News
SPAIN – Spanish venue reports record turnover and delegate satisfaction rating
Despite tough economic conditions, last year proved highly successful for the Kursaal Congress Centre in San Sebastina, Spain. In terms of conferences, it achieved a record turnover for the second year running, while registering a growth in their average size up to 619 attendees.
In fact, the magnitude of the conferences held last year was the decisive factor in achieving record turnover, despite the fact that the number of them fell to 23 from 30 in 2010.
In 2011, Kursaal played host to, among others, IPAC (The International Particle Accelerator Conference), which brought together 1,200 scientists from all over the world; the ESCOP conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology organised by the BCBL – The Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language (1,000 delegates); and to the fifth conference in Spain on the European Union’s Seventh R&D Framework Programme (700 attendees).
Kursaal’s turnover hit € 4.2 million, a 7.9% increase on the figure forecast. A cash surplus of € 825,865 was added, which comes as a result of the activity of the conference centre generating a financial impact within the region of € 53 million during 2011. As in previous years, the surplus is a real milestone, as it ensures the self-finance that the centre has achieved since its opening is maintained.
As in the last five years of the Kursaal Congress Center, the positive figures from 2011 confirm its proven strategy of focusing efforts and resources on the conference segment, which is a stable, robust area where the conference centre and San Sebastian are well-positioned.
This commitment also has another consequence of greater impact in Gipuzkoa, both in terms of its economy and in support for the society of knowledge. Away from strictly economic results, a milestone was reached in terms of client satisfaction, with an average score of 8.6 out of 10. Furthermore, Kursaal Congress Centre managing director Iker Goikoetxea has been elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the IACC (International Association of Conference Centres).