The Hague and Rotterdam win C&IT Award

The Hague and Rotterdam were named Best Short-Haul destination by the Conference & Incentives Travel magazine at the award ceremony which took place last Saturday at Hilton on Park Lane in London, UK.

This C&IT award is given to destinations that have the best offer, infrastructure and appeal for organizers of corporate and incentive events based in the United Kingdom. In front of a crowd of 500 event industry professionals – a record attendance – The Hague and Rotterdam stole the limelight, competing against other top European destinations such as Barcelona, Berlin, Bristol, London and Paris.

Moment of recognition

“This is a very important moment of recognition for us,” said Ms Nienke van der Malen, Director of The Hague Convention Bureau, an organization which is tasked with promoting the The Hague as a business event destination. “Excellent facilities, extensive choice of cultural and social programmes as well as beautiful cityscape – The Hague has all of that, but so do many other cities in Europe.” “What makes us stand out is the close cooperation of partners in the city and world-leading practice in event security. This makes organizing events in The Hague an efficient and well-supported process.”

Major European city

The Hague is a major European city located in the west of The Netherlands by the sea. The city is well-connected to Schiphol, one of Europe’s largest airports, with a comfortable train ride of less than 30 minutes. “Our city is well-established in the event industry, however for many UK organizers we still represent a somewhat alternative destination which offers discovery and new experiences. We are looking forward to welcoming them to The Hague in the near future,” explained Ms van der Malen.

One Young World

Other prestigious nominations for the C&IT Award have been handed out during the ceremony, with one of the most prominent prizes awarded to One Young World for the “Best Conference of the Year”. “The Hague will be hosting One Young World in 2018 and we expect this to be an exciting, fruitful and perhaps another award-winning collaboration,” commented Nienke van der Malen.