Palma. In 2019, the Convention Centre and adjoining Meliá Palma Bay Hotel hosted 282 events with a total of 65,953 attendees. Among them, the number of local events (38%) is particularly significant and a sign of the excellent reception the facilities have had among local residents and the island’s business community.

By type of event, corporate meetings and conventions continue to generate the greatest volume of activity and together with congresses had a higher number of events than in the previous year. On the other hand, social and cultural events and trade fairs registered their largest attendance to date (more than 33,000 people).

Also of note is the future business confirmed during the year, bearing in mind the significant advance planning that goes into congress organisation. This lays the foundations for growth in the coming years. Business travel numbers expect to break all records in Mallorca in 2020.

With regard to revenue, the Palma Convention Centre and adjacent hotel reached €14.1 Mn over the year, of which 30% was allocated to the public authorities and 29% to employees. The Convention Centre activities also had a significant economic impact on other sectors of the island economy (accommodation, transport, restaurants and bars, etc.) estimated at more than €25 Mn, helping act as an agent for economic transformation in the city.

The Activity Report also emphasises the management model implemented by Meliá Hotels International, the company that operates all the facilities, based on enhancing the capacity of the Palma Convention Centre to boost the sustainable development of the destination. Among the major milestones in 2019, of particular note was participation in the “Circular Hotels” project together with Tirme to support responsible production and consumption in Mallorca by improving the management of organic waste and its reintegration into the productive cycle to minimise the environmental footprint of its activities.

In the social arena, and thanks to the Meliá Hotels International partnership agreement with Obra Social la Caixa, in 2019 the Palma Convention Centre joined the Incorpora programme leading to the employment of people at risk of social exclusion through the Amadip Foundation. The Convention Centre also continues to reinforce its commitment to promote the employability of the young through partnership with different academic institutions on the islands.

Finally, the Managing Director of the Palma Convention Centre, Ramón Vidal – who, together with the Councillor for Tourism on Palma City Council and President of the Palma Convention Centre, Elena Navarro, presented the Activity Report today, emphasised all the efforts made to boost business travel to Mallorca, stating that “Palma Convention Centre has acted as an essential stimulus to strengthen the cooperation between public and private organisations on the islands to create a MICE strategy and destination brand”. He highlighted the work done by the Mallorca Convention Bureau, the Palma 365 Foundation, the Consell de Mallorca and Balearic Islands Strategic Tourism Agency of the (AETIB) – through the newly created Strategic Tourism Segment (SET) MICE – to unify the promotion of a quality travel product.