ITSA to Host World Textile Services Congress (WTSC) in 2020

Posted March 29, 2019 at 11:23 am



The International Textile Services Alliance (ITSA), a global community of executives from national and regional linen, uniform and facility services associations, will host the World Textile Services Congress (WTSC) on June 18-19, 2020, in Frankfurt, Germany, prior to Texcare International. The WTSC will build on the success and momentum of WTSC 2016 held in Bruges, Belgium, which attracted nearly 200 linen, uniform and facility services professionals.

The World Textile Services Congress will be organized by the following associations that have agreed to participate on the program development Task Force and to host their respective Board of Directors meetings on June 18 in conjunction with the Congress:

  • De Federatie van de Belgische Textielverzorging (FBT – Belgium)
  • Deutscher Textilreinigungs Verband (DTV – Germany)
  • Laundry Association of Australia (LAA – Australia)
  • Textile Services Association (TSA – United Kingdom)
  • TRSA, the Association for Linen, Uniform and Facility Services (North America)
  • Verband Textilpflege Schweiz (VTS – Switzerland)

“Our vision is to create a global forum for CEOs’ and senior executives to exchange information on best practices, market trends and innovations,” said TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci. “As the linen, uniform, textile and facility services industry association leaders, ITSA participants understand the importance of sharing information on global issues impacting our industry such as improving cleanliness and safety, reducing energy and water consumption, and creating sustainable business practices and processes based on guidelines and standards.”

Like WTSC 2016, attendance will be limited to 125 linen, uniform and facility services CEOs, executives and owners delegate and 40 CEOs/senior executives from sponsoring supplier partners. Delegate registration will open in June 2019 following the Clean Show in New Orleans with sponsorship sales open for previous 2016 sponsors to participate before the release of full sponsorship packages in May. For information on sponsorships and content development, contact Ricci at jricci@trsa.org.

Moving forward, the World Textile Services Congress (WTSC) will be held every few years in conjunction with an international linen, uniform, textile and facility services or textile care event such as Texcare International in 2020 in Frankfurt and The Clean Show in 2023 in Orlando, FL. In addition, ITSA and its members will work with event organizers such as Messe Frankfurt and the World Educational Congress for Launderers & Drycleaners to develop content for other international conferences and tradeshows. The development and administration of WTSC 2020 will be facilitated by Exempla, a well-established, experienced event-development firm headquartered in Brussels. They will be responsible for managing the administration, logistics, marketing, sponsorship sales, registration and other aspects of the event, as well as to help facilitate task force discussions.

The International Textile Services Alliance (ITSA) also will be redeveloping and launching a new, interactive website in June 2019 with content and resources contributed and managed by each participating association. The site will focus on broad, global issues as directed by the subject-matter experts of the respective participating associations such as natural resources, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, technology, hygiene and labor. The ITSA site also will include news and social media feeds, a global event calendar, research and other information from participating associations.

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