The Berlin Convention Office has announced that the city welcomed 11.4 million visitors for conferences, congresses and incentives in 2015, 4% more than the previous year.
The overall number of events rose by 3% to 135,000, according to the office, which is part of visitBerlin.
The city’s hotel industry in particular benefited from the strong conference and convention business. In 2015, the event market generated 7.5 million overnight stays (up 7%), representing approximately a quarter of all hotel stays in Berlin.
The research also showed that 2.3 million event delegates came from abroad in 2015, meaning one in five participants came from outside of Germany.
Berlin is especially in demand as a location for events related to sciences and medicine with 12% of all meetings and conventions assigned to these industries.
“Berlin is one of the world’s top destinations for meetings and conventions", said Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. “With new marketing activities and ideas, we are planning to further expand this success in the coming years.”
Further, event visitors spent an average of £181 a day in the city in 2015, a slight increase on the previous year. The event industry is a key source of employment in Berlin, providing around 39,500 full-time jobs.
Article written by Mike Fletcher