The GSMA board has decided that Barcelona will remain the host city of Mobile World Congress (MWC) through 2030.
To hear the GSMA leadership tell it, the event and the city are so entwined, it would be nearly impossible to separate the two.
“Barcelona is so much more than the city where MWC occurs. We’ve not just grown the event since our move to Barcelona but evolved it to include an entire ecosystem,” said GSMA CEO d John Hoffman in a statement. “The hospitality and people of the city and the true partnership we experience at every level means Barcelona is an intricate part of what the GSMA wants to create through MWC. A coming together of community to inspire something bigger than any individual part.”
Extending the commitment to Barcelona is an acknowledgement that the current partnership with the Host City Parties (HCP) is a resounding success, according to GSMA. The HCP consists of the Barcelona City Council, Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, Fira de Barcelona and Tourism de Barcelona.
For many years, the annual MWC was held in Cannes, but it moved to Barcelona in 2006. Since then, the event has grown to include a range of programs and activities throughout the year.
Barcelona in 2011 also was deemed the Mobile World Capital, a designation that was made by GSMA after an evaluation process that started with 30 cities and narrowed down to six before the winner was declared. Barcelona beat out Milan, Munich and Paris for the designation.
In the U.S., the show’s host city is not as cut in stone. In February, the GSMA announced that this year’s show, held in partnership with CTIA, will move to Las Vegas at the end of September. The North American edition of the show had been held in Los Angeles prior to that.