Congress and meeting in Austria

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The congress and conference industry , i.e. that part of the event industry that includes the congress system ( conferences , main area of ​​the MICE sector), is an increasingly important factor in the tourism sector in Austria .

Significance of the congress and conference industry

International statistics as well as the Meeting Industry Report Austria (MIRA) show that the conference industry is an important branch of the economy in Austria. The Austrian economy benefits in particular from the characteristics of congress tourism : On the one hand, the seasonality of congress tourism is contrary to leisure tourism . With peaks in spring and autumn, congress tourism covers periods of low capacity leisure tourism. On the other hand, the added value of congresses and meetings is considerable. According to the Vienna conference statistics 2010, the average daily expenditure of a congress participant in Vienna is around € 475 (in comparison, a leisure tourist in Vienna only spends around € 270 per day).
MIRA was able to demonstrate the importance of the conference industry with solid figures for the first time.

Congress tourism is an important part of city ​​tourism , a classically strong branch in Austria (with Vienna being Austria's most important tourist destination), but also an important alternative for classic tourist destinations in rural areas (here especially for large and medium-sized hotels that are affected by the changed holiday behavior of more mobile clientele suffer), as well as in tourist developing regions (for which congress tourism represents an entry point due to the lack of other attractions: in some specialist areas of conference tourism, more remote “insider tips” are definitely in demand). At the same time, conferences and the trend towards wellness go hand in hand, an expanded spa and leisure offer promotes the profile as a conference destination as well as conference participants can enrich the utilization of the recreational and sports infrastructure - at the conference provider as well as in the closer region Regions bundle their existing offers. This is particularly important in Austria, where there is a municipal and private-sector leisure infrastructure that has been expanded through the winter season, which is just as much oversized in the context of rural exodus as in times of changing winter sports (away from classic skiers to young snow sports, problem of lack of snow) .

In addition, in congress tourism, domestic tourism ( domestic tourism ) is more pronounced than incoming tourism - from abroad - which reduces the dependency on the economic situation of the source countries, a problem that became clear after the economic crises in 2001 and from 2007 onwards , as Austria Has survived the principle quite well, but has also become expensive as a result.

Overall, congress and conference tourism intervenes in all other branches of tourism, because there are conferences in the most diverse areas of interest - economically relevant as well as those of the fringe branches and hobbies ( conventions ). The much broader base of clientele in particular is an important factor for a country that has defined itself for decades in terms of winter sports , beach holidays , hiking and mountaineering as well as music and culture , all of which are now in global competition due to globalization .

development

The long-standing Vienna conference statistics 2010 showed that the number of congresses has been increasing for years. The added value also reached a peak in 2010.

Congresses are getting shorter, but the individual congress days are used more intensively. Participation in a congress is more important than ever for professional development . Social programs are nowadays primarily the networking with other participants. According to a study, this is one reason why in 1991 every second participant took an accompanying person with them and in 2010 this only applies to every sixth congress guest.

Key figures

Key figures from the Meeting Industry Report Austria 2011

  • 13,348 congresses, company meetings and seminars
  • 1.3 million participants
  • 2.6 million overnight stays
  • 2.1% of all overnight stays in tourism by the congress and conference industry
  • Every 9th city tourist is a conference guest
  • In the state capitals, 11.5% of the overnight stays in tourism were generated by conference guests
  • Statistically speaking, 19 congresses, 31 company meetings and 25 seminars took place per day
  • Every fourth congress was devoted to human medicine
  • November is the most popular congress month
  • 93% of the congresses have 10 to 500 participants
  • 35% of the congresses took place in Vienna, 65% in the remaining federal states

Organizations

The most important industry representative is the Austrian Convention Bureau (Austrian Congress Association) .

Organizations of the congress cities and venues, regional specialized tourism organizations, Destination Management Companies  (DMCs):

Congress  travel agencies and Professional Congress Organizers (PCOs)

  • admicos.Congress Incentive GmbH
  • austriaCongress.com a division of Panorama Tours & Travel GesmbH
  • Austropa Interconvention
  • e + o meeting, event & travel management GmbH
  • Liberty International Reise GMBH
  • Mondial Congress & Events

literature

  • Austrian Convention Bureau, Österreich Werbung (Hrsg.): Österreichische Kongressstatistik . Yearly.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UIA Statistics 2011 ( Memento from January 10, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) , press release in Medianet on June 5, 2012.
  2. ^ The conference industry in Austria ( Memento from June 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.3 MB) , situation report of the Federal Ministry of Economics, Family and Youth, 2011
  3. ^ A b Vienna Meetings Industry Report 2010 ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), press release from April 14, 2011
  4. ↑ Austria's cities are the engine of tourism development - The economic importance of city tourism , press release ARGE Cities, APA OTS 20120305 OTS0027
  5. ↑ Vienna conference statistics , vienna.convention.at
  6. ↑ mira 2011 , press release, tourismuspresse.at
  7. ↑ mira 2011 ( Memento from May 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , Meeting Industry Report Austria (pdf, acb.at; 2.4 MB)
  8. ↑ Congress cities and locations, regional tourism organizations ( Memento from November 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , acb.at → Partner
  9. ↑ Congress travel agencies and PCOs ( Memento of November 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , acb.at → Partner