"Fira de Barcelona has lived a prodigious decade". These words from the Minister of Business, Ramon Tremosa, define very well the strong growth experienced by the entity in recent years, in which it has doubled its size, reaching over 200 million euros in turnover. This trajectory, unfortunately, has been interrupted by the coronavirus, which has prevented the celebration of the major events planned for this year, just remember the notorious cancellation of the MWC. Even so, Fira de Barcelona has not stopped and has reinvented itself with new digital formats that in the future can be a good complement to in-person activities.
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The entity plans to close the 2020 fiscal year with a turnover of 82 million euros, which represents a 63% decrease compared to the record of 220 million reached in 2019. To face this sharp drop in income, the institution led by Constantí Serrallonga has tightened its belt, applied a temporary employment file for its 380 workers, and negotiated two economic agreements with the Administrations that will allow it to close the year with a certain balance, with an EBITDA of 100,000 euros.
This figure could not have been achieved without receiving an extraordinary aid of 10 million contributed equally by the Generalitat and the Barcelona City Council, an economic contribution of a specific nature that has been used to finance the expenses of some specific events. It is common for the two administrations to contribute to financing certain events, but with a much lower public contribution, of 2.5 million in 2019, for example.
The second element that has allowed closing with a positive EBITDA is the agreement reached with Fira 2000 ---a public company controlled by the Generalitat--- to pay only a fifth of the annual fee that Fira pays for using the Gran Via exhibition center. Specifically, this year it was due to pay 8 million euros, but only 1.4 million will be paid, as 6.6 million will cease to accrue because the venue has not been able to be used since March. The idea is to be able to recover this payment in the future once activity has resumed.
This lower canon does not in any way compromise the expansion project of the Gran Via venue, which already has secured financing and continues to advance with the corresponding urban and administrative processing. "The expansion of Gran Via is more relevant than ever, it will be a reality very soon," assures the president of Fira de Barcelona, Pau Relat.
Relat: "The expansion of Gran Via is more relevant than ever, it will be a reality very soon"The project consists of the construction of 60,000 new square meters, which will allow for a 300,000 square meter venue and to compete in a higher league in which the fairs of Milan, Frankfurt, and Hannover also play, the only ones in Europe that already have this surface area.
After calling the year "extraordinarily tough," President Relat congratulates himself on the results achieved thanks to the effort of the workers and the management team. The businessman is very optimistic about the future and assures that Fira de Barcelona "takes on the challenge of being an engine for economic reactivation" in Catalonia thanks to "facing the resumption of 2021 with maximum solvency."
"We are prepared to resume activity in spring with rigorous anti-covid protocols that are pioneers worldwide," assures Relat, convinced that fair activity will be the boost that economically hard-hit sectors such as hospitality, commerce, and restaurants are waiting for.
According to the general director, Constantí Serrallonga, a series of trade shows is already prepared starting in April and "there are serious calendar problems" to fit all the events scheduled for autumn. Thus, after Easter and until summer, the celebration of Saló de l'Ensenyament, Automobile, Alimentaria, ISE ---for the first time in Barcelona---, Sonar and MWC ---secured, at least, until 2024--- is planned. In September, if circumstances permit, it is even planned to recover the celebration of medical congresses, one of Fira's strong points, with the European congress of respiratory physicians.
Serrallonga: "The ambition in 2021 is total, we will beat the virus""The ambition in 2021 is total, we will defeat the virus," assures Serrallonga, who has drawn up a "prudent" budget that contemplates billing 125 million euros next year, with a hundred events. Next year will also be important for Fira because starting in November it will take over the management of the CCIB, which will become its third exhibition venue.
This Friday, Fira de Barcelona held its general council, a body that meets twice a year and is chaired by the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau. "The city counts on Fira for its reactivation; its activity is strategic, it must play a key role and I am convinced that 2021 will surely be better than 2020," she considers. According to Colau, in this process to leave behind the effects of covid, the City Council will seek "maximum cooperation with the private sector to achieve the green and digital transformation of our economy."
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