Kaohsiung has been chosen to host the 59th ICCA Congress in 2020 after what has been described as “the most competitive bidding exercise in the association’s history”.
The decision was announced by ICCA President Nina Freysen-Pretorius during the association’s general assembly at the 56th congress in Prague, Czech Republic.
Eight ICCA destination teams submitted first-round bids before IMEX in May, with three shortlisted. Kaoshiung, in the south-west of Taiwan, was competing against Yokohama, Japan, and Cartagena de Indias in Colombia.
Freysen-Pretorius described the three presentations as “creative, passionate, but also strongly business-focused, each with their own personality”.
“In any other year, any one of the three could easily have been a worthy winner,” she said. “ICCA has made enormous efforts to provide constructive advice and feedback throughout the bidding process to help all finalists to gain valuable skills bid that can help their overall bidding excellence, but at the end of the day there can only be one winner.”
Freysen-Pretorius said Kaohsiung told “a compelling story of a city that is re-inventing itself through the power of meetings” and would help ICCA engage more effectively with Asia-Pacific based associations. The bid showed “great team cohesion and offered tremendous value for money”.
“I have no doubt that 2020 will be a wonderful Congress experience for our entire global community,” she said. “Yokohama and Cartagena should also be congratulated on their extremely professional, impressive bids”.
Next year’s 57th congress will be held in Dubai, UAE, while Houston, USA, will host the 58th congress in 2019.
