One of the most fascinating aspects of the MICE sector is the chance it offers for business travel around the globe. The previous few years have made many people more eager than ever to travel for various business meetings and events, whether as part of incentive travel, for international meetings, or to attend events and trade exhibits.

Barcelona, the second-biggest city in Spain, is renowned for its breathtaking landscapes, amazing cultural offerings, and Mediterranean temperature. In recent years, the city has emerged as a special favorite among the MICE sector, serving as the site of numerous international business meetings in addition to large conferences and events of all types.

In this post, we’ll go into Barcelona’s background as a MICE and business travel destination, talk about why you should have your next event there, and offer some insider advice on other things to do while visiting.

 

Barcelona: An Overview of Business History

Barcelona’s history as a commercial center dates back to the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century, when the city’s manufacturing units started to proliferate and contribute significantly to the region’s expansion. Due to this activity, the city’s population swelled to seven times its initial size, and the arts, culture, and history that now make Barcelona such a wonderful travel destination were brought by these newcomers.

Whilst Barcelona’s cultural offering attracted a fair number of tourists, it was the 1992 Olympic Games that really transformed the city from an economic and social point of view. This turning point included significant developments in the city’s infrastructure and established it as a hub for economic investment and development in the Mediterranean section of Europe.

Barcelona’s enduring appeal as a tourism destination and a hub of economic growth is largely responsible for its rising popularity as a venue for gatherings, conferences, and parties. Barcelona became one of Spain’s most popular business travel destinations due to its excellent urban infrastructure, wide range of venues, and lodging options. As a result, the city hosts several major international conferences, including IBTM.

The International Congress and Convention Association’s Destination Performance Index (DPI) 2021 placed Spain as the second most popular country in the world for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibits. Barcelona has been in this top ten list for the past few years and was recognized as the fourth best and most popular city for association meetings by this index as well.

 

Why Should Your Company Host Its Next Event in Barcelona?

Barcelona’s appeal as a MICE destination extends beyond its reputation as a top vacation destination. The main arguments for picking this city for your company’s upcoming event are listed below.

 

Simple Access to the Airport

The primary airport for plane arrivals in the city, Barcelona Airport–El Prat (BCN), is also the second-largest airport in Spain. With just a fifteen-minute drive from the city’s center, Barcelona is a highly accessible destination for international travelers, who can arrive in Spain and check into their hotel in less than an hour.

Barcelona is extremely well-connected to the rest of the globe with a plethora of options that include Girona-Costa Brava Airport and Reus International Airport.

 

Excellent Rail Links

If you’re traveling for business or pleasure, flying is probably the most practical and time-effective alternative, but taking the train to Barcelona is also a great way to see the city. With efficient transportation infrastructure that makes it simple to go to Barcelona from practically anywhere in the nation, the city is connected by train to a number of other Spanish locations.

This actual network also makes it simple to take a train from other neighboring nations to Barcelona if you’re already in Europe. The primary train station in the city is Barcelona Sants, which acts as a center for national and international arrivals and departures as well as commuter, local, and regional rail services. The famed Gothic Quarter of the city is less than a 30-minute drive from the station.

 

Quick Public Transportation

In relation to transportation infrastructure, Barcelona is renowned for its public transportation networks, which facilitate easy and speedy city transportation. One of the most well-liked transportation options in Barcelona is the Metro subterranean train system, but regular buses also connect the city’s neighborhoods and go to other neighboring locations.

Barcelona is a great location for an event because of its public transportation choices, which give guests a variety of ways to get to and from the event venue as well as explore the city.

 

Variety of Locations

Due to its popularity as a travel destination, Barcelona offers a wide variety of lodging options, ranging from luxurious 5-star hotels to affordable self-catering apartments and everything in between. Furthermore, the city has a plethora of specialized event spaces that are frequently utilized for trade exhibitions, conferences, and events related to different industries. There are so many venues to pick from that are suitable for holding various meetings and events when it comes to hosting them.

Barcelona’s stunning architecture adds to the advantages of the city’s array of event spaces. You can conduct an event that your attendees won’t soon forget by utilizing gorgeous historical buildings and a plethora of distinctive design features in place of the same old, identical conference venues.

 

Fantastic Internet

One of Barcelona’s main draws, regardless of your status as a visitor, local, or visiting digital nomad, is its extensive free wifi network. You can get fast and secure wifi while at the beach thanks to Barcelona WiFi, one of the biggest free wifi networks in Europe that stretches all the way to the shore!

Even though every event and meeting space has its own internet connection, taking use of Barcelona’s free public wifi is highly recommended if you’re traveling for business. It lets you work from virtually anyplace and stay connected no matter where you go in the city.

