Trade show host and organiser Fira de Barcelona said last year was
its ‘best ever’ after it posted a record €250m in revenue and a record profit (EBITDA)
of €39m for the 12-month period.
And the organisation’s management team expects better to come in 2024,
with a string of high-profile medical conferences being held in the Spanish
city next year boosting revenues.
Bosses at Fira, which has two major venues – Gran Via and the Barcelona
International Convention Centre (CBICC) – said 2023 sales were up 17.9 per cent
on 2022, while EBITDA was up 6.6 per cent.
Its Barcelona venues held more than 270 shows and conferences, such
as MWC Barcelona, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), Smart City Expo World
Congress, the meetings of the tech multinationals VMware and Gartner, CPHI (the
world's leading fair in the pharmaceutical industry) and the world congresses
for Parkinson’s, Osteoporosis and Gastrointestinal Cancer, among others.
General manager Constantí
Serrallonga said: “Fira has not only built a recurring portfolio of
benchmark international events that have chosen Barcelona for their growth, but
it also been able to land new major events for the coming years.”
Chairman Pau Relat added: “It is an exceptional balance that is
accompanied by the new challenges and growth prospects posed by the large
infrastructures that are being carried out.”
Work on a new 60,000sqm pavilion at Gran Via, called Hall Zero, will
continue throughout 2024. The expansion, which will include an office building,
is scheduled to open at the end of 2026, making the fairground one of Europe’s
largest at 300,000sqm.
Relat said he expected sales to surpass €260m in 2024, which will
see numerous medical congresses taking place in Fira’s venues, including: European
Society of Medical Oncology, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and
Infectious Diseases, as well as the world congresses of Gastrointestinal Cancer
(WCGIC) and Gynaecological Cancer, among others.
As far as the overseas activity is concerned, Fira has continued
with its management of two fairgrounds in China and has held seven fairs in
seven different countries: Smart City Expo in Brazil, Mexico, Bogota,
Argentina, China and Qatar, plus HostelCuba.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
