New meeting facilities and local clusters of excellence in science and business make Leipzig even more attractive for future congresses and conventions. The popularity of Leipzig certainly has an impact on the congress business of the city. More and more large meetings are drawn to the Saxon metropolis. To host these, a newly opened venue has been added recently: the KONGRESSHALLE am Zoo Leipzig.

In total, the venue features 15 halls and rooms which can seat between 10 and 1,200 people. The juxtaposition of different styles – from Art nouveau, Art deco and historicist to contemporary architecture – reflects the colourful history and gives the building a very particular ambiance. The “Expo” area offers 800 square metres of exhibition space. Organisers and visitors will benefit from the venue’s central location in town, putting it close to hotels, restaurants, bars, and many cultural and leisure opportunities. The facility is operated by Congress Center Leipzig (CCL), which belongs to the Leipzig Messe group of companies. It looks back on many years of national and international meetings industry experience and has powerful networks to contribute to the new venue’s success.

Like the CCL, the KONGRESSHALLE is a partner of the campaign ‘Feel the spirit … do-it-at-leipzig.de’. Masterminded by Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH and Leipziger Messe GmbH, this powerful network unites close to 50 suppliers, including conference centres, event venues, hotels, agencies and transport services. Meeting planners benefit from the excellent networks these suppliers have with the university and scientific institutions, and with important representatives of local clusters of excellence in science and business. These primarily focus on the region’s excellence in medicine and biotechnology, on the automotive and logistics industries, and on energy and environment-related research.

This year, Leipzig is cementing its reputation as an outstanding medical centre in Germany with the 600th anniversary of the medical faculty of Leipzig University, and the 3,000th stem cell transplantation at Leipzig University Hospital constitutes an important milestone in the fight against leukaemia. The excellent medical competence of Leipzig is not only based on the number of renowned institutions but above all on internationally acclaimed top results in research and therapy. Leipzig as a location for medicine is held in high esteem, just like the well-known representatives of medicine working here. This can also be seen in the congress calendar of Saxony’s most populous city – in 2016 Leipzig will, for the second time, host the annual meeting of DGHO, the German, Austrian and Swiss Societies for Haematology and Medical Oncology, which is expected to unite 4,000 participants. The fact that this congress is going to be held in Leipzig also acknowledges the expertise of the local haematologists around Prof. Dr. Dietger Niederwieser. He is one of about 30 physicians and scientists who were honoured as ‘Ambassadors of the Congress City of Leipzig’. In their role as ‘ambassadors’ they dedicate themselves in an outstanding way to developing the congress destination of Leipzig, and they have repeatedly brought important meetings of their specialist field to the city.

As another example, the international meeting of vascular surgeons, the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC), held at Leipziger Messe convention centre, brings together more than 4,800 participants from 70 countries, and it is rated among the world’s largest congresses on vascular medicine. It is above all the innovation of having openly accessible areas instead of closed lecture halls, the freedom in selecting sessions to attend, digital posters, and the live broadcasting of 90 operations from all over the world, that make this event so outstanding.

Leipzig’s automobile and supplier industry is also an important branch with a high degree of expertise. It is above all represented by Porsche and BMW. The BMW Leipzig plant received the prestigious ‘Lean & Green Management Award 2014’. This prize is awarded in six categories every year, and the Leipzig BMW plant won in the category ‘Automotive OEM’. The award acknowledges the exceptionally intensive and authentic commitment for sustainability by both management and staff. The resource-efficient production of the i3 and i8 e-vehicles as early as in the development phase is another important reason. Since 2005 BMW has produced in Leipzig with own pressing plant, body construction, paint shop and assembling, and with about 4,000 employees.

As early as 2002 Porsche started producing the model Cayenne in Leipzig. In February 2014, a new plant section was inaugurated as a full-service unit for the production of the model Macan. In the future, the Panamera will also be completely made in Leipzig. Over the past two years the plant’s workforce has grown from an initial 900 to about 2,500. Since suppliers and service providers have also moved here, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 jobs have been created in the region. For the Porsche Leipzig GmbH, environmental protection is a main issue, too. The reduction of the annual CO2 emission thanks to innovative technologies is part of this, just like the use of LED lamps in the outdoor areas of the plant, which annually reduces CO2 emission by 927 t.

Under the headline ‘The interrelationships between the “three Ts”, Transport, Trade and Tourism, and how they can be made more productive’, ministers of transport and scientists from all over the world met at the 2015 Summit of the International Transport Forum in Leipzig for discussions with association representatives and general managers of important transport companies. Almost 1,100 participants, from 66 nations and including 35 ministers and vice ministers, came to explore the future of transport trade and tourism. For many years this meeting has been hosted in Leipzig.