01/02/2008
The Reed Messe Wien Congress Center has been in full operation since January 2010, setting new standards for Vienna’s convention industry. Occupying a 15 hectare site, the new MesszentrumWienNeu exhibition and conference complex, of which the centre forms part, has four halls with a combined 70,000sqm of exhibition space, capacity for 25,000 conference delegates and parking for 4,500 cars. The venue is also served by a fair hotel and by two underground stations. Vienna City Council has invested a total of EUR 192 million in the project. Three new exhibition halls, and a combined conference centre and office block have been built, and an existing hall upgraded. All boast state-of-the-art technology. The exhibition halls are linked by an elegant 450m mall, while two new multi-storey car parks provide ample parking space. The faciliti [...]

Quito was declared First World Heritage Site by the UNESCO 32 years ago. Moreover, last September, Quito was declared American Capital of Culture 2011 by the International Bureau of Cultural Cap itals (IBOCC). This nomination places Quito as a worldwide cultural referent, motivating locals and foreigners to learn about the treasures that the city holds and understand why Quito will be the American Capital of Culture. One of these treasures is the Historic Centre, artistic jewel located in an area of 320 hectares. It holds monumental buildings and 5.000 properties that are registered as heritage sites. Quito´s Historic Centre is considered the largest, least altered, and best preserved of America. Quito was the cradle of a millenary mixture of people and cultures that made of this city a unique place, and today it hoards four centurie [...]

Association Plus is a new resource offered by Excel to provide support in marketing Association congresses or conferences to potential delegates, with the ultimate aim of driving up attendance figures. The new package outlines the complimentary services that the ExCeL London marketing team offer, ensuring delegates fully appreciate their event experience in London. Once you have signed to bring your congress to ExCeL London, they provide a marketing team to attend your congress in the preceding year helping to increase attendance. +++++ http://excel-london.co.uk/ +++++

The Toronto Congress Centre (TCC), a division of Congress Centres Inc., added to its existing 1,000,000 sq. ft. complex, 30,000 sq. ft. pillar-free ballroom. The newly finished ballroom that joins The Toronto Congress Centre North Building, which opened in February of 2008, providing a perfect setting for meetings, general sessions, and exclusive galas. The modern clean design and the latest in brand lighting effects provided something very unique to its planner.

The Future Convention Cities Initiative (FCCI) has announced that its first chairperson will be Lyn Lewis-Smith - Chief Operating Officer of Business Events Sydney. Lewis-Smith was the unanimous choice of the seven member cities - Abu Dhabi Travel Authority, Business Events Sydney, Durban KwaZulu Natal Convention Bureau, London and Partners (formerly Visit London), San Francisco Travel Association, Seoul Tourism Organization and Toronto Convention Bureau. The founding goal of FCCI is to bring together leading future focused cities that want to secure or establish their positioning as leading destinations for key knowledge economy meetings and events. The members should be committed to developing and delivering on strategies to help grow the local knowledge economy and to maximising the long term benefits of business tourism through:

London & Partners is the official promotional agency for London attracting and delivering value to businesses, students and visitors. As part of this remit, London & Partners has assumed responsibility from Visit London for providing official tourism services for London and, as a result, is a new Data Controller of your personal information. The purpose for which the information was held by Visit London, for you to receive information from the official provider of tourism information for London, has not changed. London & Partners will continue to process this data in line with this purpose. London & Partners is the official promotional agency for London attracting and delivering value to businesses, students and visitors. Contact Address: London & Partners, 2 More London Riverside, London SE1 2RR. +++++ http://www.visitlond [...]

For the second time in succession the CCD Congress Center Duesseldorf has captured first place in the venue study carried out by HV-Magazin. Jointly with the CCH Congress Center Hamburg, the CCD tops the list of convention centres most popularly chosen to host annual general meetings throughout Germany. As in previous years, the latest study covers all 345 companies that belonged to the German stock exchange segment with the most stringent transparency requirements. All told, in 2013 the convention centre in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital thus housed 18 ordinary general meetings. That so many companies hold their most important annual event in the CCD Congress Center Duesseldorf results from the venue's early specialisation in annual general meetings, its high technical safety standards and the expertise gained in this ev [...]

This new venue will be located in a privileged and strategic setting, near the economic and cultural axis of the Paseo de la Castellana and the future financial city linked to the Chamartín Operation . The project consists in the extension of the Castellana to turn it into a new financial city and give Madrid the status of economic capital of Southern Europe. The goal is to attract international investors. The infrastructure will include a main auditorium, that will seat 3,000 spectators, and two smaller ones that will accommodate 1,200 and 800 viewers respectively, as well as a 15,000 m² exhibition area. The venue’s outdoor areas will be green spaces, road areas for maintenance and services, streets to improve access to the buildings in the complex and for infrastructural services.

