Berlin’s MICE sector poised to launch restart – beginning with a pilot project for safe business events

Berlin, 15 June 2021 With a series of three pilot events from 15 – 23 June, Germany’s capital city is taking a first step to relaunching its meetings and congress sector. These three major events, employing a variety of measures such as Covid-19 antigen tests, will help to assess how Berlin can safely hold meetings and congresses with up to 500 in-person attendees.

Burkhard Kieker, CEO visitBerlin, commented: “The business of conferences, trade fairs, and congresses is a decisive economic factor for the city. This pilot project shows how, with measures such as rapid antigen tests and systematic hygiene schedules, events are a real possibility again – paving the way to restart Berlin’s MICE branch.”

Martin Ecknig, Chief Executive Officer, Messe Berlin: “A perspective for opening up is essential, and this pilot project also sets the course for just that. With clear rules not just based on daily numbers of new cases, we as the event sector can really hit the ground running.”

The pilot project comprises the following three events:

• The Capital Congress Medicine and Health 2021 from 15 – 17 June in Messe Berlin’s CityCube is one of the leading congresses for the health system and healthcare sector in Germany. It brings together clinic managers, physicians, nurses, and carers with high-ranking representatives from politics and business to exchange views on trends and innovations in medicine and the healthcare sector.

• The Greentech Festival is an international event for green technologies, products, and services. From 16 – 18 June, the festival in the Kraftwerk Berlin venue provides a platform for a conference with acclaimed speakers, a carbon-neutral concert, exhibitions, and the Green Awards ceremony.

• Industry Day (TDI) from 21 – 23 June in the Verti Music Hall is the Federation of German Industries (BDI) annual summit with high-ranking representatives from the business, political and social spheres. Against the background of the upcoming elections for the German parliament, the discussions focus, among other things, on how to achieve the concerted action needed to realise the climate goals.

These three events also provide an opportunity to test in real life such new digital solutions as the ‘BärCode’ app as proof of a rapid antigen test or COVID-19 vaccinations administered by the Berlin Charité Hospital. Some venues will be using special air purifier filters designed to reduce the number of aerosol particles. Moreover, the project will be gaining further insights into, for instance, optimising test procedures on site and integrating the results of decentralised test centres. The findings will later be made available to the event organisers.

Indoor events with up to 100 participants possible in Berlin

At present, Berlin’s regulations allow for up to 100 in-person attendees at indoor events and up to 500 at outdoor events. In keeping with the city’s number one priority of ensuring the health and safety of all event participants, the visitBerlin Convention Partner together with the Berlin Convention Office and other partners of the city’s event sector have drafted a Hygiene Framework Concept for the Berlin event industry.