Luxembourg Convention Bureau Launched

On Tuesday 4 June 2019, Luxembourg's Ministry of Economy held a press conference to announce the formation of the new company, GIE Luxembourg Convention Bureau.

Lex Delles (Minister of Tourism), Lydie Polfer (Mayor of Luxembourg City) and Serge Wilmes (Luxembourg city alderman) were present to address the Luxembourg Convention Bureau and its activities to attract professional events in Luxembourg.

The professional events segment has considerable growth potential in Luxembourg and helps to enhance the image and visibility of the Grand Duchy at the international level. To the extent that it contributes to the strengthening of priority sectors such as logistics, environmental technologies, ICT and space technologies, this sector of professional events, congresses and conferences is an important vector of economic development.

The 2018-2023 government programme retains the ambition to make Luxembourg's tourism sector MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) one of the 50 best destinations for the organisation of international events. The Ville de Luxembourg has so far put its skills at the service of the sector concerned through the Luxembourg City Tourist Office (LCTO) and its "Luxembourg Convention Bureau" department.

At the end of 2018, the Tourism Directorate of the Ministry of the Economy and the Ville de Luxembourg created the "G.I.E. Luxembourg Convention Bureau" (LCB), a congress bureau that will work in close cooperation with all Luxembourg players and will be a key lever for the development of the professional events sector in Luxembourg. As a privileged interlocutor of national and international convention organisers, the LCB is a crucial step and an important link in the ambitious process of restructuring and professionalisation of the sector. This structure aims to develop this promising sector in Luxembourg.

The LCB identifies and organises potentially interesting conferences for Luxembourg and coordinates the application process of people wishing to organise international congresses in Luxembourg. Thus, it contributes to the success of the economic promotion policy of the Grand-Duchy by attracting attention, know-how, partnerships and investments towards the priority sectors of economic development through professional events (conferences, congresses, corporate events, etc.).

The LCB's CEO, François Lafont, is scheduled to take up office in June 2019. As manager of the Convention Bureau of the City of Toulouse, François Lafont boasts a proven professional experience in the professional events sector. He has successfully led the creation and implementation of the convention office in Toulouse, after managing the Toulouse Convention Center and the Saint-Etienne Convention Center.

Minister of Tourism, Lex Delles, said "Thanks to the work of the LCB, in collaboration with all professionals in the sector, Luxembourg aims to be recognised as a reference destination in Europe for international events, congresses and conferences in terms of innovation and creativity. This ambition is based, among other things, on the work carried out over the last few years by the sector players gathered within the MICE Luxembourg Cluster, which has been integrated into the new LCB structure."

For her part, the mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer, highlighted the capital's willingness to actively support this major project: "I am delighted to know that this project will benefit from the know-how and the long experience of the LCTO and that the capital will continue to host a significant part of the activities of the sector". Serge Wilmes, 1st Alderman of the City of Luxembourg and President of G.I.E. Luxembourg Convention Bureau, added "the two key success factors of the LCB to respond efficiently to the expectations of a demanding clientele will be effective networking of the actors involved and the professionalism of the team in place".