As was widely expected, no new records for congress tourism could be set in a year when attention was focused on a major sporting event – the European Football Championship. This did not apply to the total number of events; here, Vienna even saw growth of 18%, with 3,257 national and international congresses and corporate events. Nevertheless, the overnight stays attributable to this sector – 1,261,494 – were 11% below the corresponding figure for 2007, and the EUR 654.39 million contribution made by the Viennese congress industry to Austrian gross domestic product was 14% below the figure for the previous year. However, 2008 was Vienna’s second best congress year, both in terms of overnight stays and gross domestic product, and the Viennese congress industry secured 13,000 permanent jobs.

The structure of the Viennese congress industry explains why the number of overnight stays and the contribution to gross domestic product fell so markedly, despite strong growth in the number of events: international congresses account for a high proportion of the business, and this is reflected in the overnight stays and volume of sales. It was precisely in this area that there was a decline in 2008. However, the very factor that worked against Vienna in 2008 will benefit it again this year. This is because international congresses are much more crisis-proof than corporate events; unlike other congress cities that have a lower proportion of international congresses, Vienna already has excellent bookings for this year. We have every reason to believe that 2009 will match up to the record figures set in 2007.

For Christian Mutschlechner, director of the Vienna Convention Bureau, Vienna’s congress results for 2008 were “an anomaly in a steady path of growth; it was even to be expected. Back in 2002, when it was announced that Vienna would be hosting the European Football Championship, we knew that 2008 would not be a major congress year. In Vienna, international congresses account for 70% of all the overnight stays generated by the congress industry; their contribution to gross domestic product is 72%. We must also remember that the European cardiology congress “beefed up” 2007 congress figures; it is after all the congress with the highest attendance and the most overnight stays in Europe. Given this situation and the extremely strong growth in congress business in 2007, the 2008 figures making it the second-best year for the Viennese congress industry should be viewed accordingly. We should not put a gloss on them, because a decline is never good, but it would not be a bad thing to play them down a little. Congresses and corporate events accounted for 12.3% of Vienna’s record figure of 10.2 million overnight stays in 2008. Direct spending by
visitors in this sector amounted to an average of EUR 415 per person per day.”

EUR 654 million gross domestic product benefits all Austria
Of the 3,257 events held in Vienna in 2008 (+18% compared to 2007), 701 were congresses (-2%), of which 470 were international (-9%) and 231 domestic congresses (+17%), and 2,556 were corporate events (+25%). The 1,261,494 overnight stays (-11%) and EUR 654 million conibution to gross domestic product (-14%) associated with these events generated tax revenue of EUR 180.3 million. Of this, EUR 117.2 million went to the federal government, EUR 21.9 million to Vienna, and the remainder to the other Austrian provinces and local authorities. The gross domestic product was calculated by Dr. Martina Stoff-Hochreiner, management consultant and teacher at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, and includes all domestic sales. In addition to direct spending by event attendees, organizers, exhibitors and companions, the computation includes spending in “upstream” sectors (e.g. building industry, food, drink and tobacco industry, printing industry, banks, communications corporations, etc.).

European Congress of Radiology: regular highlight on Vienna’s congress calendar
In 2008, the European Congress of Radiology was one of the largest congresses – and not just in that year. It is Vienna’s “most loyal” congress and has never been held anywhere else since its inception. From 1991 to 1999, it was held every other year, but since 2000 it has been held every year in March and is now a regular highlight of the Viennese congress calendar. This year, it took place from 6 to 10 March, as usual at the Austria Center Vienna, and celebrated a small anniversary, as this was the fifteenth congress.

Peter Baierl, executive director of the European Society of Radiology, gave the following report: “With 18,200 attendees from 97 countries, the 2009 European Congress of Radiology set a new record. People travel from all over the globe to attend this congress. Among the top fifteen countries are western European countries, along with Poland, Russia and the USA. Our strategy of opening up new markets for each ECR has proved successful in recent years with China, Korea and Japan. For this year’s congress, our activities focused on Iran and produced growth in attendance of more than 50%. Our focus in the near future is now Latin America.” Baierl quoted the following figures for the impact of the ECR on Vienna’s hotel industry: “About 16,000 congress attendees come from abroad; they spend an average of three nights in Viennese hotels, which generates an estimated total of 48,000 overnight stays.” Under the current arrangement, the European Congress of Radiology will be held in Vienna at least until 2017.

2009: Congress destination Vienna 2009 shaping up well Christian Mutschlechner, head of the Vienna Convention Bureau at the Vienna Tourist Board, said of the situation in the Viennese congress industry this year: “The international economic crisis has not had as severe an impact on Vienna’s congress business in 2009 as it has on cities with fewer international congresses, i.e. on association business. All over the world, the level of association events is virtually unchanged, despite the crisis. This is borne out by the latest information from the International Congress and Convention Association, which has a global overview. One of Vienna’s major advantages is that it is a particularly popular venue for international congresses in the field of human medicine; more than a third of all congress overnight stays are generated by these events. These congresses, which are generally extremely well attended, take many years to prepare – often up to five years – and involve considerable investment up front for the organizer. One does not cancel these kinds of events at short notice, even when there is an international economic crisis. As a result, Vienna has excellent congress bookings this year. In September, congress locations are so full that at the end of  last year we started having to turn down large events, if we were unable to move them to a different month.”