UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has named accommodation specialist bnetwork the winner of the 2026 UFI Industry Partners Award for its work supporting the relocation of ICE and iGB Affiliate from London to Barcelona.
The winning project examined accommodation as part of the destination-selection process rather than as a logistical step after a host city had been chosen. Working with Clarion Gaming, bnetwork conducted a binding hotel request for proposal across Barcelona, London, Madrid, and Paris before the events moved to Barcelona.
Accommodation factors into relocation
The four-city review assessed more than 50 variables and required each destination to meet a 10,000-room peak-night threshold. The process used the same five-year framework, contract terms, reporting requirements, and rate controls for each city.
According to bnetwork’s award submission, its four-star hotel benchmark showed Barcelona rates 28 percent below London. In addition, 80 percent of the proposed hotel inventory was located around Fira Gran Via. More than 90 percent of the ICE advisory board ultimately supported Barcelona.
After the decision, bnetwork contracted with 178 hotel partners across the city. The company said it has since managed more than 28,300 room nights for the events, including 6,573 rooms at peak occupancy.
“Winning the UFI Industry Partners Award is a fantastic recognition of the expertise, commitment and collaborative spirit of the entire bnetwork team,” said Stephane Teboul, co-founder of bnetwork.
“This project showed that accommodation can be much more than a logistical requirement; it can play a genuinely strategic role in the successful relocation and long-term development of a major international event.”
Barcelona move delivers growth
ICE had been held at ExCeL London for 15 years before moving to Barcelona. In its award submission, bnetwork cited rising London hotel costs, limits on available exhibition space, and post-Brexit logistics among the factors that prompted a review of the event’s location strategy.
The submission reports that ICE drew more than 65,000 attendees in 2026, up 10 percent from the previous year and 25 percent from the final London edition. Attendees represented 186 countries.
Sebastian Witt, chair of the UFI Industry Partners Working Group, said the project stood out for using partnerships to address the challenges involved in relocating a flagship event.
“The jury was particularly impressed by the initiative’s innovation in engaging partners across the ecosystem, exactly the kind of forward-thinking collaboration this award was created to celebrate, and saw strong potential for the model to be applied by other large international events,” Witt said.
UFI names additional honorees
The 2026 Industry Partners Award carried the theme “The Biggest Lesson Learnt: From Zero to Hero,” highlighting projects that turned industry challenges into practical lessons.
UFI named Aditus as the finalist. ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, ILTM by RX Global, and Map Your Show received best-practice recognition.
UFI will recognize its 2026 award winners during the 93rd UFI Global Congress, scheduled for Nov. 2–5 in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, represents close to 900 member organizations across 90 countries and regions. Its members represent more than 50,000 exhibition industry employees worldwide. For more information, visit ufi.org.
bnetwork is an accommodation management and event services company specializing in large-scale business-to-business events, exhibitions, conferences, conventions, and citywide events. Founded in 2005, the company combines accommodation management services with proprietary technology and operates offices across Europe and Asia. For more information, visit bnetwork.com.
Press release submitted by UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Edited by Exhibit City News for clarity, length, context, and style.
