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1/2010
Hamburg Convention Bureau
In August 2009 the Hamburg
Convention Bureau
GmbH (HCB) became the
official marketing organisation
and lobby for congresses
and events in the Free
420 million on upgrading the
exhibition centre, extending
the Congress Center Hamburg
(CCH) and building a
7,000 square-metre exhibition
hall onto it. It must be
said, though, that this extension
work to the exhibition
and congress centres, which
are in the heart of town, was
urgently necessary.
Within walking distance of
the congress centre and the
fairground are sufficient hotels
of all categories; for visitors
alighting from the highspeed
ICE train it’s only a few
steps to the CCH. The international
downtown airport is
only just over eight kilometres
from the city centre.
What’s more, the city is very
dynamic. Month for month
excellent new special event
venues are popping up.
European Green
Capital 2011
For the first time last February
the European Commission
awarded the title
European Green Capital.
35 cities competed for
this distinction, which
takes its lead from the European
Capital of Culture
initiative. Following
Stockholm in 2010, for
2011 Hamburg was chosen
as the second city to
bear this title.
and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
This makes it the first
port of call for national and
international meeting, incentive,
convention and
event (MICE) organisers.
TW: In the business travel
segment a third of corporate
travel is related to congresses
und events, and in the association
sector fully twothirds.
A third of all German
companies are now cutting
back on business trips.
Events are being cancelled
and congresses postponed.
What repercussions are
these travel restrictions having
on Hamburg?
Rieger: In general decisions
are being made at shorter notice.
Not so much by associations,
but in corporate business
the time between the
decision on an event and its
staging is sometimes ridiculously
short. At the moment
companies are thinking very
short term on the use of their
resources. Generally speaking
we are seeing relatively
few meetings being cancelled,
but they are not lasting
as long, with one roomnight
instead of two, or none at all
instead of one.
TW: Has extension and modernisation
of the CCH gone
far enough?
Rieger: In the short term yes,
it was overdue. It has put us in
a position to bid for top-notch
congresses that we wouldn’t
previously have been able to
cope with in terms of their
size.
Without the extension we’d
not have won the European
Photovoltaic Solar Energy
Conference and Exhibition,
and we might have lost the
DIVI German Interdisciplinary
Association of Critical Care
Medicine congress.
But between the completely
redeveloped 560-room Radisson
Hotel and the extension
to the CCH a section in
the middle is 35 years old.
Although it’s well kept, professional
event organisers
naturally notice the difference.
The city council is planning its
revitalisation. But if we want
to continue playing in the premier
league this needs to be
carried out fairly soon.
TW: Does Hamburg have
anything else going for it?
Rieger: The city has more
bridges than Venice and Amsterdam
together. The River
HAMBURG
Elbe, its tributary the Alster,
Europe’s second largest port
and the steady rise in the
number of cruise ships docking
here, with the Queen Mary
II as one example, all this
underscores the huge part
that water plays for Hamburg.
Even the city hall is built on
more than 4,000 oak pillars
driven into the water. Flying
to Hamburg, you’ll see a lot of
water and large parks. Almost
50 percent of the municipal
area consists of green
spaces, water and woods.
And with the spectacular Elbphilharmonie
concert hall
atop an old quay warehouse
Hamburg is getting an absolutely
amazing new landmark.
By the water, of course.
Interview: Dirk Mewis