Success for Berlin: Largest European cancer congress comes to the German capital for the first time in 2025

Berlin, 26 September 2023 Between 17-21 October 2025, Berlin will host for the first time the Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) which normally attracts between 25 and 30 thousands participants. The announcement was made today by ESMO. For five days, internationally renowned experts will provide state-of-the-art lectures and the latest research updates to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The ESMO Congress is one of the largest congresses dealing with research, treatment and care of patients with cancer in Europe.

Franziska Giffey, Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry: "Berlin's congress and event business is one of the most important economic sectors in our city. The many large congresses are a driving force for Berlin and one of the reasons why Berlin's economy compares favourably with other Federal states of Germany. After the difficult pandemic years for the industry, we are now seeing a clear recovery with a signal effect: I am very pleased that we have succeeded in bringing the internationally renowned ESMO Congress to Berlin. In 2025, we will welcome the almost 30,000 experts in oncology to our city, thus underlining Berlin's reputation as a city of science."

"Winning the bid for one of the largest medical congresses is a huge success for the German capital," says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. "The city's return on investment runs well into the double-digit millions. It fully and truly honours the collective effort of all the players."

"Messe Berlin has a long-standing expertise in hosting major international medical congresses. We are proud that with the ESMO Congress we have been able to bring another very prestigious major event into the fold of Berlin as a venue and we are already looking forward to working with them," says Dr Mario Tobias, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH.

Messe Berlin, the Berlin Convention Office of visitBerlin, the visitBerlin Partnerhotels e.V. and DEHOGA Berlin all put in a successful joint bid for this prestigious congress. Berlin has won over the competition with its highly developed infrastructure for events, its distinguished hotel industry and its internationally respected research landscape. Since the premiere of the ESMO Congress in 1986, Berlin is only the third host city in Germany after Hamburg (2000) and Munich (2018). This year, the congress will be held in Madrid from 20 to 24 October.

For more information on the congress please visit esmo.org and on the event location in Berlin: convention.visitBerlin.de/en.