Germany saw the number of international meeting guests soar nine percent in 2014 to a total of 25.6 million, according to the Meeting & EventBarometer 2015.
Other key findings of the report illustrate how expertise, technology, sustainability, value and infrastructure are among the leading factors why planners choose Germany.
Germany by the numbers
In 2014, the number of international meeting guests in Germany reached 25.6 million, up nine percent over 2013, with the market for technology, innovation and medical meetings particularly strong. More than 383 million people overall participated in meetings in Germany, representing a 3.3 percent growth over 2013 and the sixth year of consecutive growth.
The number of conference hotels, centres and venue spaces grew to 7,152 across the country, up 1.7 percent from last year. Additionally, 3.04 million conferences, meetings and events took place in Germany in 2014, up one percent.
Tech is on the rise
It should come as no surprise that organisers attach great importance to technology before, during and after an event: Nearly two thirds (65.9 percent) of event planners surveyed expect to use mobile applications on site, 45.5 percent expect to use online discussion forums, and about one-third expect to use cloud services and be able to live-stream lectures or workshops.
In line with this, approximately 13 percent of events last year in Germany were booked via conference portals according to event organisers.
Budgets and optimism up
The Meeting & EventBarometer 2015 indicates that 38.5 percent of event planners in Germany see budgets increasing over 2014. What’s more, 51.7 percent of suppliers and 58 percent of organizers are more optimistic about the industry, an improvement over last year.
Source: GCB
