The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) will host the annual convention of its Iberian Chapter on the island of São Miguel starting on Thursday, April 18.

The organisation of this convention in the Azores, which takes place on Thursday and Friday, is the result of an institutional effort that has been undertaken to promote the organisation of events in the Region.

The ICCA Convention is of great importance for the Azores as it is one of the leading organisations in the area of international meetings. It is the only association representing top experts on the organisation of events, covering over 950 companies and organisations from 88 countries around the world.

The opening session of the Convention will be held at Marina Atlântico Hotel on Thursday at 9 AM and will be presided over by the Regional Director for Tourism on behalf of the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport.

The event also features a "Team Building" action for the construction of the logo of this international organisation in a size that will be visible from Google Earth. This initiative is scheduled for Friday at the Furnas Monitoring Centre at 11:30 AM.

This joint action is promoted by ICCA and the Furnas Monitoring Centre, which came up with the idea of building the ICCA International logo in a large size using natural materials such as stones, volcanic rocks and native flora.

The project will be widely disseminated among ICCA International and its members, thus contributing to the enhancement of the international visibility of the Azores among potential international event organisers. Moreover, it will also keep alive and perpetuate an acronym of considerable international projection.

Therefore, this event will project the Azores with an important target organisation, which could put the Region on the map of future initiatives and events insofar as ICCA International has approximately 1,000 members around the world.

ICCA has chosen the Furnas Monitoring Centre for the organisation of the "Team Building" action in order to associate this initiative with a social and environmental intervention, thus projecting the Region in the ICCA universe through its dissemination and the submission of the application for the Annual Marketing Awards, which is already being prepared.