Alberto Catalá,
President of Feria Valencia |
Late last year I sat down with Alberto
Catalá, president of Feria Valencia and asked
him these questions related to Valencia and its
dynamic meetings and exhibition grounds known as
Feria Valencia.
2006 has been
an eventful year for Valencia and particularly with
respect to the events market How has that affected
Feria Valencia?
Effectively this has been a year of great events.
The Pope’s visit in itself produced great impact
and alongside generated business for the City. Feria
Valencia had a major role in the staging of events
during the Pope’s visit and hosted a meeting
of nearly 20,000 people. This coincides with Feria
Valencia’s inauguration of its "Events
Center" last year, which is one of the most
up to date and modern in Spain. This new venue is
the culminating point for a major expansion program,
positioning Feria Valencia in the ranks of the top
trade fairs of Europe and opening the door for increased
business development.
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Valencia continues
establishing itself as a major international player
in the "global marketplace". What is Feria
Valencia doing to capture some of this international
business?
Feria Valencia has not hesitated in going after
this business. Interestingly enough, only a few
months ago, Feria Valencia signed an agreement of
cooperation with The Chicago Trade Fair, opening
up the door to joint cooperation between Spain and
the USA. In the new global economy, Feria Valencia
has decided to "conquer" foreign markets.
It will do so along with its clients. Presently
events are being organized in different parts of
the world, ( Russia, Brazil, USA, United Arab Emirates
and Germany) promoting Feria Valencia in terms of
its type of fairs, organizational capacity and exhibition
space, ultimately this will attract new exhibitors
and bring more customers to Valencia.
What effect
will The America’s Cup have on Feria Valencia?
It already has had an effect and the effect has
been positive. To start with this major sports event
has given a tremendous boost to the international
image of Valencia, and Feria Valencia is synonyms
with Valencia. That’s the first benefit right
there. What’s good for Valencia is good for
Feria Valencia and viceversa. Nevertheless there
are other more tangible results directly related
to The America’s Cup. For example The America’s
Cup has increased interest in The Boat Show held
here. Another example is the synergy between the
regattas being held here in April and the "Vinoelite"
trade fair, which focus on the world’s best
wines. One most not forget that practically every
team, between the sponsors and corporations involved,
have a vested interest in the wine market. Feria
Valencia will pay specific attention to increasing
its relationships with these type of sports events.
Apart from the America’s Cup,
Feria Valencia played host to the worldwide presentation
of the BMW Sauber Team of Formula One. And in 2008
we will be a major supporter of the World indoor
Athletic’s Championship
Does Feria
Valencia have any plans for growth in 2007?
Our institution will base its growth in 2007 on
four major pillars. The first is to increase business
within the exhibitions we organize ourselves. The
second is to increase business with external organizers.
The business development plan for the Events Center
will be the third focus and finally the "international
plan" will be the basis of the forth pillar.
With that, Feria Valencia’s goal is to improve
the business with its customers translating into
an economic impact which would amount to more than
800 million euros per annum.
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