Organizing a Business Event in Barcelona: A Step-by-Step Guide

When it comes to business, Barcelona is a city that really does have it all.

The Mediterranean metropolis links a range of territories to make global cooperation a reality. A fantastic international airport welcomes more than 47.3 million passengers per year and a thriving business landscape means that thousands of events are hosted in the city.

The Catalan capital is the perfect location for your next big business event. Let’s take a look at why before we dig into a step-by-step guide on how to organize a business event in Barcelona!

Why to host a business event in Barcelona?

Here’s a look at the main reasons you should definitely be looking at Barcelona.

Barcelona Welcomes New Visitors

Barcelona welcomes millions of visitors each year and this means that its businesses and citizens are well-accustomed to welcoming new visitors. You will find that both your business and your attendees are welcomed with open arms by a thriving community.

Barcelona has an state-of-the-art infrastructure

A range of infrastructure is available to support your needs in Barcelona. Whether you’re looking for a trendy meeting space or a vast conference space, for example, you’ll be absolutely spoiled for choice by what’s on offer.

Barcelona Means Prestige

The Financial Times recently voted Catalonia as the best Southern European Region of the Future. The region already accounts for 24% of all Spanish industry and it attracts huge amounts of foreign investment. Do you want to organize a prestige business event in Barcelona? You’ll have a lot of choices here and you’ll feel right at home.

Barcelona is Sustainable

Barcelona is a hub for business but its citizens wouldn’t dream of turning their back on sustainable values. The city was the first city in the world to be awarded Biosphere certification thanks to its initiatives, making it the perfect location to echo your business’ respect for our environment.

Barcelona is Cosmopolitan

There is no denying that Barcelona is an incredibly cosmopolitan city. It has a strong international reputation and it blends together culture, art, and daily life to offer a unique place to live, work, and visit.

Barcelona is Stylish

You want your business to be presented in the best light at your event. Barcelona is a trendy and well-admired city, so you can’t go wrong by choosing to host your business event here!

How to Organize your business event in Barcelona

Looking to organize a business event in Barcelona? We’ve put together this helpful step-by-step business event guide just for you. Let’s get started on crafting your amazing business event!

Step 1: Define the purpose of your business event

First things first, it’s important that you clearly define the purpose and goals for your event. A clear event scope statement will explain why your event is taking place and what you hope to achieve. Here’s an example:

“First and foremost, our annual sales meeting aims to motivate and entertain 80 sales staff. The event will also build new links between team members, improving teamwork and boosting efficiency throughout the coming year.”

It is important that this is outlined clearly, given that it will help to shape every decision that you make during the planning process. This will help you to get the most from Barcelona, too!

Step 2: Think specifics

Now that you have a clear guiding purpose, it’s time to think about specifics like the location, the date, and the activities that will take place.

At this stage, you do not need to worry about planning. You should simply build upon your scope statement to discover your needs. In the above example, the organizer will begin by looking for spaces that can accommodate for the 80 attendees. They might also wait for a natural period of downtime for the business to organize the event.

Start to think about the specific needs you might have and begin to think about how Barcelona will be able to address them.

Step 3: Put together your team

In order to organize your business event in Barcelona, you’re going to need to enlist the help of a dedicated team! The size of this team will vary according to the needs that you identified in the previous step, but the extra help will really make a difference along the way!

Depending on your business, the way this team is formed will vary. You might have a department for it, or you might have to seek out willing volunteers!

Step 4: Create a concept

Using the input from your amazing new team, you can think about putting together an awesome event concept that will capture the spirit of the event and inspire your attendees. This helps your attendees to remember key takeaways and enjoy the experience.

In the example above, the organizer may decide that “A Brighter Tomorrow” will be the title of their event concept. The event will play on the sunny nature of Barcelona to demonstrate that the sales team is moving forward in the right direction. This concept can be used to guide the development of elements like the itinerary and event marketing materials.

Step 5: Finalize attendees

With your concept in place, you’ll want to finalize a list of attendees. This will make planning your event much simpler and help you to get accurate quotes from the appropriate suppliers.

In the example above, it’s clear that the principal attendees will be the sales staff. But there will also be additional attendees like various managers and associated stakeholders.

Step 6: Organize the logistics

Now that you have an idea of the needs you have, it’s time to start thinking about the logistics. How will your attendees travel? Where will they stay? What will the itinerary look like and what travel rules are in place?

If your business has a corporate travel policy, many of these questions may already be answered for you. If not, you’ll want to think closely about these details and make a shortlist of the potential providers.

Step 7: Visit key locations in Barcelona and meet vendors

Equipped with your shortlist, you’ll want to begin meeting with vendors and visiting key locations. This gives you a chance to really picture the spaces and providers. You should visit key business event locations as well as any other premises you intend to visit.

An on-site visit and opportunity to talk with the vendor will give you a good indication of what you can expect when working with that provider, too.

Step 8: Sign contracts

Once you’ve chosen your vendors and suppliers, you’ll want to begin signing contracts. You may need assistance from your legal department in this case, and you should be very careful to make sure that you mitigate the fallout from any potential risks associated with your event.

Let’s image in our example that a major change is made to the sales department and the event no longer makes sense. The organizers would secure favorable contract terms that would reduce the amount of money they stand to lose.

Step 9: Create invitations

Barcelona is a fun and vibrant city – your invitations should reflect this to inspire your attendees and let them know a wonderful time waits ahead. Barcelona has a strong international reputation, meaning that your team will be thrilled to be visiting.

Step 10: Enjoy the event!

Once everything is in place, the only thing left to do is enjoy the business event itself! The team that you created will be able to help you throughout the event with various tasks that might arise, but you should take the time to revel in your success and feel proud that you have empowered so many people to enjoy an amazing experience.

Enjoy your amazing business event in Barcelona!

We hope that this guide has been helpful for you. If you are looking for the latest news and insights into what Barcelona has to offer businesses, be sure to check out our blog.