Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, formerly Deputy CEO of the Bahrain Exhibition & Convention Authority (BECA), has been appointed as CEO of expo@bahrain.
Stanford-Kristiansen spent six years on the Board of SITE (Society of Incentive & Travel Executives) Great Britain and Ireland Chapter including two years as Chapter President. She has also worked extensively with the Caribbean Hotel Association developing their Caribbean Incentive Travel and meetings product for UK MICE planners.
As an active member of MPI (Meetings Professionals International) which has over 18,000 members worldwide, she served on the Board of the UK Chapter for two years between 2001 and 2003. In addition, she spent two years as Deputy Chair of the Middle East Chapter of the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) between 2006 and 2008.
As one of the signature buildings in the design of the @bahrain destination, expo@bahrain acts as the symbolic “front door” to the development. The exhibition and convention facilities of expo@bahrain will provide 145,000 square meters of highly efficient, flexible space with world-class amenities, able to accommodate a wide range of user groups within the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Events) industry.
expo@bahrain has the capacity to hold approximately 5,000 plus delegates and up to 30,000 visitors daily, with the design allowing for potential future expansion to meet growing demand. The facilities will boost employment opportunities and inject millions of dollars into the local Bahraini economy. The MICE industry is worth US$56 billion globally, and will be a consistent source of revenue for @bahrain and the Kingdom of Bahrain as a whole.
