Mobile World Congress 2014 has economic impact of €397m

The Mobile World Congress (MWC), held in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona on Feb. 24-27, had an economic impact of 397 million euros (539 million U.S. dollars), the CEO of the GSMA, John Hoffman, said on Thursday.
The figure is higher than the predicted 356 million euros by GSMA.
"We have helped Spain to come out of the crisis" playing a small role, Hoffman said in a press conference, describing the 2014 MWC as a success.
According to the CEO of GSMA, since the MWC was held in Barcelona the first time in 2006, the economic impact has been about 2.5 billion euros.
The MWC also helped create 62,000 temporary job opportunities in this period, while in 2014 it created 12,361 new part-time jobs, compared to the 9,940 jobs of 2013.
In 2015 the MWC will be held from March 2 to 5 so that more Chinese visitors can come after celebrating the Chinese New Year, the organizers said.
The MWC is one of the most important events of the mobile industry. In 2014 it received a total of 85,000 visits, a figure that organizers expect to surpass in 2015.