According to the latest rankings from the Union of International Associations (UIA), Brussels, hosting 556 meetings in 2012, retained its 2010 and 2011 ranking as Europe’s leading destination for international association congresses, and finished second globally behind Singapore.
Differing from the rating criteria of the International Congress and Convention Association, which presently has Brussels at 14th globally, Brussels-based UIA counts just international association meetings, along with other two- and three-day international gatherings. Regardless, Belgium’s and Europe’s capital is a congressional lion, after the city’s popular moniker—in all, 7 million people met in Brussels last year.
“World capital for international associations and home to the European Union, NATO and thousands of press correspondents and lobbyists, Brussels is no ordinary city for meetings,” says Veronique Boyens, Brussels CVB’s New York-based MICE manager for the U.S. “Strategically surrounded by Paris, London and Amsterdam, this is the city where decisions are made every day. It is no exaggeration to state that if you want to be heard while meeting your goals and objectives of attendance, there’s no better place than Brussels!”
With much in common, including having the world’s highest number of diplomats and foreign journalists, the tourism bureaus of Brussels and Washington, D.C., formed their “Power Cities Alliance” in 2011.
“The program so far has increased awareness of both cities as leading destinations for association meetings,” Boyens says. “Along with developing joint professional events throughout the year, we are creating tools to better calculate the tangible results of the Alliance and to better serve our marketing goals.”
Like D.C., bilingual (French and Dutch, with English widely spoken) Brussels surprises with a wealth of cultural, heritage and dining options, along with a mature congressional and hospitality infrastructure, and conference support services.
Comfortably blending business with pleasure, Brussels and other attractive group destinations around the country make accessible, strategically located Belgium a driving force of the European meetings scene.PageBreak
CAPITAL IDEAS
That Belgium is such a magnet for international gatherings is no surprise, for this small but mighty nation’s legacy includes serving as a major center of internationalism (today’s globalization) and free trade prior to World War I.
Blending Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau architectural styles with the EU’s and NATO’s institutional modernism, compact Brussels is the country’s congressional capital, offering more than 17,000 hotel rooms and numerous meeting venues.
In the vibrant Mont des Arts cultural quarter in the heart of Brussels, SQUARE offers high-tech, multifunctional space for gatherings ranging from summits to gala dinners. Housed in the former Palais des Congres from the 1958 World Expo, SQUARE is within walking distance of 13,000 hotel rooms, and stands conveniently across from Central Station, ideal for train connections and transfers to Brussels International Airport, just eight miles away.
SQUARE’s versatility includes partnering with the adjacent BOZAR (Centre for Fine Arts) and its 2,200-seat concert hall for large gatherings.
About 20 minutes from the city center, Brussels Expo offers 12 voluminous halls, including five from the Universal Exposition of 1935, plus an auditorium accommodating 1,800 people. Opened last summer, Hall 12, accommodating up to 15,000 spectators, is Brussels’ biggest congress and entertainment space.
Another historic headliner is the versatile Tour & Taxis, its four giant early 19th century sheds hosting annual events such as The Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair, Book Fair and European Business Summit.PageBreak
With hotels across all price points and styles, leading group properties include the 149-room (12 suites included) Sofitel Brussels Europe, offering 11 meeting rooms accommodating up to 300 people; the glamorous Art Deco-era Hotel Metropole, with 286 rooms; and the 354-room Crowne Plaza Brussels Le Palace.
Serving as Europe’s political, legislative and legal center is serious business, but Brussels has a playful side, too, symbolized by local icons such as the irreverent Mannekin Pis statue (1619), and Tintin and the Smurfs, two stars of the city’s famed comic strip art tradition.
Brussels is one of Europe’s culinary capitals (see Online Extra! sidebar on MeetingsFocus.com) and a hotbed of heritage and culture.
Flanked by ornamented Guild Halls and the landmark City Hall with its towering Gothic spire, 12th century Le Grand-Place, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Europe’s finest medieval market squares. The Royal Museums of Fine Art are world-renowned for works from Flemish greats, including Bosch, Rubens and Magritte, while the Musical Instruments Museum, housed in a restored department store, offers sweeping city views from its terraced cafe.
An enduring legacy of the 1958 World’s Fair, the event-capable Atomium, a towering sculpture representing an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, is a landmark often referred to as Brussels’ Eiffel Tower. With the Belgian Comic Strip Center among other quintessential Brussels-area venues (see Online Extra! sidebar at MeetingsFocus.com), groups have a number of incentivizing options elsewhere in Belgium.PageBreak
FOR THE RECORD
When Julius Caesar extended the Roman Empire into Europe around 57 BC, his armies encountered the Celtic Belgae tribe, and subsequently named their new territory Gallia Belgica. Needless to say, this lineage makes Belgium a treasure trove of discoveries, with villages and castles from across the centuries dotting its picturesque landscapes.
About an hour by train from Brussels in northwestern Belgium near the Dutch border, Bruges was a major settlement during the Middle Ages. Typical of other villages from that era, such as Ghent and Mons (European Capital of Culture for 2015), exquisitely preserved Bruges unfolds from its UNESCO-protected medieval center. With canals and cobblestone streets enhancing its fairytale ambience, Bruges also offers the modern Congress Center, accommodating up to 1,000 delegates.
With an astonishing 3,000-plus battlefields, Belgium’s war legacy includes the annihilating trench combat of World War I and the savage fighting in the Battle of the Bulge that led to the end of the European campaign in World War II. From the Menin Gate in Ypres to the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial between Liege and Aachen to the War Memorial in Bastogne, the past is always present in Belgium. Eight miles southeast of Brussels lies Waterloo, where groups can tour the Lion’s Mound and other features of the battlefield were Napolean was defeated in 1815.
Home to Europe’s second-largest port, avant-garde Antwerp is the world’s diamond capital. Along with the famed Diamond District, group gems here include the UNESCO-listed Plantin-Moretus Museum, the former home and studio of Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens and the contemporary Museum of Modern Art.
Did somebody say Spa? This welcoming oasis near Liege, often referred to as the “Pearl of the Ardennes,” is the birthplace of hydrotherapy and home to such draws as Les Thermes de Spa, the Laundry Museum and the world’s oldest casino, dating to 1763.
