Management looks to innovative future ahead
Renate Danler’s appointment as managing director of the HOFBURG Vienna was confirmed for another five years at a recent board meeting. The announcement comes as a clear statement of intent from the Hofburg, Europe’s leading conference centre, as it reveals a number of ambitious targets for the future.
Martin Schick announced the decision to extend Renate Danler’s tenure as managing director of the HOFBURG Vienna to 2017 in his capacity as chairman of the Wiener Kongresszentrum Hofburg Betriebsgesellschaft mbH annual general meeting. “Renate Danler is a very experienced and highly dynamic director, and one who will keep the HOFBURG Vienna on course for success over the next few years”, he explained. The new contract will run from 1 March 2012.
The decision to extend Ms Danler’s contract clearly shows the Hofburg’s commitment to continuity, while creating a stable foundation for strategic targets and planning activities. Ms Danler’s arrival in 2007 ushered in a new era for the Vienna Hofburg, with around EUR 15 million being invested in fixtures, fittings and equipment. The main focus of the investment programme, initiated in partnership with Burghauptmannschaft Österreich, was on conferencing equipment, IT systems and building maintenance. The HOFBURG Vienna brand was relaunched under an elegant new corporate design which reintroduced the traditional black and yellow from the days of the empire as a uniform visual to be used in advertising materials, clothing and architecture. With around 60 percent of all events accounted for by returning and regular customers, the imperial Hofburg’s enduring appeal speaks for itself. Despite the economic and financial uncertainties that have been a constant feature of the past few years, the HOFBURG Vienna has consistently presented robust results, and even reported increases in a number of areas. And more than two-thirds of the events which take place at the conference centre have an international dimension.
One of the Hofburg’s overarching aims is to establish itself as Europe’s leading conference destination. As the pace of developments in communications and event technologies reaches fever pitch, the HOFBURG Vienna is responding with its very own innovation management strategy which centres on mobile services, augmented reality, virtual and hybrid events. Energy savings and sustainability top the facility management and meeting organisation checklists, with green meetings and a glut of green energy and eco-friendly transportation projects leading the way.
Ms Danler, a native of Tyrol, joined the Wiener Kongresszentrum Hofburg Betriebsgesellschaft mbH team in March 2007. In addition to a number of appointments abroad, she worked as director of tourism in Kitzbühel and Alpbach. During her time in Alpbach she presided over the construction of the town’s conference centre, before going on to head the facility for more than a year. The economics graduate’s early career enabled her learn her trade in a number of senior management positions at the Congress Innsbruck conference centre.
Each year the HOFBURG Vienna hosts more than 330 events of all kinds (conferences, balls, banquets, fairs) and welcomes between 300,000 and 350,000 visitors. The imperial conference centre offers 17,000 m2 of space spread across 35 rooms for events for anything from 50 to 4,900 people. It is also the permanent seat of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Annual revenue (adjusted for catering income) amounts to about EUR 10 million, while the induced economic impact (including OSCE conferencing activities) for the Austrian economy is put at EUR 180-200 million.
