“Meetropolis“ is the punchy name used as of now by the two big German cities Cologne and Düsseldorf to jointly advertise as attractive locations for meetings and congresses on an international scale. This new marketing cooperation was initiated by the Cologne Convention Bureau and the convention bureau Düsseldorf. In future, the two institutions will be represented under their new joint advertising brand “Meetropolis” at trade fair presentations, in ad campaigns and through active Public Relations.
Located at a distance of just 40 km in the heart of Europe, in the most populous German state (North Rhine-Westphalia) the two metropolises Cologne and Düsseldorf are among Germany’s major business, science and communication centres. The two capitals on the Rhine also rank very high as meeting and congress destinations. In the current ranking of the “Meeting and EventBarometer 2009” Cologne and Düsseldorf are among the Top 5 of the most popular German conference destinations. Altogether nearly 300 event facilities, two big exhibition centres and over 450 hotels are available, not forgetting the other meeting and accommodation options in the neighbouring regions.
Both in Cologne and Düsseldorf the congress and meeting business has continuosly developed further over the past few years. In order to optimally cater to this growth market the two major cities opened a Convention Bureau in 2008. Since then the two institutions have served in their respective city as the first point of contact for all organisers of especially international congresses and developed central marketing strategies for the Cologne and Düsseldorf congress market.
Initiating the new marketing cooperation “Meetropolis” Cologne and Düsseldorf now intend to leverage their benefits on an ever broader base while still emphasising their individual strenghts. This is also the brief for the conception of advertising materials and the joint presentation at trade fairs.
To Josef Sommer, CEO of KölnTourismus GmbH, of which the Cologne Convention Bureau forms part as an independent competence centre, the two cities with their new marketing alliance create a win-win situation for all parties involved: “Not only our two cities Cologne and Düsseldorf profit from the shared advertising image but also interested congress and event planners. Under the new brand you will find from now on all relevant data on our metropolitan region from a single source. This reveals our operational excellence at a glance.”
Hilmar Guckert, CEO of DüsseldorfCongress Veranstaltungs-GmbH, that runs the convention bureau Düsseldorf in cooperation with Düsseldorf Marketing & Tourismus GmbH, is also convinced of the long-term success of the “Meetropolis” Cooperation: “Both Cologne and Düsseldorf hold an enormous potential for organising large-scale congresses and meetings. Both cities combine high economic power and excellent infrastructure with a charming flair and impressive diversity. Thanks to the new marketing cooperation we can leverage our benefits even better competing with international destinations and canvass and bring more and other important events to our region.”
The first official “appearance” of the two Convention Bureaus under the shared “Meetropolis” brand will take place at the International Meeting Exhibition IMEX from 25 to 27 May 2010 in Frankfurt.
For further information on the congress destinations Cologne and Düsseldorf go to www.conventioncologne.de and www.convention-duesseldorf.com.
