Berlin, 5 October 2012 “Berlin – the place to be for conventions”: the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office (BCO) is presenting Berlin as a destination for conventions at IMEX America in Las Vegas, together with nine providers from the hotel and event industry. Following the successful IMEX world premiere in Las Vegas last year, Berlin will be a guest at the fair for the second time from 9 to 11 October 2012. The American market is an important one for the Berlin convention business.

Berlin – an attractive destination for medical conventions

Berlin is presenting itself to the American market as one of the most important locations for medical conventions in particular. 18 per cent of all conventions and events in the capital can be attributed to this sector. The annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) is currently being held at the Berlin ICC. 18,000 participants travelled to Berlin to attend the meeting. From 21 to 24 October, renowned medical experts from all around the world will be meeting in the capital city for the World Health Summit. The support of prominent participants was enlisted through collaboration with the M8 Alliance, founded in 2009. The "M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers and Medical Universities" is a global network of eight outstanding medical faculties - including Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, and the Berlin Charité. In order to link the convention more closely with the German capital, Messe Berlin and visitBerlin have become majority shareholders in the World Health Summit Foundation GmbH.

A successful result for Berlin conventions

Event organisers are attracted to the German capital. The Berlin Convention Industry can look back over a successful first half of 2012. "The bid to attract international convention business has paid off. Berlin is ranked fourth worldwide among cities holding the most conventions," says Heike Mahmoud, director of the Berlin Convention Office at visitBerlin. 4.6 million people attended the 57,800 events (+ 8.1%) held in the first six months of 2012. That is 300,000 more visitors as compared to the same period of the previous year (+ 7%). They stayed in Berlin for a total of 3.1 million nights (+3%), representing a quarter of all hotel stays in Berlin.

Outlook: CityCube Berlin is currently taking shape at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. A new Convention Hall will open in 2014. It will be possible to hold events for up to 10,000 participants here, enabling Berlin to develop a leading role in hosting international conventions.

The "IMEX America - America‘s worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events" (imexamerica.com) is the largest trade fair for the American convention industry with around 2,000 invited purchasers in 2012. The BCO is represented at the German joint stand 424–29.

For information about Berlin as a convention destination, visit: convention.visitBerlin.de.