This year’s event, organised in collaboration with Convention Bureau Roma e Lazio and EUR S.p.A., owner of the Roma Convention Centre La Nuvola, which hosted the event, promoted values such as internationalisation, knowledge valorisation, inclusivity, and intergenerational collaboration. The project has positioned itself as a benchmark in the global MICE landscape — a fact confirmed by Italy’s performance in the ICCA 2024 rankings, where the country placed second globally and first in Europe for international congresses hosted.
The Exchange is a strategic and exclusive B2B platform. It facilitates high-level interaction between carefully selected international association representatives and Italian destinations, offering a structured environment for dialogue and collaboration.
The event combines curated one-to-one meetings, working tables, technical site inspections, and networking opportunities. For three intense days, participants engaged in meaningful discussions and exchanges between the global association community and Italian congress industry stakeholders.
This year’s edition featured over 200 B2B appointments involving convention bureaus, conference centres, PCOs, hotels with event facilities, and major hotel groups, along with 14 international associations, selected for their relevance and strategic potential.
Attendees also took part in 7 site inspections across Rome’s most prestigious venues, hospitality infrastructures, and congress locations.
Building on the 2024 release of the project’s first publication—Guidelines for Stakeholder Management in Bid-Making, a practical guide for congress bidding—the 2025 edition introduced a new thematic focus: “Bid Books: From Ordinary to Extraordinary”
Five dedicated roundtables explored this topic, offering participants—leaders and professionals from across the MICE sector—a forum to address key issues related to the strategic and operational aspects of leadership in the congress arena.
A space driven by collective intelligence, The Exchange fosters shared insight and innovation through dialogue among destinations, professionals, and representatives from the academic and association sectors.
Carlotta Ferrari, President of the Convention Bureau Italia, commented: “The Exchange is a clear example of how collaboration, ideas, and opportunities can be brought together in one space. But lasting success requires strong alliances—particularly with institutions—whose structural support is essential not only to consolidating past achievements, but to ensuring continued growth and long-term investment in the Italian meetings industry.”
The final day of the event, titled “Italy & Rome: Congress Leadership: From Strategy to Execution”, featured the participation of institutional representatives who expressed their support for the congress industry and its strategic relevance for Italy’s global positioning.
This institutional presence underscores the recognition of The Exchange and the broader Italian Knowledge Leaders initiative as pivotal platforms in Italy’s promotion as a knowledge-based destination.
Thanks to institutional involvement and the engagement of the host destination, the final day also offered an opportunity to reflect on the outstanding results achieved by Italy—and by Rome in particular—while reinforcing the importance of long-term collaboration between public and private stakeholders.
Shared objective: to further enhance Italy’s global competitiveness in the meetings and events industry.
The Exchange once again proved to be not just an important appointment on the national calendar, but a practical platform for building relationships, sharing knowledge, and guiding the sustainable growth of Italy’s congress sector.
