Record attendance at start of new conference season at Messe Berlin

With over 11,000 participants in the 32nd German Cancer Congress and around 12,000 attendees at CISCO Live 2016, two attendance records marked the beginning of the Messe Berlin conference season in 2016. Both the largest and most important congress on cancer diagnostics and treatment and the biggest European event of the US equipment supplier recently took place in the CityCube Berlin and adjacent display halls.

According to Dr. Ralf Kleinhenz, vice president, Messe Berlin, “for many years organising large-scale medical congresses has been a hallmark of the Guest Events division. Following the CityCube’s successful entry onto the market there has been a substantial increase in demand for corporate events. Since then, average attendance per event has risen from around 1,000 to almost 4,000, an outstanding figure both by German and European standards. This year, the CityCube is nearly booked up, and many bookings have already been taken for the years to come.“

Networking on the exhibition grounds – online and offline

The following facts give an idea of the scale of CISCO Live 2016: 958 sessions took place on topics including the cloud, collaboration, data centres, mobility, network security, service providers, SDN and software development. At the hands-on training session featuring integrated labs, CISCO’s latest developments were demonstrated to participants, of whom four per cent were women. The CISCO Live wi-fi network enabled simultaneous processing of this information by up to 24,000 users. There were also many opportunities for offline networking. In Hall 6.2, besides refreshments featuring savoury delights from Berlin, a rock band, fair stalls and a ferris wheel provided just the right atmosphere.

The fact that this global concern was satisfied with the event was reflected in the announcement to hold CISCO Live 2017 in April of next year at Messe Berlin.

After ITB Berlin: a quick succession of events

Immediately after ITB Berlin – the world’s leading travel trade show – comes to an end further conference highlights will follow. Thus, on 18 and 19 March around 3.500 attendees from Germany and abroad will be taking part in INTERPHARM, Germany's leading event for pharmacists. This will be followed from 26 to 29 April by the Congress of the German Society for Surgery (DGCH), with around 5,000 participants. From 8 to 10 June, some 8,000 attendees are expected to be at the Medicine and Health Congress in the Capital. With around 12,00 participants, the 20th International Congress of Parkinson ́s Disease and Movement Disorders and the German Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress (DKOU / 23 to 26 Oct.) will round off the programme of large-scale medical conferences at Berlin ExpoCenter City.

This year, major corporate events include the AGM of Daimler AG. On 6 April, the shareholders of Daimler AG, the global vehicle manufacturer, will once again be convening in the CityCube Berlin. Apps World Germany, a leading event for software developers, is also included in the programme of corporate events. Once again, this event will be taking place in the CityCube Berlin (20 to 21 April).

Conference events on the rise in Berlin

The latest conference statistics compiled by the Berlin Convention Office of visitBerlin is an ongoing story of success: Last year’s conferences and congresses in the German capital were attended by around 11.4 million people. This represents an increase of four per cent. Over the same period the overall number of events rose to around 135,000, an increase of three per cent. International attendance continued to rise. In 2015, one in five attendees, a figure 2.3 million, came from abroad. According to visitBerlin, the capital is in great demand as a venue for medical and scientific events. 12 per cent each of the conferences took place under the headings of ’medicine, science and research’ and ’IT, electronics and communication’, followed by 11 per cent in the category ’politics and public authorities’.

Conferences and congresses are a major economic factor

With a turnover of 2.31 billion euros and a growth rate of 5 per cent, the conference and congress market is a major economic factor in Berlin. The event industry ensures full-time employment for around 39,500 people in the capital, an increase of four per cent. Visitors to the events who stayed in overnight accommodation in Berlin spent an average of 234 euros per day, compared to 232 euros in 2014. According to visitBerlin, the hotel industry in particular benefited from the conference and congress business. In 2015, the event industry generated one in four overnights in Berlin, an overall figure of 7.5 million, and an increase of 7 per cent.

www.messe-berlin.com