At an exclusive gala dinner, visit.brussels presented 37 Ambassador awards to the partners who, over the past three years, have contributed exponentially to propagating and supporting Brussels as an international MICE destination.
In front of an audience of academics, doctors, European Commissioners, deans of universities, chairmen and board members of international associations based in Brussels, scientists, hospital directors and other destination partners, the 37 new ambassadors were praised for their efforts and help in bringing major international events to Brussels and reinforcing its image as ideal MICE destination.
130 people participated in this first edition of the Brussels Ambassadors Night. visit.brussels will use this event to launch a new network that can be activated to allow new international events to take place in Brussels. This will enhance the Belgian capital's international appeal and promote its local expertise and strengths. In addition, it also wishes to focus the attention of the Belgian academic and economic spheres on the importance and the advantages of having an international event on their specific field take place in Brussels.
For many years, the Brussels-Capital Region has successfully concentrated on drawing international events. With its 657 gatherings in 2016, for example, it ranks as Europe's number one convention destination, and second worldwide (according to the Union of International Associations). Put together, the conventions were responsible for 2,710,000 overnight stays in 2015. The impact of these events gives rise to total revenues of 632 million euros per year, and keeps over 18,000 people employed. In 2016, 58,60 % of the total number of overnight stays were professional stays (44,1 % MICE and 14,5 % for other professional reasons).
The 37 award winners of the Brussels Ambassadors Night contributed greatly to this result. Jointly, they organised 66 trade fairs, conventions and sports events with over 800 participants. Together, the award winners welcomed over 500,000 participants and 9,472 speakers.
During the gala, the following organisation were thanked for their efforts:
Trade fairs and exhibitions:
AidEx Conference – Mr Nicholas Rutherford
Art Brussels – Ms Anne Vierstraete
BRAFA Art Fair – Ms Beatrix Bourdon
De Meubelbeurs Brussel – Mr Lieven Van den Heede
European Dog Show 2016 – Ms Nelly Mast-Gelders
LabelExpo Europe 2015 – Mr Douglas Emslie
MoOD - Mr Patrick Geysels
Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global – Ms Mary Larkin
Conventions:
AFRAVIH (Association Francophone des Acteurs de santé contre le VIH) Conference 2016 – Prof. Nathan Clumeck
ALS Liga Symposium 2014 – Ms Evy Reviers
Breast International Group (BIG) – IMPAKT – Prof. Martine Piccart
CIDAE (Conférence Internationale de Dentisterie Adhésive et Esthétique) Conference 2015 – Mr Alain Perceval
Colloque International de Langue Française sur le TDA/H 2016 – Ms Delphine de Hemptinne et Dr Laurent Victoor
Congrès de l’Ordre des experts-comptables 2016 – Mr Philippe Arraou
CPDP (Computers, Privacy & Data Protection) Conference – Dr Paul de Hert
EAHAD (European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders) Congress 2014 – Prof. Cédric Hermans
EORTC (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer) Meetings 2014 to 2016 – Prof. Françoise Meunier
ESGE (European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) Congress 2014 – 2016 – Prof. Jacques Donnez
ESOT (European Society for Organ Transplantation) Congress 2015 – Prof. Jan Lerut
ESPN (European Society for Paediatric Nephrology) Congress 2015 – Dr Thierry Schurmans
European Summit on Digital Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing 2016 - European Commission, DG Interpretation
European Week of Regions and Cities - European Commission, DG for Regional and Urban policy & European Committee of the Regions
Expo-Sciences International 2015 – Ms Frédérique Neuville
Forum for the Future of Agriculture – Mr. Janez Potocnik
GEEW (Gastroenterology and Endotherapy European Workshop) – Prof. Jacques Devière
Green Week – European Commission, DG Interpretation & DG Environment
Harvard WorldMUN Brussels 2014 – Mr Jens Wauters
IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress – Mr Paul Jordan
IFSO (International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity & Metabolic Disorders) Congress 2014 – Dr Luc Lemmens
ISICEM (International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine) – Prof. Jean-Louis Vincent
Les Journées Francophones de Nutrition 2014 – Prof. Jean-Charles Preiser
Materialise World Conferences – Ms Pascale Notté
PIPOL Conference 2015 – Dr Jean-Daniel Matet
SPIE Photonics Europe 2014 – 2016 – Prof. Hugo Thienpont & Prof. Francis Berghmans
WAS#3 2016 – Ms Aiofe Condren
Sports events:
EPFG 2014 - European Police and Fire Games Association – Mr Robert Thomas
World InterHash 2014 – Mr Pierre-Marc Lefebvre
