Valencia Conference Centre Wins 2010 AIPC Apex Award
for "World's Best Convention Centre"

The Board of Directors of the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) has announced the Valencia Conference Centre as the winner of the 2010 Apex Award for "World's Best Convention Centre". The Award was presented at the 2010 AIPC Annual Conference in Liverpool from amongst a group of 27 finalists who had qualified for the competition.

"We are delighted that our colleagues from Valencia have received this honour and is clear that they have set a proud example for centres in Spain", said AIPC President Edgar Hirt. "It demonstrates the high level of performance in this area and provides an example against which other centres can be assessed".


The AIPC Apex Award is based on an extensive analysis of customer input under the auspices of the Faculty of Science, Politics and Economics from  the University of Brussels, and reflects an unbiased picture of centre performance through the eyes of its customers. The analysis covers a range of areas including such topics as congress facilities, project management, customer relations, catering and technology. "This is a very extensive process, and one that ensures an exhaustive review of competing centres", said Hirt. "As an example, there were more than 1,000 reviews submitted and tabulated for this year's Award."
 
The AIPC Board also recognized the two runners-up to this year's award; Bregenzer Festspiel- und Kongresshaus and the Congress Centre-Sofia. "These centres also deserve recognition along with the overall winner, given how competitive the results were amongst the 27 finalists", said Hirt. "We also consider the entire range of competitors to be winners in the sense that the process of analysis creates a valuable insight into how their customers regard the various aspects of their operation, and this is information that centres can use to further enhance their operations".

The 27 finalists for 2010 were:

Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre
Adelaide Convention Centre
Congress Center Basel
Belfast Waterfront
Bregenzer Festspiel- und Kongresshaus Gmbh
Brighton Centre
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Cairns Convention Centre
Cape Town International Convention Centre
Darwin Convention Centre
International Convention Center Durban
Messe Congress Graz
Congress und Messe Innsbruck
International Convention Center Jerusalem
Kyoto International Conference Center
Lisboa Congress Centre
m:con - Congress Center Rosengarten
Le Corum Congress Center
Palais des congrès de Montréal
Nantes International Convention Centre
Kursaal Centre
Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre
Congress Centre-Sofia, National Palace of Culture
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Tampere Hall
Valencia Conference Centre
Hofburg Vienna