Based on the results obtained during the last financial year, the Trade Fairs and Congress Centre of Malaga (FYCMA) is clearly entering 2014 with good prospects.

The city’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre, started by highlighting the fact that “The Centre plays a very important role in Malaga’s economy; for hotel occupancies, restaurants and business in general”, when he appeared this morning, accompanied by the councillor for Economy, Finance and Personnel of Malaga City Council, María del Mar Martín Rojo, and the Managing Director of the Centre, Yolanda de Aguilar.

The mayor indicated that, for 2014, “18 trade fairs are scheduled to be held, meaning an increase of at least one trade fair”, among which he highlighted “three new fairs that will be added to the calendar for the Malaga exhibition centre”. They are Retro Auto & Moto Malaga –from the 7th to the 9th of March- the first exhibition of classic, vintage and collectible cars; Malaga Food & Wine Festival -30th and 31st of May- a food festival which is part of the Southern Designation of Origin fair and the Guitar Fair, from the 11th to the 14th of September. The latter is an international fair that will bring together manufacturers and professional musicians from 11 countries.

Furthermore, in addition to these new events, trade fairs and forums that the many different visitors are already familiar with will also be held, including those intended for wide audiences, such as Natura Málaga, Animacomic, Gamépolis, Celebra Málaga, Mi Mascota, Rastrillo Nuevo Futuro and MIMA, among others; as will events designed for professionals which have established a fine reputation in their respective sectors, especially due to their high value as business hubs and networking events, for example in the case of the Ser Emprendedor Forum that will be held for the third time in November.

Furthermore, next week –on the 12th and 13th of February- Transfiere is being held, the third European Forum for Science, Technology and Innovation, an essential event for all companies and institutions involved in R&D+i, leading to it being classified as the leading Spanish technology transfer event by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Along the same lines, the mayor also indicated that this year "participation has increased thanks to the coordination of all of the Spanish players in R&D+i to hold this forum". Consequently, Transfiere 2014 has 360 researchers (12% more), 50 universities (16% more), 270 companies (37.5% more) and 28 stands (39% more). “Transfiere has allowed Malaga to place itself at the centre of a major platform that brings together people who produce innovations and people who need them”, declared De la Torre, who also highlighted the fact that during the last edition, 2,700 business meeting were held.

In turn, Greencities & Sostenibilidad, the 5th Forum of Intelligence Applied to Urban Sustainability, and Foro Tikal, the 2nd Forum of Technology, Innovation and Knowledge in Latin America, will also be held simultaneously on the 2nd and 3rd of October. “Both events, that will make the city the epicentre of energy efficiency for two days, are a further endorsement that will help Malaga’s push to be awarded the title of “European Capital of Innovation" by the European Commission in March", believes the mayor, a title for which it is competing with the cities of Paris, Barcelona, Espoo (Finland), Grenoble (France) and Groningen (Netherlands).

Large, high-quality conferences

“We are planning a very large number of conferences over the course of 2014, which will include at least twelve events on a national scale”, asserted the mayor. “Over 40,000 professionals are expected to attend", he added.

These include the 29th National Congress of the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Medicine (SEME), from the 20th to the 22nd of February; the Conference on Trauma and Orthopaedic Nursing (AEETO) –23rd to 25th April-; the Conference of the Spanish Society of Community Pharmacies (SEFAC), from the 22nd to the 24th of May; the 26th National Conference of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEME), from the 9th to the 13th of June, and the 44th annual meeting of the Spanish Society of Prosthodontics and Aesthetics (SEPES), on the 10th, 11th and 12th of October.

He also emphasized the fact that on the 17th and 18th of January, they held the sixth annual congress of the European Federation of The Associations of Professional Congress Organisers (EFAPCO), one of the biggest events for the MICE sector, which brought together professional congress organisers from 14 European countries.

“The professional congress organisers appreciate Malaga’s capacity to organise this kind of event”, De la Torre pointed out, before adding that “Malaga has made huge strides in the MICE sector in recent years, because all of the world’s biggest European organisations have held conferences in our city”.

Additionally, in the area of business tourism, by becoming one of the sector-leaders in the Spanish Meetings and Conferences Industry, Fycma has helped to make Malaga the city destination with the highest growth in the last eight years, attracting visitors with high purchasing power and a strong capacity to motivate other potential visitors.

In Malaga and the Centre itself, important promotional and marketing work is being carried out, with a particular focus on national and international conferences with an average participation of more than 1,000 professionals. One example of this is Fycma’s presence in the MálagaCon initiative since its inception five years ago, with its commitment to a public-private partnership between different productive sectors to promote the destination.

Figures for 2013

The Trade Fairs and Congress Centre of Malaga finished 2013 with a total of 17 trade fairs -10 of its own fairs and 7 external fairs- and 75 events, including congresses, conventions, conferences and other events, representing increases in activity of 11 and 32 per cent respectively.

This increase is the result of consolidating new trade fairs that were held for the first time in 2012, and attracting large conferences of national and international importance. Furthermore, the total number of attendees reached 224,474, of which 189,302 visitors went to trade fairs and 35,172 to events.

More information at www.fycma.com