Niko Van Hoof, Event Manager, ALM Conference Centre, Antwerp

20/06/2011

"As was clear at IMEX, Antwerp is now attracting a great deal of interest from meeting planners"

BWMN catches up with Niko Van Hoof, Event Manager of the ALM Conference Centre in Antwerp, to find out more about this exciting new venue.

BWMN: How did the idea to build your conference center come about?
Niko Van Hoof: The background of the facility is in fact rather complicated! ALM is an organization linked to the Federation of Technological Industries of Belgium, which has 1,650 members from all over the country, and operates in 13 different industry sectors, ranging from non-ferrous metals to ICT. Our conference center was originally built as an office infrastructure for our Antwerp-based members, and then evolved into a meeting facility as it became clear that there was a need for such a venue.

When it was realized that there was demand for a commercial meeting space in Antwerp, its 20 meeting rooms were opened to external clients as well. As there are limited conference facilities in the city, ALM decided to further expand the venue and add several much larger multi-functional conference halls, providing it with the capacity to host large-scale international conferences.

The project attracted the famous and award-winning Belgian architectural firm, Crepain Binst Architecture, who specialize in creating modern, green and efficient buildings, and is now nearing completion. The new facilities officially opened in April, and are currently hosting a small volume of events; we are planning for them to become fully operational in September, when we will start promoting the venue on a large scale.

BWMN: What would you say are the main attractions of Antwerp for meeting planners?
Niko Van Hoof: There is now a much greater tendency among meeting planners to look to Europe’s secondary cities as locations for their events. This is partly down to the fact that capacities in its capital cities are scarce due to the high volume of events that they host. In addition, with a high proportion of political meetings now regionalized and focused on regional issues, they tend to take place where the regional government sits. This has helped to generate further interest in smaller cities. A good example of this trend is Spain, where Barcelona and Seville are now are becoming more and more popular as meeting destinations in relation to Madrid.

As a result of this trend, Antwerp is now attracting a great deal of interest from meeting planners, as was clear at IMEX. As the demand for hotels is not so high, there is a greater capacity available than in Brussels. As the two cities are also equidistant from Belgium’s main international airport, Antwerp is just as accessible. Moreover, as a very safe location, there is no possibility of delegates wandering into less attractive or friendly areas, meaning that they are free to explore Antwerp’s beautiful landscape at their will. With a great number of leisure possibilities on offer, there is certainly a lot for them to discover.

And it is not just the MICE industry which is beginning to wake up to Antwerp’s attractions: recently, it has received far more attention from the international press, who are recognizing that the city’s ‘image bearers’, as I like to call them, which include diamonds and its fashion industry, make it a highly desirable destination. It is now fairly common to see Antwerp described as an ‘attractive, sexy city’. In addition, last month’s opening of the new MAS museum attracted a great deal of press coverage from important publications from all over the world, including the New York Times.

BWMN: What will set the ALM Conference Centre apart from other event venues?
Niko Van Hoof: At present, it is really Antwerp’s only dedicated meeting and conference center, for which such events are the core business. As such, it is currently quite a unique venue in the area.

Its facilities and infrastructure are also excellent. Located in the outskirts of the city, it is very close to the motorway and is thus easily accessible. Its multi-function rooms, which are very adaptable to all kinds of meetings, ranging from small gatherings to large international conferences, are very well-equipped, and feature all the latest technology.

It is also worth noting that, with its location at the crossroads of Holland and Germany, Antwerp has always been an international place. Certainly, an international attitude is almost in our genes, and it goes almost without saying that we speak a wide variety of languages at ALM.

BWMN: What strategies are you employing to market the centre?
Niko Van Hoof: We are looking to target clientele who would normally go to Brussels, and our marketing communications will emphasize Antwerp’s several USPs as a meetings destination. We’ll ride the wave of the city’s current popularity!