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CZECH REPUBLIC – Congress Ambassadors Earn Prestigious Accolades
The Prague Convention Bureau awarded congress ambassadors during the Ambassador Awards Evening for the sixth year in a row.
The sixth edition of the Ambassador Awards Evening was held in Prague ́s Žofín Palace. During this gala evening, the Prague Convention Bureau awarded congress ambassadors who, aside from representing the Czech Republic in international professional associations, had successfully promoted Prague as a suitable venue for international congresses and, in view of this, had greatly facilitated the development of the convention industry in Prague last year. This prestigious event was organized under the auspices of Karla Šlechtová, Minister of Regional Development, and Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of the City of Prague.
The following ambassadors were awarded during the evening:
- Corporate Event of the Year 2014: Mary Kay.
- Congress of the Year 2014 (up to 500 participants): Štěpán Holub for the 52nd Annual Congress of the International Association of Young Lawyers.
- The Prague Congress Centre went to Professor Vladimír Beneš, M.D. for the 15th Congress of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies.
- Candidacy of the Year 2014: Bohumil Seifert, M.D., Ph.D. for the European Conference of the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians (WONCA) to be organized in Prague in 2017.
- Congress of the Year 2014: Karolína Gondková for the 26th Congress of the European Association for International Education.
- The Award for the Contribution to Congress Industry was presented to Professor Jan Starý, M.D., Head, Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, and Professor Julius Špičák, M.D., Head, Department of Hepatogastroenterology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague.
Moreover, there were words of praise from Minister of Regional Development, Karla Šlechtová: “I must say that congress tourism is one of really substantial contributions to the total volume of tourism in this republic. Take last year, for instance, when convention events and, more importantly, convention attendees rose in number. In comparison with the 2013 figures, the increase in the number of convention tourists amounted to eight per cent, which represents a tremendous achievement.”
Prague is almost ideally suited for holding congresses due to its geographical position, traffic infrastructure, attractive cultural heritage, and an abundance of hotel and presentation facilities, from historical to modern ones, and as a consequence its convention industry has been recently experiencing a great boom. In the year 2014 alone, 3,667 conferences attended by almost 545,000 participants were held in Prague.