The Vienna conference tourism industry set a new record for the second year in a row in 2004 with a total of 1,633 conferences and corporate events, bringing a total of 888,000 overnight stays and an economic impact of EUR 456 million.

“This result is all the more remarkable since it comes in the year after the cardiology conference,” noted Christian Mutschlechner, head of the Vienna Tourist Board’s Vienna Convention Bureau.

“The new study for the first time enables us to quantify the economic impact of the corporate events more precisely. It clearly reveals that the induced GDP impact of corporate events was significantly higher than previously assumed, at EUR 82 million. The data previously available only permitted very conservative estimates,” he added.

Vienna’s existing record for conference tourism, set in 2003, was broken in 2004 with an increase of 15% in the number of conferences and corporate events. The number of overnight stays was up 10%. These events contributed EUR 456 million to Austria’s gross domestic product and generated EUR 124.8 million in tax revenue.

Of this amount, EUR 81.6 million went to the federal government, EUR 15.3 million to Vienna City Council, and the remainder to the provinces and outlying local authorities. In 2004 conferences and corporate events provided year-round employment for more than 9,900 people.

Conference tourism recorded more rapid growth than the rest of the tourist industry last year. While the number of overnight stays in Vienna increased by 6.0% overall, this was outstripped by growth in the conference and corporate segment, boosting the latter’s share of overall bednights to 10.5%.

Conference delegates spending EUR 362 per day in Vienna

Of the conferences held in Vienna in 2004, 133 were national and 356 international in character. Dr. Martina Stoff-Hochreiner - author of Event Model Austria, and a business consultant and lecturer at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration - was commissioned by the Vienna Tourist Board with detailed analyses of Vienna’s conference and corporate tourism statistics for 2004.

She found that these types of events contributed some EUR 374 million to the Austrian economy during the year. This figure takes into account all expenses incurred by delegates and event organisers - not just direct expenses but also revenues generated by “upstream” industries (e.g. food and beverages, banking and insurance, and construction).

Each delegate overnight stay generated an average of EUR 515 (international conferences EUR 528, national ones EUR 393). Direct daily expenditure per delegate amounted to EUR 362 in 2004. Accommodation accounts for the highest proportion of the total at 32%, followed by conference fees at 22% and transport costs within Austria at 16 %.

Some 3% was contributed by the restaurant trade. This percentage is lower than for other types of tourists as many conferences include meals in the registration fee. Shopping represented 9%, leisure activities (culture and entertainment) and telecommunications 3% respectively, and transportation within the city 2%.

Some 85% of conference delegates travelled unaccompanied. Most arrived by air (73%, including 34% taking Austrian Airlines flights) followed by rail (14%) and road (12%). Some 85% of participants stayed in hotels (pensions 8 %; private accommodation 7 %), and of these some 43% chose a four star hotel (5-star 24%; 3-star: 28%).

Some 70% of delegates combined their stay in Vienna with tourist activities. Of these 60% visited a museum, 44% went sightseeing, 39% went shopping, 23% attended concerts and 18% went to an opera. In all 19% of delegates extended their time in Vienna before or after their conference. Usually this was for private reasons (80%) but 11% stayed on for business and 9% for both private and business reasons.

Medical Conferences The Main Category

In the conference business, international congresses not only do a lot for the image of the destination, they also generate the most overnight stays and make the greatest economic impact. Medical conferences, in particular, are big money-spinners.

In 2004 medical conferences accounted for almost half of the international events held in Vienna, ahead of business, political and technological events.

Vienna’s largest conference centres (the RX Messe Wien Congress Center, Austria Center Vienna and Hofburg Kongresszentrum Wien) hosted 14% of the city’s international conferences, while a further 22% were held in hotels and 24% at universities.

Corporate Events Much More Lucrative Than Realised

Dr. Stoff-Hochreiner’s study of corporate events (meetings, product launches and incentives) brings new insights. It shows that corporate events in Vienna contribute much more to the national economy than was realised, as the data previously available allowed only highly conservative estimates.

In 2004 the induced GDP impact of corporate events was EUR 82 million. Of this, EUR 76.3 million was accounted for by international events and EUR 5.8 million by national gatherings. Each delegate spent an average of EUR 508 per overnight stay (international events EUR 558, national EUR 235).

In total, corporate events generated tax revenues of EUR 22.5 million and created 1,800 permanent jobs.

The author had to develop a new analytical technique for this study because of the greater sensitivity of those concerned to confidentiality issues. Unlike the conference study, it was not possible to survey attendees directly.

As a result the study is based on the results of surveys of hotels, information provided by Vienna corporate event agencies and organisers. Their data and revenue figures provided the basis for measuring the economic impact of events of this kind.

Mutschlechner commented, “All of the figures published in the study should be seen as minimum values. In the absence of interviews with attendees it was not possible to capture spending outside the events themselves.”