For the first time, the meeting of the members of the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaus of Europe was held in Russia. The decision to hold the next Alliance event in the Northern capital was made in February 2019 in Vienna (Austria) following the presentation of the city by the Russian Convention Bureau of Russia (NCB).

The meeting, which took place on September 30 - October 01, 2019, was attended by the heads of the Congress Bureaus of the European countries that are part of the Alliance. The Russian Convention Bureau of Russia joined the European Strategic Alliance in February 2018.

The official part of the event included a discussion of a number of organizational issues of the Alliance, including the admission of new member countries, and a discussion of goals for a five-year period. Also, the heads of the European convention bureaus took part in a strategic workshop, within the framework of which ideas and steps were formed for the further effective promotion of European destinations in the global business events market.

The program of the meeting of the participants of the Strategic Alliance, in addition to the business part, included a visit to the leading congress and exhibition site of St. Petersburg - the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Center, as well as a city tour.

The partners of the Russian Convention Bureau in organizing the meeting were the Convention and Exhibition Bureau of St. Petersburg, the ExpoForum-International company and the Favorit company.