The congress and conference industry is a major success factor in the international competition of metropolitan regions. This industry is also becoming ever more important for Hamburg as a location. Situated on the River Elbe, the city of Hamburg boasts all the elements of a prime location for conferences and conventions: as well as being a highly attractive tourist destination, Hamburg offers a broad range of hotels and gastronomic venues, tailored, state-of-the-art conference hotels and a rich choice of opportunities for side programmes. Hamburg stands out not only for its maritime flair, its abundant greenery and its unique location on the water, but also for its short distances and the central location of the city’s trade fair and exhibition grounds.

Yet Hamburg also faces strong competition from across the globe, with locations such as Vienna, Berlin, London or Barcelona being among the strongest competitors. This is why the Hamburg Convention Bureau (HCB) is actively engaged in strengthening the industry sector of meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE). As well as playing an important role for creating value within Hamburg’s event industry, the MICE sector holds huge economic potential both in Germany and abroad.

Reliable figures on a strong location: the Conference and Convention Market Survey Hamburg
The Conference and Convention Market Survey Hamburg was conducted by dwif Consulting GmbH on behalf of HCB. As part of the study, both quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews with experts were conducted in Germany and Europe between March and July 2014. The first study phase was based on an online survey that was implemented with the participation of numerous Hamburg hotels and venues as well as agencies from the source markets. The second phase comprised on-site interviews with event guests to establish their expenditure during a meeting or congress visit. The economic effects of their stay in Hamburg were calculated based on these interviews. attending conferences and conventions in Hamburg spent more than EUR 540 million, thereby boosting the city’s value creation considerably. Furthermore, secondary industries such as culture, recreation and retail also benefit from the MICE industry.

Another key finding of the study is that approx. 2.3 million overnight stays in Hamburg in 2013 were induced by meetings, incentives, conventions and events. This equates to around one fifth (21%) of all overnight stays in Hamburg in 2013. From among these overnight stays, around one fifth (22%) were attributable to business travellers from abroad. For HCB, the overall number of overnight stays is a respectable figure that provides a solid basis for further developing Hamburg as a MICE location. In addition, these findings also suggest that the area of international business travel should be further strengthened in order for Hamburg to systematically harness the potential of foreign source markets.

Great Britain (24%), Scandinavia (19%), the United States (10%) and Switzerland (10%) are emerging as Hamburg’s strongest international source markets in the MICE segment. [[Here figure – The TOP 6 foreign source markets]]

The British market – HCB’s strongest source market – is coordinated by Florian Gerdes, marketing manager at HCB, and he is currently placing an even greater focus on the features and requirements specific to the UK market. “The British MICE segment is a very important and interesting market to us. Thanks to the UK’s geographic proximity to Northern Germany, many events with British participants enrich Hamburg as a location. This is an area we would like to systematically strengthen and expand,” Mr Gerdes explains.

The top industries for business events held in Hamburg include financial services (63%), medicine & medical technology (44%), IT & communication (41%), chemicals & pharmaceuticals (39%), media & publishing (32%), as well as logistics & transport (32%). [[Here figure – The TOP 6 industries of business events]]

Pictured Florian Gerdes

Another study commissioned by HCB has demonstrated how relevant Hamburg’s economic clusters are to the British economy – especially in the areas of media & IT, the creative industries, renewable energies, logistics, aviation and health. British companies opting to host their event in Hamburg do not only benefit from the city’s strong business networks, but also find excellent opportunities for establishing and fostering interesting new business contacts.

Hamburg – the meeting location with excellent prospects for business and lifestyle
Anyone planning an event will find an abundance of meeting and event facilities in Hamburg, with a continuous flow of new offers. In 2014 alone, nine new hotels have been opened in Hamburg. Hamburg’s biggest forte is its fascinating range of venues, its central location, and its proximity to the water. The choice of venues ranges from state-of-the-art conference hotels and privately owned houses with typical Hanseatic charm to original designer hotels, or the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH). Opened in the spring of 1973 as Germany’s first convention centre, the CCH is the top address for events with large numbers of guests. From here it is a few steps to the ICE railway station, the exhibition grounds of Hamburg Messe, as well as hotels, shopping centres and the “Planten un Blomen” park. This green retreat, which also includes a Japanese garden, is a popular place of rest also among conference guests.

Preferred destination for strong industries
As a meeting location, Hamburg also benefits from its fields of expertise in business and science and the strategic development of these fields. The strong concentration and the worldwide links of regional economic clusters are key elements of Hamburg’s locational quality and promote both – business travel and the regional events industry. As a host of international conferences and conventions, Hamburg continues to gain in profile and reputation also in this regard.

The Hamburg Convention Bureau (HCB)
As a direct subsidiary of Hamburg Marketing GmbH, the Hamburg Convention Bureau (HCB) combines locational expertise with a broad spectrum of industry-specific knowledge, ranging from B2B meetings, conferences and conventions to large-scale public events. HCB is in charge of marketing Hamburg globally as a congress and conventions location and strengthening Hamburg’s profile internationally via highly visible public events.

In addition, HCB is dedicated to market monitoring, market research and benchmarking, thereby providing the basis for harnessing existing potential and for developing the location in a targeted fashion. For HCB, thorough knowledge of the MICE industry is an essential prerequisite, as this will facilitate the city’s strategic efforts in strengthening Hamburg as a conference and convention location and making the city even more attractive to its international source markets. Being one of Hamburg’s major source markets, an even greater focus will be placed on Britain in the coming year.