2.8 million events took place in Germany in 2007, six percent more than the previous year. The number of attendees increased even more perceptibly in comparison with the previous year – by eight percent. 314 million individuals attended German meetings and events in 2007 – almost four times the population of the Federal Republic of Germany. This clearly demonstrates that meetings and events in…
2.8 million events took place in Germany in 2007, six percent more than the previous year. The number of attendees increased even more perceptibly in comparison with the previous year – by eight percent. 314 million individuals attended German meetings and events in 2007 – almost four times the population of the Federal Republic of Germany. This clearly demonstrates that meetings and events in Germany are being held more frequently and are attracting a constantly growing group of participants to German events venues. Those facilities are well-equipped to deal with that: 6,200 hotels, convention and event centres as well as event locations (offering a capacity of at least 100 with row seating in the largest room) are currently available to the meeting and event organisers from all over the world, which is six percent more than in the previous year.
Those are the central findings of the “Meeting & EventBarometer 2008” – a study of the meetings and events market in Germany – which was presented today at the IMEX specialist trade fair. This is already the second time that the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), the GCB German Convention Bureau and the European Association of Events Centers (EVVC) commissioned the European Institute for the Meetings Industry (EITW) to illuminate the German events market. The EITW surveyed 3,099 German suppliers, 7,390 European organisers and 1,209 international experts from specialist associations, specialist journals and research institutes worldwide about the latest trends in the industry. The result demonstrates that in 2007 the meetings and events industry in Germany was able to participate in the dynamic growth of Germany’s overall economy and made a substantial contribution towards it itself.
Distribution of types of events
The German events centres – particularly arenas and various halls – as well as event locations report a large proportion of events. The more unusual events venues, ranging from castles to factory floors, registered the greatest increase in sports and cultural events. Similarly to the situation of the events centres, in this area seminars, meetings and conventions currently still represent the most important group with a proportion of 38 percent, followed closely by events, festivities and local events with proportions ranging from twelve to 16 percent. The distribution situation is completely different in convention hotels: there the events that are held are dominated by seminars, conventions and meetings with a proportion of 78.5 percent; only festivities such as banquets and anniversary celebrations represent another sizable area worthy of mention with a proportion of 9.6 percent.
Greatest growth rate for cultural and entertainment events
With a growth rate of 3.8 percent, cultural and entertainment events registered the strongest increase, followed by society events such as receptions and galas, the proportion of which increased by 1.8 percentage points in 2007. Together those two types of events account for 37 percent of all meetings and events that are held in Germany. Although commercial enterprises are still the most important organisers, accounting for 43 percent of all events, there is a slight downward trend in this regard.
Increase in event size coupled with slightly increased budgets of organisers
In 2007 meetings and conventions addressed medium-sized target groups to a greater extent: events with less than 50 attendees only accounted for 40 percent of all meetings in Germany (2006: 50 percent); large events with more than 1,000 attendees remained stable at about six percent. The strongest growth was registered by medium-sized meetings and conventions with attendee numbers ranging between 250 and 1,000 individuals.
The budgets of organisers only increased slightly in comparison with the previous year. However, the experts are becoming more optimistic in this regard: 51.4 percent (2007: 40.5 percent) predict that companies will be increasing their budgets in the future.
Most important sources of information for organisers and decision-making criteria
The organisers mentioned personal recommendations in particular as a source of information for the selection of hotels and meeting venues as well as – slightly more often than in the previous year – the internet. In addition, there was an increase in the significance of agency recommendations, which the organisers ranked as the third most important source of information. Printed brochures, which the suppliers use as their third most important advertising instrument, are not rated all that highly by the organisers. They only ended up in fifth place. The most important criteria for the selection of event venues are still good transportation connections, the price-performance ratio as well as a central contact partner. Only marginal shifts were detected in this area in comparison with the previous year.
Criteria for locality selection by organisers
Just like in the previous year, in 2007 the most important plus factor with regard to selection of a locality was the rapid accessibility of the destination. However, additional factors such as hotel capacities as well as the image of the selected destination are becoming perceptibly more significant. The organisers demonstrate clearly differing preferences with regard to selecting the size of the locality. Thus, commercial enterprises prefer metropolises with populations of more than 500,000; by contrast, scientific or academic conventions and meetings are preferentially held in cities with 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants – university towns have a high level of significance in this area. The organisers of cultural and entertainment events tend to choose medium-sized towns, whereas the organisers of society events show a preference for small towns with less than 50,000 inhabitants.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
