Milan. On 4th June, at Palazzo Visconti, the board of IAPCO – International Association of Professional Congress Organisers – gave the 2008 IAPCO National Supplier Award to Fiera Milano Congressi. The award, given by Patrizia Buongiorno – President of IAPCO – to Giuseppe Zola – President of Fiera Milano Congressi – is allocated every year to a congress player providing excellent supporting services for large-scale international meetings and conferences.
IAPCO has 100 members in over 35 countries and is a global quality benchmark for the organisation of congresses and the ‘mark’ of excellence in the congress industry. IAPCO members organise over 4,000 meetings a year, attracting approximately 1.8 m delegates and half a million sqm of exhibition area, generating an economic impact of 2.9 bn euros on the surrounding area.
The winner of the award was decided during the recent general assembly of IAPCO held in Ghent. “We chose Fiera Milano Congressi”, explains Patrizia Buongiorno, “because it understood how important it is to bring together all the players (including institutions, agencies and trade associations) involved in the organisation of a congress and created precious synergies for promoting Milan as a congress destination”.
“Fiera Milano Congressi is honoured”, stats Giuseppe Zola, “to receive this important award. For years, the group companies have worked to become a reference point for the organisers of congresses, conferences and events, by providing an integrated service which satisfies not just the demand for meeting spaces, but also hotel rooms, locations for gala evenings, and related entertainment and tourist activities. And the increasingly growing choice of Milan as an international congress destination, the success of the Destination Milan project, the MAP – Milan Ambassador programme and, lastly, the extension work to the MIC – Milan Convention Centre which is just about to begin and which, in 2011, will give us the largest congress centre in Europe, are proof that we are going in the right direction.”
