AIPC, the International Association of Congress Centres, has announced that with all preliminary analysis of entries now complete…
AIPC, the International Association of Congress Centres, has announced that with all preliminary analysis of entries now complete, there are 16 finalists in this year`s Apex Award competition for World`s Best Congress Centre.
These finalists have been selected on the basis of their ability to meet all competition criteria, as well as their ability to subsequently identify a sufficient number of client evaluators to meet judging requirements. The judging of competing centres will be done on the basis of how well identified clients rate each centre as evaluated by the Apex Award team led by Professor Jerzy Jaworski of the University of Applied Sciences in Heilbronn, Germany.
The 16 finalists for 2004 are:
- Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre
- Palau de Congresos de Catalunya, Barcelona
- Belfast Waterfront Hall
- Bregenzer Festspiel- und Kongresshaus Gmbh
- Brighton Centre
- Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
- Cairns Convention Centre
- International Convention Center Durban
- Goteborg Convention Centre
- Balai Sidang Jakarta Convention Center
- m:con – Congress Center Rosengarten, Mannheim
- Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre
- ICM – Internationales Congress Center Munchen
- Sandton Convention Centre
- Piramide de Arona, Tenerife
- Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre
This year`s competition is taking place with new qualification and evaluation criteria that have made the competition even more rigorous than before, so we are very pleased that so many entrants have met the first stage successfully, said AIPC President Barbara Maple. As always, this competition is based entirely on client evaluations, which mean that the results are a true measure of quality performance and help us recognize excellence in our industry.
The Apex Award is made annually on the basis of an independent blind evaluation process used by Professor Jaworski to ensure an objective analysis of evaluation criteria. These criteria address a series of factors including congress facilities, project management, catering and technical capabilities, and result in a collective score that represents the best overall performer. The evaluation process generates not only a winner but a series of reports which allow each finalist to assess their performance and improve future performance.
The Apex Award winner will be announced on August 4, 2004 at this year`s AIPC Annual Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Previous Apex Award winners have been the Palacio de Congresos y de la Musica de Bilbao in Spain, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in Canada, the Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre in Australia and Congress Innsbruck in Austria.
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