TEN TOP CENTRES Swiss Convention Centres is an alliance of Switzerland’s ten largest and best equipped convention and exhibition centres with sufficient hotel accommodation in the vicinity. The members are located in Basel, Bern, Davis, Geneva, Interlaken, Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux and Zürich . Full details on swiss-congress.ch.
Culture and Convention Center, Lucerne
of the EPFL technical university. Last year, the MilleniumCentre opened, offering 13 meeting rooms and an auditorium seating 500. And Beaulieu Convention Center, which has welcomed conferences for over 100 years, is to be modernised as part of a major urban project, further boosted by a new metro line. Montreux is famous for its jazz festival but hosts many other business events, mainly in Montreux Music and Convention Centre (2M2C). It opened in 1973 and later this year will start renovations to ensure the sustainability of its facilities and meet new security standards. German-speaking Zurich is big in banking and a centre for science and IT. Sustainability is a key selling point – it ranked eighth in last year’s Global Destination Sustainability Index. Direct flights from over 60 countries land at Zürich Airport. “Trends show business events will be a reason for people to travel and Switzerland is the perfect place to stay longer as you can experience a lot of the country within a short space of time,” asserts convention bureau head Vanessa Reis. She adds they have secured some great congresses for the future, such as next year’s JCI World Congress when some 3,500 young active leaders will meet in Zürich Exhibition Center. The exhibition centre, the Hallenstadion and Zürich Tourism have joined forces to create ACE Zürich, meaning the two neighbouring venues collaborate to enable larger congresses and offer clients a one-stop shop. INDUSTRY CLUSTERS Zürich Convention Center reopened last June after a four-year refurbishment. The Circle at Zürich Airport is a brand new venue that can host up to 1,500 delegates. Run by Hyatt, it’s between the Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Place hotels with a total of 550 bedrooms. Basel shares borders with France and Germany.
Swiss Tech Convention Center
It’s easily accessible by high-speed train from major European cities and EuroAirport Basel- Mulhouse-Freiburg is 15 minutes from Basel city centre. “Sustainability is our marketing strategy for approaching European associations,” says bureau sales manager Stefan Bonsels. “The focus is on industry clusters and specific technology fields – life sciences, chemical industry, medical technology and healthcare innovations.” Swiss associations returned to Basel in person last autumn and international congresses are returning this summer, such as the World Congress of Bioethics and World Conference on Optical Communications. The largest venue is Congress Center Basel with 25 meeting rooms and 141,000 sqm of exhibition space. Movenpick Hotel Basel opened recently and accommodates meetings of up to 300 people. Bern is the Swiss capital, a UNESCO World Heritage site and dubbed ‘Gateway to the Alps’. A business centre and home to many international organisations, it’s important for research and science. Areas of expertise include education, life sciences, finance, digital networking and sport. Kursaal Bern is an all-in-one location with 28 meeting rooms, an oval-shaped arena, two hotels, two restaurants and casino and accommodates conferences of up to 1,500 attendees. Lucerne considers itself a small congress destination focusing mainly on the European and Swiss markets. The spectacular KKL Culture & Convention Centre Lucerne right on the lake shore is particularly popular.
CONTACT RAHEL MEIER Project Manager, Association Meetings Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau T. +41 44 288 14 23 E. rahel.meier@switzerland.com meetings.myswitzerland.com
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