Tours & Accompanying Program

Tours

The following tour forms were published for the congress, with the published prices per person shown below.

Accompanying program

The accompanying program for companions of delegates included the following evening options, listed with their published prices.

Evening social events for delegates are described in the Social program, including the welcome reception, opening dinner, international evening and gala dinner.

Beyond the scientific sessions of the 10th International Sheep Veterinary Congress, the organising committee arranged tours and an accompanying programme for delegates and their companions. These optional activities offered a way to experience Seville beyond the venue at the Hotel Barceló Sevilla Renacimiento, which hosted the congress in March 2023. Attendance was popular enough that the pre-conference and post-conference tour forms reached full booking and were closed to further applications, reflecting the enthusiasm of an international audience drawn from veterinary associations and the wider sheep production community.

The tour programme was published in advance with per-person prices and descriptions for each option, allowing registrants to plan their stay alongside the congress schedule. Because the groups filled, the organising secretariat encouraged interested colleagues to contact the technical secretariat directly where circumstances allowed, rather than leaving questions unanswered. The structure of the offering combined sightseeing elements with time set aside for the accompanying persons of participants, whose own interests were recognised as part of a well-rounded congress experience.

Seville itself provided the natural setting for these excursions, with its historic cityscape, monumental heritage and warm Andalusian atmosphere offering an appealing backdrop for short visits between lecture halls. The location also made it straightforward to combine a scientific meeting with cultural orientation, so many attendees arrived early or stayed on after the closing sessions to take part in the additional programme. The venue's central position meant that transport between the congress, the tour departure points and local hospitality options remained straightforward throughout the week of the meeting.

The congress timetable itself was built around plenary sessions, keynote addresses, oral presentations and poster contributions, with abstracts submitted by authors from many countries and notified to contributors ahead of the meeting. Ticks were the backbone of the social events, since delegates, speakers and companions gathered between sessions and in the evening to continue the conversation. Tour participation and the accompanying programme complemented that social dimension, giving partners and family members meaningful engagement with the congress community rather than leaving them aside.

For future editions of the International Sheep Veterinary Congress, the pattern established in Seville remains a useful reference: a balanced programme of science, social interaction and cultural exposure, with tours and leisure options planned early enough to meet demand. The experience of the tenth congress in Spain demonstrates how a national host city and an experienced organising secretariat can deliver a meeting that satisfies both the technical expectations of practising veterinarians and the practical needs of those who travel with them.

Technical Secretariat