From June 22nd-24th 2011, The SCAE World of Coffee Event will be held in MECC Maastricht. SCAE is the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe. The initiative for recruiting this big event came from Albert Berghof (Blanche Dael Coffeelovers), after which he intensively worked with Charles Beckers (MECC Maastricht) and Sonja Opreij-Speth (Maastricht Convention Bureau) to actually bring in the event to the city. And they did so successfully: in June, Maastricht and MECC Maastricht will smell of coffee, thanks to various championships, an exhibition, conference, workshops, social programme and much more!
“Before organisers of such an event decide to come to Maastricht, many things have happened,” says Charles Beckers of MECC Maastricht. “In the preliminary phase, the teamwork of local parties is of the utmost importance. As a matter of fact: SCAE did not only choose Maastricht because of the international, gastronomic character of the city and its good conference facilities, but also because of the intensive collaboration of Blanche Dael Coffeelovers, MECC Maastricht and the Maastricht Convention Bureau. Next to that, an important reason was the extra effort we made to make accessibility of the city more easy, by having welcome desks at Brussels and Düsseldorf airports and to arrange shuttles from these airports to Maastricht. When considering that during 3 days, about 3,000 visitors are expected daily from approximately 50 different countries, you can imagine that accessibility also is a very important aspect to choose or turn down a destination. Everything in the preliminary phase went very well, and therefore, the Dutch members of the SCAE, with national coordinator Annemarie Tiemes, are looking forward to this event in Maastricht, of which they are convinced will be a success.’
The SCAE World of Coffee Event 2011: what will be going on
As mentioned earlier, The SCAE World of Coffee Event 2011 is a big event, with many championships, such as (click on the name for a link to more information):
World Cup Tasters Championship
World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship
World Cezve/Ibrik Championship
SCAE coffee photography competition
There will also be a coffee exhibition, for which no less than 5,000 sq. m. of exhibition space is reserved in MECC Maastricht. Next to the exhibition, workshops and a conference are organised, as well as a social programme in the city.
Many international guests in Maastricht
Sonja Opreij-Speth of the Maastricht Convention Bureau explains the importance of this event for Maastricht & surrounding area: “thanks to the SCAE World of Coffee Event 2011, many international guests will find their way to the city of Maastricht. Per championship, 30 to 50 competitors are expected. But there are also the exhibitors, organisers and volunteers. Regarding visitors of the exhibition, approximately 3,000 visitors from the Netherlands as well as abroad are expected. All these guest will perhaps bring their partner. In short: there will be many international guests in the city of Maastricht, which is good for the economy!”
