What does Vienna mean to you? It might be the city of Mozart, Beethoven and Mahler. It might be the home of the Wiener Schnitzel and Sachertorte. But, for the almost 3,000 association and corporate events that were held in Vienna during 2010, it’s the perfect place to do business.
Business events are one of the cornerstones of the Viennese economy, says Christian Mutschlechner, director of the Vienna Convention Bureau. The sheer number of events put the city at the top of the global convention rankings compiled by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). But, just like a visitor to one of the city’s famous cafés, Vienna is hungry for more.
According to Mr Mutschlechner, it’s all about constant renewal of the old to create a more attractive environment for events. There’s a feast of infrastructural development taking place – not just venues, but hotels (one connected to the city’s technology museum), a new railway station layout to improve visitor access and a new university adjacent to the Vienna Messe exhibition centre.
Vienna is by no means the only place to realise the regenerative impact of events. Seoul’s city government is keen to tap into the high-spending business tourist and sees corporate meetings as a key driver of growth. It has embarked on a series of infrastructure and beautification projects, such as the Han River Renaissance: clearing the Han River and its tributaries of industrial pollution, turning its islands into wildlife sanctuaries, creating parks along its banks, and recreational and sporting facilities in the area.
It’s all about constant renewal of the old to create a more attractive environment for events
According to Arnaldo Nardone, ICCA president, convention centres “become magnets that attract private-sector investment in hotels, restaurants and other ancillary businesses, many of which are big local employers. We have seen this pattern repeated from Puerto Rico to Pattaya, from Copenhagen to Cape Town. Often a congress centre will be the ‘anchor’ development around which a whole section of a city is regenerated”.
In San Diego, a convention centre built in 1989 has transformed a run-down area of the city. “Downtown San Diego wouldn’t look anything like it does today if it wasn’t for the convention centre,” says Jerry Sanders, the city’s mayor. Carol Wallace, president and chief executive of the San Diego Convention Centre Corporation, adds: “Prior to 1989, few people wanted to come downtown because it was an area of urban blight. It is now one of San Diego’s premiere dining, shopping and entertainment districts that tourists and residents flock to year round.” What’s more, the higher-level business events that the convention centre has hosted have prompted some companies to relocate to San Diego.
It is not the only city that has become skilled at attracting international meetings to encourage this kind of inward investment. “Singapore, for example, attracts events on biotechnology and IT specifically because it will bring in venture capitalists and enable local businesses to attract more investment,” explains Mr Nardone.
Business events can also lead to social improvements, says Mr Mutschlechner. “The European Congress of Cardiology brought 30,000 participants into Vienna and the city administration created a public day where locals could have heart tests. This is a perfect combination of the city’s commitment to public health and the European Society of Cardiology’s willingness to give something back to Vienna and its inhabitants.”
Harnessing the full regenerative power of business events requires the coming together of organisers, politicians, business leaders and academics. “One of the reasons the San Diego Convention Centre was a success is because we garnered the support of local government officials and are continually educating them about the economic benefits conventions generate for the local economy,” says Ms Wallace.
As Mr Nardone puts it: “Destinations that understand the direct, high per-capita ‘business tourism’ spend, the opportunities for infrastructure development and the broader social value of hosting such events, stand a far better chance of extracting the most return from them.”
