Looking back on IBTM World 2025: Accessibility
In November 2025, Miranda and Yara from the Leiden Convention Bureau visited IBTM World 2025. IBTM, which stands for Incentives, Business Travel and Meetings, is one of the world's leading trade fairs in the MICE industry. The annual event in Barcelona brings together professionals from the events, conference and business travel industries to network, discover new trends and build valuable partnerships.
The Netherlands stand
Leiden Convention Bureau was proud to participate in IBTM World this year, together with 31 partners at the NL stand in Barcelona, organised by the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC). This year's theme was accessibility, both to and within the Netherlands, and with the tagline “Come for seamless travel, Become a global connector”, we brought the new positioning campaign to life. Visitors could take part in an interactive quiz and discover in a playful way how easily accessible the Netherlands is, with a winner of a trip to the Netherlands every day. During the fair, we had valuable conversations with international associations, travel agencies, event planners and destination agencies. This offered us the ideal opportunity to profile Leiden as the destination for impactful and future-oriented events.
City of Discoveries
Miranda and Yara emphasised how Leiden offers a unique blend of knowledge and culture, history and innovation. The city combines a compact, well-connected infrastructure with a rich scientific and cultural tradition. Thanks to locations within walking distance, international train connections and a strong focus on sustainability, Leiden offers an inspiring and compact environment for conferences and business meetings. These characteristics not only make Leiden distinctive, but also an attractive choice for international planners.
Break The Ice
In addition to the scheduled appointments, IBTM offered the opportunity to network at both national and international level. During the inspiring networking event Break The Ice, valuable new connections were made and relationships outside the exhibition floor were strengthened. In the coming weeks, the team looks forward to following up on the follow-up appointments and deepening the collaboration with international partners.
Leiden Convention Bureau would like to thank NBTC, our city partners and all visitors to the stand for a successful edition of IBTM World 2025. We look forward to continuing to build inspiring events in Leiden together!
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