 

Many Tourist Attractions

Traveling for events and business offers the great perk of being able to spend your free time discovering a new location. Barcelona’s popularity as a holiday destination has previously been discussed, but we’ll bring it up again as an advantage of picking the city to hold your next business gathering.

Barcelona is home to an amazing array of tourist attractions, including street architecture, historical sites, and miles and miles of gorgeous beaches. If your conference or event is located in a location that receives high marks from tourists and has a wide variety of things available if you want to explore, people will be far more inclined to want to come.

 

Originality Everywhere

Barcelona is well-known for its Gothic and Modernist buildings, especially those designed by renowned architect and artist Antoni Gaudí. Barcelona is a great venue for an event or meeting if you want to inspire your guests, as the city’s rich cultural past has influenced many artists and creatives throughout the years.

Nothing inspires fresh ideas more than exploring a new location, which is fantastic when you’re trying to inspire creativity and innovation in others. If this is your top priority for your upcoming event, Barcelona is a fantastic location with lots of ideas.

 

Outstanding Cuisine

Barcelona is among the top destinations in Spain for food-related travel experiences. There are many well regarded restaurants that serve Catalan and Mediterranean cuisine in particular, so you’ll have plenty of alternatives when it comes to catering for your event.

 

Various Sceneries

The scenery of Barcelona is one of the things that makes it such a great destination. With the mountains and the shore on both sides of the city, Barcelona offers a variety of Spanish landscapes in addition to its rich history and impressive urban design.

Barcelona’s landscape not only makes the city an especially lovely destination, but it also provides guests with an abundance of locations to explore while they’re there. A trip to the beach is highly advised in the summer, and when the weather is a little bit colder, hiking in the mountains is a fantastic alternative.

 

Events Hosted in the Past

Barcelona is known for being a well-liked destination for events, meetings, conferences, and incentive travel, as was indicated in the section before this one. If you decide to take the same route as previous events, you will definitely benefit from the wealth of existing advice regarding things like the finest locations and lodging options. Barcelona’s standing as a center for some of the most important dates in the calendar across a wide range of industries may also help your event become more well-known.

 

Status of Sustainable Tourism

The city of Barcelona has been awarded the Biosphere Certification, a testament to its commitment to fostering and advancing sustainable tourism, as one last reason to pick the city. If your business shares the same values as these, picking a site that reflects this is a terrific way to build your brand and support initiatives that will hopefully inspire other places to follow suit.

 

What Are Your Other Options in Barcelona?

In order to complete this overview of Barcelona’s reputation as a top location for business meetings, we wanted to give some of our best picks for additional things to see and do in the city in case you decide to come.

 

Explore the Sagrada Família.

Arguably the most well-known tourist destination in Barcelona, if not all of Spain, is the Sagrada Família. The cathedral was designed by Antoni Gaudí and has many amazing design elements, including stained glass windows. The work is still ongoing, as per the artist’s plans, so it isn’t really finished yet, but this has made it extremely popular over the past 100 years.

 

Investigate Park Güell

One of Gaudí’s other lasting contributions to Barcelona is Park Güell, a sizable public park featuring some of his most well-known works of art and designed in his distinctive manner. It’s a great place for a cultural afternoon because it’s a combination park, gallery, and museum.

 

Unwind in Parc de la Ciutadella.

The Parc de la Ciutadella, next to Ciutat Vella, is the public park to visit if you’re seeking for a more relaxed atmosphere. Once one of Barcelona’s few green areas, it’s a spacious, lovely park with a bandstand, zoo, and rowing lake that’s perfect for a stroll or picnic.

 

Take in the Magic Fountain’s Lighting

The “Magic Fountain” is an attraction located at the foot of the stairs leading to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC). The fountain erupts in bursts of color and light to an astonishing soundtrack on several evenings during the week, drawing large crowds of visitors who come to marvel at the amazing light show set to numerous well-known songs.

 

View the Olympic Stadium that is deserted

For the renowned 1992 Olympics, which marked the beginning of a significant period of transformation and progress for the city, the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, also known as Estadi Olímpic, underwent renovations. Though largely empty at the moment, the stadium is nonetheless a striking and rather unsettling location that is well worth a visit.

 

In Brief

Barcelona is a great venue to have conferences, meetings, and other gatherings—and we don’t just say that since IBTM World will be held there in 2022. We are confident that this city will continue to flourish as a center for the MICE sector because of its rich cultural heritage, breathtaking scenery, and first-rate tourism infrastructure.