In 2004, the autonomous north western Spanish region of Galicia made a bold move to attract international business by building a colossal new venue offering 428,000sqm not far from the region’s capital. Feira International de Galicia [FIG], in Pontevedra near Santiago de Compostela, was created in a time of European prosperity, a project of Manuel Fraga Iribarne, then president of the Autonomous Government of Galicia, conceived to build opportunity for international events.
The sprawling concrete structure may have made its mark on the Galician landscape with its acres of space, onsite stadium, grand pillars, grand entrance and even grander aspirations, but the adage ‘build it and they will come’ appears to have gone unfulfilled. Business isn’t attracted to grandeur alone. A decade on and many of its rooms may never house the type of attendee they were constructed to accommodate. Municipal development throughout the region and the subsequent creation of smaller exhibition venues in Galicia’s four provinces, tied to regional complication, has rendered it more or less empty; a white elephant.
So where did Iribarne’s bid to court the international trade show community falter? There’s certainly no shortage of globally-exploitable industry; Galicia is home to almost 2.7 million people including leading industrialists such as the world’s third-wealthiest man Amancio Ortega, owner of the world’s largest textile group Inditex, parent of brands including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius. The world’s largest fishing company Pescanova is based in the Port of Vigo, which is also the world’s largest fishing port. Ourense, the inland city that made its name, literally, as a mecca for gold miners, stands as the second largest thermal city in Europe after Budapest, busy exporting its thermalism spa and wellbeing show Termatalia to Latin America.
The region is an attractive prospect for pre- and post-event tourism. The ‘land of a thousand rivers’ is lined by 1,030 miles of rugged coastline, broken by tranquil coves and inlets famed for providing some of the best seafood in the world courtesy of the fertile Atlantic. This in itself is a significant point of differentiation for Galicia, given Spain’s more popular association with the Mediterranean. And while relatively isolated compared with Spain’s primary venues in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and other major cities, four high speed trains a day run between Madrid and Santiago de Compostela.
On paper it seems Galicia’s failure to launch as a destination for international exhibition business is difficult to explain. Neither geography nor communication are the main factors here. Instead the greatest obstacle Galicia must overcome is that of convincing the region’s highly-protective trade federations of the need to forge partnerships with global event organisers and exhibitors. As an autonomous region Galicia is naturally protective of its independence, but there is a sense that while the region has been provided with windows to local industry, local protectionism is pulling the curtains shut.
Silvestre Mota, executive director of Agencia Inova, a Portuguese company looking to launch in the region, claims: “There is, unfortunately, protection where local businesses compete with companies from abroad. But you can’t only offer local products because people attending expect to see companies from abroad. After all, that’s what they see in the shops.”
Taking the lead
To combat this, a new association has been created to spearhead Galicia’s campaign for international exhibition business. AGAFE was established at the beginning of 2013 and now represents 50 companies including service suppliers, organisers and exhibition centres throughout Galicia and across the region’s southern border in Portugal. It hopes to internationalise trade in the region and overcome localism in order to introduce wealth and global business.
“We try to eliminate localism so that all the partners can play in unity, and become more and more competitive,” says AGAFE and Expourense MD, as well as director of the International Tourism Fair of the Iberian Peninsula Thermal (Termatalia), Alejandro Rubin. “The autonomous administration knows this and is an important supporter in helping AGAFE to achieve this. The aim is to send a clear offer to other countries and markets, and bring different events, congresses and fairs to Galicia,” he adds. And of course, given Spain’s bleak financial outlook, there is a pressing need for international trade. “The economic situation nowadays dictates that this local protectionism cannot remain and from this, and therefore it can be easier to reach that unity.”
AGAFE has the backing of the tourism board and IGAPE, the Economic Institute of Galicia, and includes Muestralo, organiser of not just multi-sectoral fairs but specialist events such as shipping fair Navalia, Galician real estate fair Inmobi, alternative energy fair Enernova. But despite being the largest local organiser, any partnerships with international organisers for globally branded specialised fairs are yet to manifest.
One way AGAFE has come closer to achieving its goal is by getting the backing of the many small Galician businesses that as a united group, carry significant industrial weight. Any international organiser intent on bringing a show to Galicia is typically referred to local trade associations (a mixture of private and public sector companies), which in turn assess whether or not such a show is likely to make a positive impact on the region and related local industry. The support of bodies such as the Federation of Self-Workers of Galicia (FEAGA), is expected to create quite an ally for AGAFE.
Galicia’s venue offering
Leading the way in terms of event destinations in Galicia are Expourense, A Coruna, Vigo and Lugo.
Expourense, with 8,000sqm of indoor space and acoustically optimised concert room for 10,000, sits in the heart of a centre known for fashion and thermalism. Ourense’s natural hot water makes it the second largest thermal city in Europe after Budapest. Its thermalism show Termatalia has since made the move to Lima, Peru and will next take place in Argentina, in parallel with the primary event in Ourense. These thermal fairs are seemingly well-placed to be exported, due to their growing stock in the spa and wellness industry. Latin America is, according to Expourense’s Javier Pavon, “in great need” of suppliers for the thermalism industry.
There is a great desire to create international business links at Expourense, making it perhaps Galicia’s leader in internationalising the region’s offering. It is also home to AGAFE’s office. “If every two years you take the event out internationally, you make people aware that an event is truly international. It’s very important in a city of just 100,000 to get the internationalisation across,” says Pavon.
Power shifted to A Coruna from Santiago at the turn of the century, making it the centre of power for political events. ExpoCoruna, managed by the Instituto Ferial de A Coruña Foundation (IFECO), comprises an internal and external exhibition area of 26,000sqm. IFECO aims to promote and foster economic activity through regular competitions, fairs, events and exhibitions, and in particular those relating to technological innovation. A second venue, Palexco, near the port, offers 10,000sqm and is more popular for maritime events. A new industrial port is being built 10km out of the city.
In Lugo, El Pazo de Feiras e Congresos de Lugo has 12,000sqm of mixed-use space. The region around Lugo is known for its fashion and art fairs. Tectonica, a special event held here to promote Portugal, provides further evidence of the region’s close ties with the country that shares its southern border.
In Vigo, IFEVI is home to the regional construction fair Sico, which IFEVI claims is attended by more than 25,000 people. The venue offers 11,000sqm of space and is home to a large motorshow as well as shipping event Conxemar. It’s the largest climate-controlled venue on offer in Galicia, with a large auditorium featuring retractable tiered seating for 5,000. As such it is the venue best positioned to host consumer events in the region. It already counts international sports championships and a major equitation championship among its consumer event lineup.
Which brings us back to Feira International de Galicia, the white elephant and home of leading regional agricultural fair Semana Verde de Galicia and agricultural machinery fair CIMAG. This venue is equipped to house international fairs, but now shows its age. It was commissioned and built in a bull market, but today neither Galicia nor Spain is enjoying a time of prosperity, suffering instead from austerity measures imposed in the wake of the global economic crisis.
There is increasing pressure on the four provinces to make good on the investment that created the region’s venues, and AGAFE must ensure they are all onboard if it is to win the international business it deserves.
Perhaps the regional economic slump has prompted this drive to reconfigure the local mindset, pushing local business towards international partnerships. But with AGAFE Galicia has found a solution the protectionism arises from this economic adversity.
This was first published in issue 1/2014 of EW. Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
