Thanks to an abundance of state-of-the-art facilities in Cosmopolitan settings, a finely tuned infrastructure countrywide, and reliably friendly and efficient assistance from English-speaking meeting professionals, Germany has been named the most Popular meeting destination in Europe by ICCA for the third year running. Corporate meeting and incentive groups' meeting choices include CASTLE hotels, historic medieval towns, mountain scenery, vineyard visits, and Rhine cruises, not to mention annual celebrations such as Oktoberfest and the famous Christmas Markets.
Essential Tool Box
Average Daily Business Travel Costs:
Berlin: Hotel $160 F&B $108
Dusseldorf: Hotel $168 F&B $115
Frankfurt: Hotel $194 F&B $136
Hamburg: Hotel $167 F&B $106
Munich: Hotel $170 F&B $109
For More Info:
German CB
www.germany-meetings.com
*Source: Business Travel News 2007 Corporate Travel Index
The Big News
This year, SevenCenters of Germany-the marketing alliance that promotes Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart-is spotlighting Stuttgart, where the ICS International Congress Center Stuttgart is poised to open in Oct. With space for more than 9,000 delegates, ICS will be part of a greater complex that includes a 1,000,000-sf trade-fair center. ICS-which is adjacent to Stuttgart Airport-will also offer direct links to the autobahn, a high-speed ICE train, and a rapid-transit rail line.
Combined, the centers comprise nearly 11 million sf of exhibit space, plus a seating capacity of more than 100,000. But, with seating for 14,500 and 1,600,000 sf of exhibition space, ICC Berlin is Europe's largest convention center.
At Messe Frankfurt, the Europa Room on the ground floor of the Bauhaus-inspired Hall 4 reopened last Sept following a four-million-euro makeover into a state-of-the-art venue for 500 people.
Last year, KoelnKongress (Cologne's convention center) added the Flora Koeln, an historic building in the midst of the city's Botanical Gardens (50-900 people).
What's New The Jewish Museum Munich, which opened in Mar 2007.
Facilites Update
Dresden's Green Vault returned last year to the reopened Dresden Royal Palace.
* The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart had its first anniversary in May. There are 10 rooms (nearly 50,000 sf) of meeting and event space, including the casino and its lounge, and the roof terrace.
* BallinStadt-Port of Dreams opens in Hamburg this July 4 on the grounds of the old Emigrant Halls, where the masses left for America just over a century ago. A highlight will be Link to Your Roots, a searchable database of ship passenger lists between 1850 and 1934. Smaller groups will be able to hold events there.
GROUPS SHOULD CONSIDER
Groups should consider these recommendations from Successful Meetings Home Team experts: Ritz-Carlton Berlin; the Westin Grand Berlin; the Arabella Sheraton Grand (Munich); the Dolce Bad Nauheim (Frankfurt); and the Kempinski Hamburg.
Contributors who informed this section include Home Team member Dan Vazquez, CMP, and Ute Linhart. Contact them at
[email protected]On Site: Berlin
In the Market for "New"
This past December, I awoke to the iconic view of the Brandenburg Gate from the window of my room at the Hotel Adlon on Pariser Platz, east of the gate. Just west is a more recent landmark: the glass-domed Reichstag. (Tip: Avoid the long lines by booking a table at the Dachgarten, the roof restaurant.)
Berlin's historic hub, Pariser Platz is the site of the stunningly dramatic Axica Congress Center, designed by Frank Gehry. Behind it is the somber stone labyrinth of the Holocaust Memorial, which opened in 2005. Last November saw the opening of The Kennedys - a museum of photographic and other memorabilia of the family, which is also a tribute to German-American relations.
On Museum Island, I was anxious to revisit the Ishtar Gate and other recreated monuments from Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon at the Pergamon Museum; I also made my way to the splendidly refurbished Bode Museum of sculpture and Byzantine art, which had just reopened.
Just across from Museum Island, the new DDR Museum turns a retrospective eye on everyday life in East Germany before unification - fascinating and also fun. Equally fascinating and not to be missed is the Berlin Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie.
December being the season of Christmas markets, I made the rounds. The two standouts in my opinion were "Christmas Magic," the elegant, white-tented extravaganza at the Gendarmenmarkt and the Advent Eco-Market organized by the Green League, where the merchandise was fair trade and the street food organic.
Berlin is multifaceted, constantly evolving, and compelling enough to keep me coming back again and again.-JA