About us

Finland Convention Bureau (FCB) is a national organisation representing the meetings and convention industry. FCB promotes the competitiveness of its members through international sales, marketing and communications activities.

FCB is Finland's only official sales and marketing organisation for the meetings and convention industry and corporate events.

History

FCB was founded back in 1974 among the first national convention bureaus in Europe.
The initiative for establishing the bureau was made by the Helsinki Chamber of Commerce. Initially the activities of the bureau focused on attracting international association meetings to the Finnish capital as reflected by the bureau's original name, Helsinki Congress Bureau. In 1982 its activities were expanded to cover the entire country. In addition to funding by representatives of the meeting industry and municipalities, the bureau was also supported by the then Ministry of Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Employment and the Economy). The current name was adopted in 2002. In 2006 FCB also took over responsibility from the Finnish Tourist Board for developing the corporate travel sector. Over the years Finland has established a position as one of the top 20 congress destinations in the world.

2015 vision

FCB's vision for 2015 is to serve as the best promoter of the competitiveness of the Finnish meetings and convention industry, as a recognised co-operation partner, as a unifying force and as a trendsetter.

The bureau's activities are funded by membership fees, by support from the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and through project sales.

Members

FCB has approximately 100 members widely representing all sectors of the industry:

Cities, local and regional authorities, and travel destinations
Venues
Hotels and restaurants
Transportation providers
Meetings and events service companies
Companies offering specialised services

Organisation

The activities of FCB are governed by a managing director and a board with 13 members representing the entire industry.

FCB Board

• Chairperson: Jaakko Lehtonen, Director General, Finnish Tourist Board
• Deputy Chairperson: Minna Sauramaa, Managing Director, Confedent International
• Leena Sipilä, Congress Diretcor, Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau
• Juha Järvinen, VP Commercial, Blue1
• Harri Kaasinen, Managing Director, Entre Marketing
• Markku Litja, Managing Director, Karelia Expert Tourist Service 
• Sari Ruusumo, Convention Director, City of Turku
• Timo Korsisaari, Chairman of The Board, Korsisaari Group 
• Veronica Krabbe, Congress Director, Helsinki Fair Centre 
• Tapio Satta, Managing Director, Sokotel
• Elise Pekkala, Government Counsellor, Ministry of Employment and the Economy
• Tuula Poutanen, Managing Director, Jyväskylä Convention Bureau
• Jussi Töyrylä, Managing Director, Levi Travel Ltd

The activities of FCB are guided by a committee of experts.

Committee 2009-2011:

• Ilkka Niiniluoto, Chancellor, University of Helsinki
• Arja Suominen, Senior Vice President, Communications, Nokia
• Markku Mattila, President, Academy of Finland
• Osmo Kammonen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Neste Oil
• Matti Jakobsson, Rector, University of Vaasa
• Pekka Neittaanmäki, Professor, University of Jyväskylä
• Aura Korppi-Tommola, Executive Director, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
• Kristiina Wähälä, Professor, University of Helsinki
• Erkki KM Leppävuori, President & CEO, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
• Juha Kostiainen, Programme Director, Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund
• Pentti Huovinen, Research Professor, National Public Health Institute in Finland
• Ainomaija Haarla, President & CEO, Technology Academy
• Henrikki Tikkanen, Professor, Aalto University Foundation, Helsinki School of Economics
• Risto Ihalainen, Deputy CEO, Finnish Medical Association
• Anita Lehikoinen, Director, Ministry of Education

International memberships

We are members of ICCA, ECM, MPA, SITE and UIA.