Berlin, 21 October 2015 From 13 to 15 October 2015, the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office (BCO) had its own stand at IMEX America in Las Vegas. Together with eight partners, including hotels, agencies and Messe Berlin, the BCO informed potential customers about the latest trends in the German capital.

“The interest in Berlin remains on a constant high,” says Heike Mahmoud, Director Conventions of the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office. “The wide range of modern hotel offerings in the city is a popular selling point for our customers and the good value for money is a strong factor driving our success.”

According to the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index 2014, the average price for a night’s stay in a Berlin hotel is €92. This makes the city one of the most affordable destinations in the top 5 of the latest statistics from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). In comparison, event participants pay an average of €138 a night in Paris, €103 in Vienna, and €117 in Barcelona. Only Madrid is less expensive than Berlin at €87 a night.

This year, it was mainly companies and agencies including professional congress organisers (PCOs) and providers of incentives that came to explore what the German capital has to offer. In addition to North America, customer enquiries at IMEX America also came from attendees from Latin America, Europe and China.

Half-year statistics 2015: North America is most important overseas market

In the first six months of 2015, 62,000 events took place in the German capital (+1.5% compared to the previous year) with 4.82 million participants (also +1.5%). The number of overnight stays related to these meetings increased by 3 per cent to 3.3 million. Almost one in five (18%) event participants came from abroad. The most important overseas market is the USA and Canada (3% of all participants).

New major convention capacities for Berlin: Estrel Convention Center

Estrel Berlin – Germany’s largest hotel – has opened its new Convention Hall in early September. The Convention Hall II offers more than 10,000 m² of meeting space for conferences and congresses for up to 5,200 participants. Together with its existing meeting space, the Estrel Berlin has more than 25,000 m² for conventions for up to 12,000 participants. The Estrel is Berlin’s second venue for large conventions alongside CityCube Berlin.

For more information about Berlin as a meeting destination, go to convention.visitBerlin.com.