The global telecoms industry will continue to spend its hard-earned cash in Barcelona every winter for the foreseeable future, because Mobile World Congress is staying put.
The uber-trade show will remain in the Catalan capital through 2023, organiser the GSMA announced on Tuesday. The industry body has extended its agreement with the city by five years.
"Our 2015 event marked the 10th year we’ve held Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and over that period of time, we’ve received tremendous support from all of our Mobile World Congress and Mobile World Capital Barcelona partners," said GSMA chief executive officer John Hoffman, in a statement.
"We look forward to further building on our success together in the years ahead.," he said.
Then known as 3GSM, the annual mobile industry event moved to Barcelona from Cannes in 2006, having outgrown its French Riviera location. According to the Total Telecom archives, the 2005 show attracted 34,000 visitors; 10 years on, this year’s event pulled 94,000 visitors, the GSMA proclaimed.
With the rapid growth in numbers showing no sign of abating, Barcelona will continue to instil a certain dread for those of us attempting to "do Congress" without blowing an entire 12 months’ worth of travel budget; the year of the ‘pigeon apartment’ was a particular lowlight for our editorial team.
And we’re past the summer solstice now, which means that we’re probably just weeks away from the panic that inevitably ensues when someone notices the cost of Easyjet flights to north eastern Spain creeping up for the following February.
Drawbacks aside, the familiarity of Barcelona has its benefits; we can navigate the city – if not the show floor – without a map, and know exactly where to head for late-night tapas or to catch a crucial football tie.
Come February 2016, you’ll know where to find us…
