AMERICAN SAILING CUP | Half a thousand MBA students from Barcelona immerse themselves in the America’s Cup of sailing

2023-10-19 19:52:26

Most groups have reached America’s Cup Experience by bus, others on foot. Total, 510 MBA students (Master of Business Administration) of the main business schools of Barcelona, ​​which during the day they had visited 22 companiesscience and research centers and cultural entities, where they had been shown part of the economic and social ecosystem of the metropolitan area. And, as a cherry on top, a immersion in the 2024 event that the Catalan capital will host: the Sailing America’s Cup.

“I knew little about the competitiononly the previous edition was held in Auckland, but this center explains very well what it consists of,” he admitted. Honour Valentinea 22-year-old Californian who is studying master at IQS. “I liked the aspect of sustainability“, she interprets. Along with her, there were also students from Esade, IESE, the UPF Barcelona School of Management, EADA, ESIC and EAE. It is the fifth year that Barcelona Global call this Barcelona MBA Day and they are satisfied with the reception.

Event ambassadors

“We seek that entrepreneurs of the future know the economic potential of the city, as well as the productive and research fabric: our objective is connect talent Barcelona and that of these MBAs with such excellence”, reveals the CEO of Barcelona Global, Mercè Conesa. In fact, the entity was one of those that pushed hard for the candidacy of the Catalan capital as the venue for the competition from the private side and is also part of the board of trustees of the Barcelona Capital Nautica Foundationwhich looks after the legacy left by the Copa América.

“We want to make them ambassadors of the event”, emphasizes Conesa. The five thousand students have been able to discover in this outreach center located in the old Imax how are the ships, the teams or the rules of the competition with immersive experiences, models, audiovisuals or even a documentary. According to the data of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the sports and technological event will generate an economic impact of 1.2 billion euros in Barcelona, ​​in addition to 19,000 Job positions.

A city on the boil

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The executive director of the MBA program of IESEMaria Ángeles Losa, has described the students as “very open” people, with an average age of 30 years, who are interested in knowing the potential from Barcelona. “The activity proposed by Barcelona Global allows them to discover that we are in a city on the boil where a lot of things happen,” he says.

Losa MBA students, who take a break in their professional career to train for two years, then usually do a job change in their own companies, a jump to another sector or a geographical transfer: “they are very powerful people, so the fit with an event like the Copa América is perfect.” Barcelona is the fourth city in attracting international talent to pursue an MBA, only behind London, Boston and New York, according to a study by Esade.