UITP and Busworld Extend Strategic Partnership

UITP and Busworld have announced a continuation of a strategic partnership that will see the two collaborate for the International Bus Conference in 2019. 

The agreement – jointly signed by UITP Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani and Busworld Academy President Redgy Deschacht - continues the relationship between UITP and Busworld, which has seen joint conferences on regional events such as Busworld Latin America (Medellin, December 5-7, 2017) and Busworld Russia (Moscow, Ocober 23-25, 2018).

Since the Busworld Europe exhibition is moving to Brussels in 2019, the International Bus Conference will see the event take place at the Brussels Expo Centre in the Belgian capital for the very first time (October 18-23, 2019) with the previous edition taking place in Kortrijk (October 23-25, 2017).

By announcing a new venue and location, this is a unique opportunity to organise the biggest International Bus Conference ever.

“Today’s announcement with Busworld Academy is another solid step in our journey to build on our foundation on knowledge, networking and outreach and become a leader in the new bus era. This partnership will help us fully deliver on our global growth strategy by giving us strong back-end capabilities and business foundation with the well-established and renowned Busworld exhibition. Busworld is the perfect partner to help us fully realise the world leading ‘must attend bus event’ in the long term," said Arno Kerkhof, UITP head of bus division.

The first edition of 2017 was a huge success with Sold Out status and almost 500 registered participants for the three day conference.

By joining forces UITP and Busworld brought together UITP’s global expertise and the oldest and most famous bus and coach exhibition.

The conference allowed visitors of the Busworld Europe exhibition - which attracted over 37,000 visitors from 118 countries with 376 exhibitors from 33 countries – to complement their visit with rich insights and practical takeaways from the established UITP International Bus Conference.

Hundreds of exhibitors have already registered for the 2019 edition and information on the Conference – including speakers and programme – will become available at a later date.

“After two first very successful joint events at Busworld Europe and Busworld Latin America, Busworld Academy is more than happy to extend and intensify its collaboration with UITP. This will result in more joint conferences and seminars in Russia in October 2018 and in Belgium during the very first edition of Busworld Europe in Brussels in October 2019.  Other possibilities are under consideration. It is clear that Busworld Academy welcomes UITP as its prior urban public transport conference partner and I am sure we will continue this positive vibe with new collaborations in the future!" said Jan Deman, director, Busworld Academy.