Vienna sees second best congress figures in 2009With 9% more bednights and 12% more value-added than in 2008, last year Viennarecorded its second best congress results, only slightly below the record set in 2007.The meeting industry report 2009 was presented on April 8 by Deputy MayorMag.a Renate Brauner together with Norbert Kettner, Managing Director of theVienna Tourist Board, and Christian Mutschlechner, Director of the ViennaConvention Bureau. Guest speaker Prof. Gerald Ganssen, Vice President of theEuropean Geosciences Union explained why the EGU congress has taken place inVienna every year since 2005.
“In 2009 the Viennese congress industry generated 1,372,884 bednights, 9% more than in2008, despite the fact that the number of events – both national and international congressesand corporate events – fell by 21% to 2,569” reported Deputy Mayor Brauner and explains“This decline was caused by corporate events: in contrast to congresses, which showed twodigitgrowth rates, corporate events plummeted 34%, for two reasons. While congresseswere not impacted by the global economic crisis, companies reacted very sharply to it. Additionally,due to the European Football Championship, there was an unusually high number ofcorporate events in 2008, which further inflated the difference to 2009. However, since congressesaccount for the lion’s share of the business in Vienna, overall results neverthelessshowed an upward trend. The congress industry grew in terms of both bednights and valueaddedimpacting not just Vienna but all of Austria and rose 12% to EUR 736.1 million from2008 to 2009. Furthermore, the Viennese congress industry secured some 15,000 permanentjobs last year.”
Norbert Kettner, Managing Director of the Vienna Tourist Board, explains: “Overall, Vienna has
come out of the crisis year 2009 looking good, and that is due in no small measure to its position
as a congress destination. Last year, the congress industry accounted for 14% of the total
volume of overnights. The lion’s share was by generated international congresses, where
Vienna has been able to defend its standing as one of the world’s most sought-after congress
cities for decades. A noteworthy factor is sales generated by the Viennese congress industry
in 2009, which was not an easy year, either for the hotel trade or for businesses that benefit
directly from revenue from tourism: delegates and participants at national and international
congresses and corporate events spent an average of about EUR 420 per person per night in
the city. The corresponding figure for all visitors to Vienna is around EUR 276.”
Nationwide value-added up 12% to EUR 736.1 million
Of the 2,569 events (-21%) held in Vienna in 2009, 882 were congresses (+26 %), of which
556 were international (+18%) and 326 national congresses (+41 %), and 1,687 were corporate
events (-34 %). Together they generated not only 1,372,884 bednights in Vienna
(+9%), but also nationwide value-added of EUR 736.1 million (+12%). This translated into tax
revenue of EUR 202.8 million, of which EUR 132.1 million went to the federal government,
EUR 24.5 million to Vienna, and the rest to the other provinces and municipalities. Calculation
of the value-added was done by Martina Stoff-Hochreiner, corporate consultant and lecturer
at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. The computation includes
all sales with nationwide impact: direct spending by event attendees, organizers, exhibitors
and companions, and spending in “upstream” sectors (e.g. building industry, food, drink and
tobacco industry, printing industry, banks, insurance, communications corporations, etc.).
Vienna scores with multifaceted venues of all sizes
In 2009, around 28% of international congresses – doubtless the most important sector of
Vienna congresses – took place at universities, 21% at hotels, and just over 11% at the big
congress centers Austria Center Vienna, Hoburg Vienna and Reed Messe Wien. The three
last-mentioned are internationally renowned congress centers that attract major congresses,
but the smaller locations, which include not just hotels and universities, but also numerous
palaces, museums and other cultural institutions, should not be underestimated: 89% of international
congresses have fewer than 500 participants, and Vienna benefits greatly from having
a wide range of multifaceted venues to offer. In terms of topics, the majority of international
congresses are on human medicine, accounting for 21% of congresses. In 2009 for the first
time these congresses were responsible for more than half of all bednights generated by international
congresses. 18% percent of international congresses focus on economy and politics,
12% on the human disciplines.
European Geosciences Union assembly: a regular guest in Vienna
Although congresses on human medicine dominate the field of Vienna’s international congresses,
the city is also highly regarded by scientists from other areas, who also like to book
their events here. One striking example is the European Geosciences Union (EGU), which
was founded in 2002 and has been holding its congress at the Austria Center Vienna every
year since 2005. Its 10,000 plus active members cover all the geo-sciences – earth, planets
and sun. This year, the Union will meet from May 2 to 7; their vice president Prof. Gerald
Ganssen from the Free University of Amsterdam said: “The number of participants at our congress
has been growing steadily for years. Last year, there were around 9,000 participants;
this year we are expecting about 9,500, or perhaps we shall even succeed in reaching five
digits for the first time. The delegates come from some 90 countries: it is not just our European
colleagues who are interested in the EGU congress. For example, America is has the
third or fourth largest number of delegates. Naturally we are proud of our intercontinental
reputation; after all, it illustrates the international importance of the EGU congress to geoscientific
research.”
Ganssen explains what keeps the EGU congress in Vienna as follows: “We have seen that we
can always rely on Vienna, we work well together there, everything clicks … At the same time,
that presents us, the presidents and the council, with a problem: there are so many reasons
why we should always meet in Vienna, it is so familiar and everything is well organized. On the
other hand, we are a European association and want to give other countries and cities the
chance to host the EGU. But we can only go somewhere other than Vienna when we are certain
that we are getting something at least of equal value in all regards. That is not so easy.
Barcelona and Paris have already fallen by the wayside. We were as good as gone with this
year’s congress, but at the last minute negotiations with Paris collapsed, and now we are here
again, and we’ll be back next year too.”
Ganssen unequivocally rejected the theory that congresses could be replaced by videoconferences
in the age of the Web, immediately citing a number of reasons to support his argument:
“For one thing – who would sit at home at their computer and listen to a live lecture?
Even though it may be technically possible – in practice, things look different. For another
thing: there is no substitute for the personal exchange that takes place at congresses after a
talk or before a scientific poster presentation. Another important aspect is making and maintaining
contacts – especially for young scientists who must build up and expand their networks.
Experience has shown that that does not work on the Web. Not to mention the fact
that congresses have an important function as a job fair. We may not have statistics on how
many jobs have been filled directly or indirectly during and after our congresses, but I do know
that in my discipline alone the number has been significant.”
Major congresses need “visibility with their destination”
The director of the Vienna Convention Bureau at the Vienna Tourist Board, Christian
Mutschlechner, talked about current developments in the worldwide conference industry, and
especially in the international congress business. He confirmed “a ‘trend toward content’ in
the sense that supplementary activities, which used to have a high priority, such as sightseeing
or side events, have been almost completely eliminated from the program. This has resulted
in shorter stays at the destination, which in turn means that the destination needs more
events and more participants to maintain or increase the level of bednights. In the case of major
congresses, there is also a growing desire for “visibility”. They want to be seen as a brand
at the destination, either through branding of the public space or through public events on related
topics to raise awareness among the city’s inhabitants of the social, medical, cultural
subject matter that the congress is centered on. This fuels the international pressure when attracting
congresses, because it is no longer enough for a city to offer an outstanding congress
infrastructure and congress services; additional conveniences are required on site when
the congress is taking place.”
Vienna is already prepared to meet these demands: for the biggest highlight in this year’s
congress calendar, the International AIDS Conference, which will take place July 18 to 23 at
Reed Messe Wien, an extensive cultural program is already being prepared (about which a full
report follows). Not only are around 25,000 participants from all over the world expected at
the conference, but also more than 2,500 international journalists. In addition to this major
congress, Vienna will host a number of other renowned events this year.
