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.
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.
For more information, visit www.vienna.convention.at
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