Argentina, in the Latin American ranking, is in second position behind Brazil, above Mexico, Colombia and Chile, and occupies 25th place worldwide, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), which presented the annual ranking in the trade fair specialized in meeting tourism in Frankfurt, IMEX 2024.
The City of Buenos Aires leads the ranking of cities in America and is in 14th place in terms of cities in the world.
It should be noted that each country has tourist destinations that become main attractions for business travelers, these include places such as museums, zoos, historical sites or sites of great natural beauty such as the Iguazú Falls – one of the New 7 Wonders. of Nature since 2011.
In this way, the participants of the event arrive at the destination to be part of the proposed program and attracted in turn by the tourist attractions of the place. They generally have an agenda from the event organizers, which allows them to enjoy their stay, getting to know some of the most beautiful tourist places in the country, which also encourages participants to return on a pleasure trip in a future.
Regarding the positioning of Argentina as a meeting tourism destination, the Undersecretary of Tourism of the Ministry of the Interior, Yanina Martínez, highlighted that “the meeting tourism segment has enormous potential, which is why it is essential to continue working federally and jointly with the private sector to attract many more conferences and corporate events to our country and the provinces.”
Argentina, through the National Institute for Tourism Promotion, participated in IMEX 2024, which took place in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, from May 14 to 16, where the performance of countries and cities in the organization of corporate events was announced. .
The Argentine delegation was made up of four destinations (City of Buenos Aires, Puerto Iguazú, Mendoza and Villa La Angostura), in addition to the Argentine Chamber of Tourism accompanying 16 companies specialized in this segment.
For her part, Lorena Yanez, executive manager of the Iguazú Convention Bureau of the city that houses Iguazú Falls, commented that they have good expectations since “IMEX Frankfurt is famous for its opportunities to establish contacts with event organizers and quality incentives Therefore, the presence of the Iguazú Convention Bureau with more than 20 meeting requests received confirms its importance”.
And she highlighted “Imex was an excellent opportunity to present the Iguazú destination to the main organizers of events and incentives who seek to choose innovative proposals for their clients, we are very happy with our participation”.
At the fair, presentations, training, announcements and meetings were held with the main international hosted buyers of the MICE segment in order to market the Argentine tourism offer, diversify and position the destinations.
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), meeting tourism is that travel activity that is carried out outside a person’s usual environment for at least 24 hours, meeting the requirements of established meetings. This type of tourism has been classified as one of the fundamental segments of the tourism sector, positioning itself as one of the main drivers of development of the sector and as an important generator of income, employment and investment
Meeting tourism is also known as MICE, which stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions.