ESTRO 2021: the first legacy project of one congress in Madrid

The ESTRO congress will be held from May 7 to 11, 2021 at IFEMA, and the choice of destination has been made based on two key elements: the logistics capacity to organize this global event and, more importantly, joint creation of a participation project that will have a tangible impact on the patient’s outcome. ESTRO, together with the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR), will launch its first major legacy project for a congress in the host city, whose dissemination and training activities will begin in 2020. This approach is one of the materializations of the ESTRO’s vision: “Optimal health for all, together”, through which the Society seeks to give greater visibility to cancer radiation in different areas: the scientific community, the public administration and civil society to help patients benefit from technological and scientific advances that are already available in Spain.

These are actions that aim to achieve perceptible and relevant changes in the lives of health science professionals and residents of Madrid. The participation of 6,000 delegates, radiotherapeutic oncology professionals, and an economic impact of more than 15 million euros and 36,000 overnight stays is expected. To this would be added the impact derived from the parallel meetings organized around the congress by medical organizations and laboratories: headquarters and auxiliary services, transportation, restaurants and activities.

The Madrid Convention Bureau is aware that among its responsibilities is to inspire congress organizers in the capital to provide benefits beyond the event that may have an impact on the city. “We are delighted to start, together with ESTRO and SEOR, our first legacy project of the joint congress in the city. An exciting challenge, ”says David Noack, director of the Madrid Convention Office.

Madrid, destination of congresses

The ESTRO congress will take place a few months later the holding of another great medical congress of the same field, ESMO 2020, which will exceed 30,000 delegates, according to organizers. The congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology will return for the third time to the city after two editions in 2014 and 2017. Madrid is hosting in recent years large medical congresses such as the European League Against Rheumatism EULAR, about to begin and with a forecast of 14,000 delegates, the European Respiratory Society (2019), with 18,000 delegates or the 28th. International Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology EADV (2019), with 10,000 delegates.