Italian Knowledge Leaders

One of the most important segments of the MICE industry association events, a leading sector for the promotion and development of “Knowledge Destinations”, be them nations, cities, or regions. The latest report by OICE (Italian Observatory for Congresses and Events) promoted by Federcongressi&eventi, found that 25.5% of global association events took place in Italy, hosting 30.8% of participants.

Attracting big association conferences is a great opportunity for scientific, medical, and professional communities to network with colleagues from all over the world, facilitating knowledge exchange collaborations for professional development. Within policies of development and promotion of destinations internationally, congresses have gained the role of “knowledge importers”, which has led even governments and tourism promotional bodies to invest significant resources in this segment.

The responsibility of proposing a destination as a potential location for a congress is not on tourism promotional bodies, convention bureaux, or PCOs, but on the members of associations. These are professionals (doctors, researchers, scientists, engineers, etc.), who, thanks to their accomplishments and resolve to represent their professional category, are active in their associations and take part in their decision-making processes. Bidding to host a conference, and, in case of victory, holding it within one’s professional community can be one of the highest moments in one’s career. 

In order to be taken into consideration, a bid needs to prove the strong correlation between the scientific propension of the destination and the objectives of the association or of the congress, and to present a thought-out argumentation on the destination’s capacity to host the event. 

One condition for success is the collaboration between the local Convention Bureau and the local knowledge leaders, in order to present the destination as the natural urban extension of a society that considers science as one of its funding values. 

In 2021, Italy was 6th in the world in terms of available intellectual capital. We have around 1,000 opinion leaders involved in boards and bodies of international professional and scientific associations that organise big events (more than 500 participants), and about 2,250 in associations that organise mid-size events (200-500 participants). In addition, we have around 100 knowledge leaders who are either President or Chairperson of relevant international associations. With our project, we want to give these knowledge leaders the recognition they deserve, by involving them in activities promoting Italy as a “knowledge destination” and, consequently, of its cities as ideal locations to host prestigious international congresses. Another long-term objective is to encourage more opinion leaders to be more active in the promotion of Italy as a “future destination”.