EUROPE – Mark Cooper (pictured), CEO of IACC (the International Association of Conference Centres) announced today (19 February) the association had expanded its global membership with the addition of 38 specialist Châteauform’ conference venues.
According to Jacques Horovitz, Founder and CEO, each of the Châteauform’ venues was designed for company meetings, training events and workshops, “where work and relaxation are combined and participants can take time out for reflection”.
At Châteauform’ Seminar Houses, guests are looked after by a Host Couple, the master and mistress of the house. The idea is that the house becomes a home away from home. The hosts are the principal contact with clients throughout the entire day.
Cooper told CMW the deal represented “the single biggest investment in IACC in its 33-year history”.
The 38 Châteauform’ properties are situated in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, and Cooper said IACC aimed to represent the best conference centres globally and had taken “a major step forward and increased the number of meeting venues available to meeting planners who trust the IACC brand as a quality that comes from membership”.
Within Châteauform’ there are three brands. The residential property group, known as Châteauform’ Seminar Houses, the residential campus property, known as Châteauform’ Les Campus, and the non-residential properties, known as Châteauform’ City. The four members under the ‘City’ brand located in Paris and Geneva will complement IACC’s non-residential members in other major international cities such as London, New York, Tokyo and Sydney.
IACC’s European Chapter President Jeu Bressers, added: “I am delighted to welcome Châteauform’ to the IACC family as our European Chapter continues to grow. Châteauform’ shares IACC’s passion for providing the best meeting venues and their collection of Seminar Houses meet the standards of facilities and services that our customers expect.”
Cooper told CMW France had gone from having the fewest IACC members in Europe to the largest group.
IACC now has 350 members located in 17 countries.
Founded in 1981, IACC is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting understanding and awareness of the conference centre industry.
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