The premier event of the Greek Meetings’ industry, the 14th Annual HAPCO & DES Conference, titled "Metamorphosis," will take place from Monday, March 10 to Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at the MegaronAthensInternationalConferenceCentre.
This year's theme reflects the transformative power of change, highlighting the evolution of our industry, our community, and our aspirations for the future.
Preliminary Topics:
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & ENGAGEMENT
Best Practices on Client & Stakeholder Engagement
Personal Transformation & Resilience
Upskilling & Advancing in the Meetings Industry
Meta – ΜΟΡΦΩΣΙΣ – Education in the Frontline
Challenging the Gen Z
TRANSFORMATION HORIZON
Debates – The transformation of the Greek Meetings Industry
Metamorphosis in Travel & Aviation – The New Business Model
Conference Hotels & Venues as a Catalyst for Change
The power of collaboration New leadership models Accelerating sustainable development- Diversity Greece - MICE Destination Team Management – Α different approach Trends for hybrid & virtual events New Technologies in the covid-era Accelerating development in the Meetings Industry - What is coming? Knowledge exchange on global level Next Generation Leadership in the frontline Best practices from meetings professionals Wellbeing & Mental Fitness key elements in the business environment Mice partners discussing pricing and contracts in the post-COVID era
Under the Auspices
Registration
Registrations have begun for the 11th Annual Meeting HAPCO & DES, entitled “Reconnect to Accelerate” which will be held on 12th & 13th April, at the Divani Caravel Hotel, in Athens.
In the aftermath of the pandemic which had a great impact on our Industry, we are ready to return to our normal operation more powerful and unified than ever. Our Association and our voice have become stronger by joining forces with the largest DMC Companies in the country.
We have prepared a highly interesting conference program which will include lectures, panel sessions and presentations on the challenges, trends and value of the MICE industry, discussions on the strategy for the future, as well as other key topics related to personal development, mental health, team management, technology, next generation leadership and many other, presented by leading executives and key opinion leaders from Greece and abroad.
The 9th Annual HAPCO Meeting (Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organizers) took place on 11th-12th April 2019 at the Radisson Blu Park Hotel, in Athens.
The congress focused on the following areas of interest and thematic streams:
Strategic development of the MICE Industry
The Human Approach
Innovation & Technologies
Opportunities for the development of the Meetings Industry in our country
Promotion of Greece as an “all seasons” meetings destination
Adjusting and adopting on the latest international trends of the Industry
2030 Vision
Improvement of provided services;
Emerging leaders – Bringing in the young generation
The congress program also included IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organizers) Educational Seminars on topics such as: "Designing the Future of Brand Experience" and "Top Tips for Embedding Technology in Your Next Event" by Kim Myhre, Managing Director of MCI Experience.
During the two-day congress participants had the privilege to benefit from experts from the MICE industry as well as highly qualified professionals from other fields in Technology, Management, GDPR, Consulting, Human Resource Management, Communication, Nutrition, Leadership, etc.
During the Opening Ceremony, the General Secretary for Tourism Policy and Development Mr. Giorgos Tziallas, making a report on tourism policy, pointed out that state cooperation with the private sector contributed to the increase of numbers in Tourism by 35% over the last four years. He also stressed that the growth rate of Tourism is three times higher than the growth rate of the economy, including all related sectors.
In an effort to extend the “season”, the Secretary-General of the Greek National Tourism Organization, Mr. Konstantinos Tsegas, stated that the “Government supports various actions to that direction and in order to do so, specifications for the congress centers have been imposed and financial motives have been provided for the construction and improvement of the facilities…"
Mrs Irene Tolis, President of the Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organizers - HAPCO, expressed her gratitude to the Athens Concert Hall & International Convention Center, the only congress center in Athens capable of hosting national & international events with a capacity of maximum of 2,500-3,500 attendees.
She also highlighted the lack of a large Convention Center in Greece, which will allow biddings for large -scale events, stressing that "our goal is to be competitive, to use state of the art technology, to have the support of the state and the authorities and last but not least to, convince all parties of the importance of the Congress Industry for Greece ". The need to join forces was highlighted by all invited speakers.
HAPCO welcomes the new generation – emerging Leaders
One of HAPCO’ s main priorities and strategic goals for the future, is to enhance the interest of young people in the Meetings Industry, to make them more active in actions initiated by the Association and to alert them in regards to the potentials for development in the Industry. In this sense, HAPCO Program Committee launched a competition among colleges & universities involved in the Industry. The competition, launched during the congress, for undergraduate or postgraduate students in Tourism studies, will definitely become a part of all future HAPCO congresses as it was undoubtably very successful.
The essays and presentations were impressive and showcased the enthusiasm of young leaders to shape the Industry by using all future trends.
The new HAPCO BoD was elected
The General Assembly and Elections took place at the end of the 2-day event. The new Board of Directors for the term 2019-2022, is as follows:
The 9th Panhellenic Conference on Business and Conference Tourism, organized by τhe Hellenic Association of Professional Congress Organizers - HAPCO, will take place on April 11th & 12th, 2019, at Radisson Blu Park hotel, Athens, having the title: ‘Shaping the future’.
The conference will focus on crucial concerns identified by the Greek conference and touristic sector, with an eye to the future.
The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO), esteemed professionals representing the local and international conference market, political liberty representatives, distinguished members of the academic community as well as representatives of organizations/associations of the tourism sector will take part in the conference.
During the two-day conference proceedings, the following subjects which concern the conference tourism will be developed:
Development strategies in the constantly changing Meetings Industry
PCO-DMC Alliance: Challenges & Trends
GDPR 2
Negotiation Skills
Team Management
Organising a Corporate Meeting
IAPCO Educational Session
New Technologies
Leadership Skills
Press Office and Publicity Press Office and Publicity
Abstract Presentations and Awards: Youth is Shaping the Future
Developments in Social media: Challenges & trends for the professional digital profile
Congress and Hotel infrastructure: the future
Conference Review
To read the final Conference Review please click here
Photo Album
To view to Conference Photo Album please click here
Due to the valued assistance of our sponsors P.C. Podimatas Audiovisual S.A. as well as Chorus Call Hellas S.A., you can see live the 6th conference here.