The Congress Division of Messe Berlin achieved very good business results in 2013. The International Congress Center Berlin (ICC Berlin), Palais am Funkturm and the exhibition halls hosted a total of 530 meetings and entertainment events with an overall attendance of some 240,000. An above-average proportion of out-of-town visitors were registered among the more than 210,000 conference attendees, with approximately 71 per cent (150.000 meetings participants) coming from outside Berlin. Many of the large conferences were accompanied by industry displays, occupying an overall area of 145,000 square metres on the Exhibition Grounds.

While Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city and the country’s financial capital, is no longer number one, three Swiss cities make it into the top 10 of best cities in the world. According to new research, Vienna, Austria’s capital, is now the city most people would like to call their home. Geneva retains its position in third place, while Vancouver and Auckland are now joint fourth in the rankings of best cities in the world, a survey prepared by Mercer Consulting. Overall, European cities continue to dominate the top locations in this year’s survey, with German cities particularly well represented among the top 50. Duesseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt are all among the top 10 best cities. +++++ more info ?? +++ www.citymayors.com +++++

World Mayor, a project organised by the urban affairs think tank City Mayors, aims to raise the profile of mayors worldwide as well as to honour those who have made long-lasting contributions to their communities and are committed to the well-being of cities nationally and internationally. According to city residents from all continents, a great mayor must possess these qualities: leadership and vision, good management abilities, social and economic awareness, ability to provide security and to protect the environment as well as having the skill to foster good relations between communities from different cultural, racial and social backgrounds. The World Mayor Project was first carried out in 2004.

Details of Sydney’s most exciting waterfront developments for conferences, conventions and incentive travel worth more than $7 billion - Barangaroo, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and Star City Casino – were revealed at the last Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) in Melbourne. Barangaroo is a rare opportunity to transform 22 hectares of former industrial space on Sydney Harbour into a $6 billion public, residential and commercial CBD precinct with a waterfront promenade running the length of the site. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre will be expanded to create more space for major international events, while Star City is undergoing a major renovation. The $550 million proposed redevelopment of the entertainment centre at Darling Harbour includes the new Sydney Multifunctional Convention and Enter [...]

Actual situation in Europe according to ICCA: Vienna is the number one (181 conferences per year) followed by Paris (174 conferences per year) Barcelona (150 conferences per year) Berlin (147 conferences per year) and Singapore (142 conferences per year). Runners up Madrid (130 conferences per year) London (115 conferences per year) Amsterdam (114 conferences per year) Istanbul (113 conferences per year) and Beijing (111 conferences per year)

At a recent press conference, the Government of Catalonia announced Barcelona World, an ambitious project to consolidate Barcelona as a great global tourism capital, with the best leisure project in southern Europe, according to the Catalan government. The area where Barcelona World will be located measures approximately 826 hectares, 200 of which are already home to the Port Aventura theme park. An estimated 4,700 million euros is expected to be invested in this project that will include 6 hotels with some 12,000 rooms and six themed tourist complexes, which aim to recreate six areas of the world: Europe, the USA, Russia, China, Brazil and India. ++++++ barcelonacatalonia.cat

Find in Prague a new project in the rapidly developing area of Karlín quarter: Forum Karlín! The project includes a multipurpose hall with a capacity of 3,000 seats with flexible facilities for all kinds of events, from rock concerts, through fashion shows, conferences up to opera performances. With the modular divider system you can create a pleasant atmosphere also for smaller events such as corporate trainings, industry conferences or even graduation parties. More info? http://www.forumkarlin.cz/en/

At the recent EMECA General Assembly members gave positive feedback about their trade fairs and conventions, and many even prepare for record results in the next future, due to additional exhibition or conference space with important investments over several years. This confirms the worldwide leading quality level of European venues. Both Italy and Spain are fully back to normal business and are successfully implementing and hosting trade fairs, conventions and big events. The 22 EMECA venues host and organise 1.900 trade fairs a year globally, out of which more than 1.500 in Europe on a gross rented space of nearly 38 mio sqm. They welcome roughly 360.000 exhibitors and over 41,6 mio visitors in Europe. +++++++++++ http://www.emeca.eu +++++++

Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has announced that 40% of construction work for the biggest exhibition hall in the Middle East and North Africa has been completed. The new hall is increasing the overall indoor exhibition area by 12% to reach 92,000 square metres,and increasing the overall area of the Centre to more than 151,000 square metres. The hall is built using a solid metal frame covered in aluminium plates to provide flexibility with the ability to host events of various scales and types in all fields, and it will help provide additional economic and social revenues for the tourism sector in Abu Dhabi by offering a diverse package of services