This afternoon, the president of the Government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, underscored  “Catalonia's potential as an open, global and welcoming country that’s a leader in attracting trade fairs and congresses”. Torra said the fact that Barcelona will host the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show from 2021 “will help highlight our status as the premier host city for world-renowned trade fairs and congresses”.

 

The head of the executive was speaking at a reception held at the Palau de la Generalitat for the organisers of the ISE, the world’s largest exhibition for AV and systems integration. Other speakers at the event, which was attended by directors of leading companies and entities in the sector, included the chairman of Fira de Barcelona, Pau Relat, and the managing director of Integrated Systems Events, Mike Blackman. The president was accompanied by the Minister of Business and Knowledge, Àngels Chacón; the Director General for Industry, Matilde Villarroya; and the chief executive of ACCIÓ, Joan Romero.

 

At the reception, the president welcomed the ISE organisers and participating businesspeople and entities, and “applauded the initiative of bringing this event to Barcelona”. “It's a great honour for Catalonia to have been selected as the permanent venue for the world’s largest AV exhibition after the latest editions in Amsterdam, a city in which we often see ourselves reflected,” he said.

 

President Torra added: “Catalonia in general and Barcelona in particular are being chosen more and more frequently to host internationally renowned events, including the Mobile World Congress, the Smart City Expo World Congress, Alimentaria, the Internet of Things Solutions World Congress, the IN(3D)USTRY fair, and Automobile Barcelona.”

He also noted that Catalonia “has an advanced audiovisual sector with 2235 companies that employ over 14,000 people and have an annual turnover of around €1.7 billion.”

 

The exhibition, created in 2004, is organised by Integrated Systems Events, a joint venture between AVIXA and CEDIA, the two leading industry associations for the global audiovisual industry. Since its launch, the show has been hosted by Geneva, Brussels and, for the last 11 years, Amsterdam. ISE 2018 attracted 1296 exhibitors and 80,923 attendees.