The Convention Bureau of Quito, Ecuador invited me to speak at the annual conference they are organising for their stakeholders. In 2016 the focus was on meeting venues and their strategic-, business- and sales development. We had around 60 very interested participants from hotels to convention centers, but also polititians and other important stakeholders as well as ambassadors of the meetings industry in Quito. I can only congratulate the CVB for this great initiative that definitely supports internal communication and knowledge within this great city.

Skellefteå Municipality invited to a public architectural competition in November 2015 for the design of a new cultural center and hotel in central Skellefteå. The competition has been conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Association of Architects and in accordance with the Swedish Public Procurement Act.

The purpose was to receive proposals for a building where many institutions and functions, e.g. meetings and congresses, theatre, library and exhibitions, could be assembled.

The competition was assessed by 11 jury members, all with different expertise for the various functions of the building. 55 proposals were approved for the competition and the jury work started at the end of February 2016.  Apart of the appearance, a very high value was set on the functionality.

At the end of May, after several meetings and evaluations in groups where the number of candidates was narrowed down, a best proposal was defined. “Sida vid Sida” (“side by side”) from the Swedish Architects Robert Schmitz and Oskar Norelius – White Arkitekter, Sweden.  The winning project is a graceful wooden construction which will be able to give added value and a clear USP to the city.

Skelleftea

Kulturhus.pdf

In 2014 I successfully completed an assignment on a challenging project in cooperation with GIZ. The task was to evaluate the potential of the cities of Kiev, Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv with respect the meetings industry and evaluate their future potential for development. In a first appraisal mission I visited the four cities and held workshops with the most important stakeholders such as tourism associations, members of the regional government, agencies, hoteliers and administrators of universities in the public and private sectors.

The insights I gained from the workshops enabled me to develop tailor-made strategies and to train staff. The goal – the establishment of conference offices in the respective cities – was achieved in Kiev and Lviv, and they were also able to take part in international exhibitions. Thanks to the training, the conference offices were able to start off on a professional footing.

In 2012 I had the pleasure to organise a very successful ‘Win with the Lion’ Tourism Forum in Lviv together with Lviv Tourism. As a member of the Forum Committee, and speaker I supported with content and speaker engagement. Our presentations encouraged Ukrainian tourism stakeholders to start new projects. The cooperation also included crucial meetings with the tourism and MICE stakeholders of Lviv City, leading to a series of upcoming initiatives and projects, such as establishment of Lviv Convention Bureau.