Madeira. According to the results of the secret ballot 30 of the 45 members voted in favour of the merger with the ECT and 15 against. Founded in 1964, the European Federation of Conference Towns, EFCT, unites 87 convention bureaus und conference centres. 91 tourism offices in comparison have made up the European Cities Tourism, ECT, since 1991. The common denominator for both associations are the 47 member cities such as Vienna and Berlin.
The response at the press conference to the question of “Why?” was given by board member Anne Wallin Rodven, Convention Director at Visit Oslo: “We see this as a good way to build a stronger association for Europe. The merger will not mean that I will become a tourism person”.
This was preceded by statements in the plenary. “If we say yes to the merger we will have a stronger organisation for leading destinations in the fields of tourism and conventions and a broader field of expertise will be made available to us
