalan tourism board (ctb) said. according to the ctb, the economic impact for the region has exceeded 1.35 billion, a figure that accounts for 20% of the spanish conference tourism industry.

barcelona ended 2008 in first place with more than 2,500 conventions and 70% of all participants. el garraf and maresme regions took second and third place, respectively. the ctb indicated that a total of 79 catalan cities hold conferences and conventions regularly.

catalonia's leading event was the recently held mobile world congress, which attracted nearly 50,000 participants to the catalan capital.

source: expansión catalunya 19/02/2010