The workshop MIS International 120 professionals in Bilbao

A complete experience

MIS International is an experiential workshop that brings together international meeting and incentive organisers, destinations, hotels, venues and providers over 3 days / 2 nights to meet, play and build stronger business relationships in a dynamic and friendly environment. Concretely, this 5th edition brought more than 50 European buyers to Bilbao for business meetings, as well as a fun and engaging social programme to connect with other participants and to discover the city’s attractions.

Productive business meetings

On both mornings of the event, the meetings took place in the stylish The Artist hotel. Technology didn’t replace networking, but it did facilitate it. The Meetmaps app made it possible to schedule meetings among these more than 100 professionals. A total of 1,247 meetings were confirmed, 2,226 contacts were scanned by the app, 643 messages were sent, posts sharing their experience by all participants, totalling 4,590 interactions.

Air, land and water…

The participants enjoyed the city mainly on foot, a great asset of Bilbao’s concentrated size. For instance, on the first night, they walked from the hotel to the Azkuna Zentroa – Alhóngida Bilbao, an old wine warehouse which was reconverted to the city’s cultural and leisure centre, designed by Philippe Starck.

Up in the air, participants were treated with a bird’s eye view of the city with lunch on the 29th floor of the Iberdrola Tower. And about views… A welcome drink and morning breakfasts were served at The Artist hotel’s rooftop, complete with an exclusive view of Guggenheim Museum,

From going to the different venues of the event to the different cultural and social activities planned, public transport was used for further distances: the farewell dinner brought the group to Getxo where they took a boat ride; offering another perspective to seeing the city, and chartered buses back to the hotel.

The second day’s afternoon was dedicated to discover and experience the city, in an à la carte programme, as well as to give both buyers and suppliers a relaxed and engaging environment to build relationships. Activities included:

visit to the city’s emblematic Palacio Euskalduna, a modern architectural icon designed as a ship rising from Bilbao’s old shipyard grounds, and ended with an original way to discover the Meliá Bilbao through a series of riddles and surprises
football fans got the VIP treatment at the Athletic Club’s San Mamés Stadium, the “Cathedral of Football”
aquaphiles, got a different perspectives to the city on canoes in the estuary
culture seekers got a first-hand experience of the local traditional Basque ‘Pelota’ and a gastronomy masterclass at the Radisson hotel
cyclists rolled their 2 wheelers along the banks of the river
nature lovers took the funicular up to Mount Artxanda and enjoyed nature “in the city”

Say what?…

The event was a hit for international organisers… Emmanuel Bove (Comeva) says: “the workshop allowed me to meet interesting suppliers and to discover the opportunities in Bilbao while spending 3 really pleasant days!”

Ashish Naik (Dream Destiny) added that “the event has provided our company with an opportunity and introduced us to high-end suppliers for collaborative discussions.”

Suppliers also had a great event, like Charlotte Gerard (Basque DMCs) who was thankful for “a varied programme with a good mix of 1-1 time and opportunities to get to know the host destination and high quality buyers”. María León (SB Hotels) shared “I had a great time! Met awesome people, great connections and had a lot of fun!”

Thank you!

This event was made possible thanks to the support and collaboration of the Bilbao convention bureau, the host hotel The Artist, local DMC NIS, the Euskadi Basque Country administration, and the Meetmaps for the event registration platform and app.