The mother of trade fairs a success story for more than 1000 years

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1 PRESS RELEASE Leipzig Conference City Number one choice for conferences, congresses and events Why Leipzig? Conference organizers have long stopped seeing Leipzig as an insiders tip but appreciate it as a soughtafter meeting place for top-flight congresses. For many years the conference city has presented a profile that is likewise modern and traditional, vibrant and diverse, hospitable and unforgettable. As a dynamic location for business and science, but also as a cultural, shopping and nightlife metropolis, Leipzig fascinates its guests with its many facets. Saxony s biggest city has a state-of-the-art infrastructure for trade exhibitions, the meeting industry and the hotel business, and it provides high professionalism combined with an extraordinarily warm welcome. It is this kind of spirit that has always attracted entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and students. The mother of trade fairs a success story for more than 1000 years The formula for success has been well-tested for more than 1000 years. Located at the junction of the trading routes via regia and via imperii, the original Lipzk the place at the linden trees, developed into a prime market for merchants. Around 1165, the city was endowed with a town charter and also received market privileges. In 1497 it was granted the status of an imperial fair (Reichsmesse). This put the merchants who attended the Leipzig trade fairs under the protection of the emperor Maximilian and banned all comparable markets from the neighbouring dioceses. Leipzig s innovative power also became visible in the invention of the sample fair concept (1895), in the first technical trade fair ever held (1918) and the city s reputation as the market place of Europe. With the opening of the new exhibition grounds in 1996 and an innovative concept for specialised trade exhibitions Leipzig set new standards. Today the Leipzig Book Fair and the AMI Automobil International one of Europe s most important automobile exhibitions regularly attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. Modular concepts in the Congress Center Leipzig In the Congress Center Leipzig (CCL), which is directly adjoining the exhibitions grounds, nearly 100 congresses and trade events are held every year, with about 100,000 participants. Incorporated into a park landscape, it combines the highest architectural and aesthetic standards with up-to-date technology, and provides excellent services in its 23 multifunctional rooms. More and more prestigious major events are held in the CCL, among these the annual International Transport Forum (ITF) of the OECD, the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC), the leading expert meeting for vascular surgery with more than 4,700 participants, International Trade Show and World Congress OT World, the med.logistica, the med.logistica Congress & Exhibition for Hospital Logistics, the annual meeting Viszeralmedizin with more than 4,000 participants and the World Conference on Regenerative Medicine with more than 1,000 participants. 1

2 Another event that left a deep impression was the 50th ICCA World Congress, the most important gathering of the international meetings industry, held here in Further international expert meetings in the field of medicine have repeatedly been and will continue to be hosted in Leipzig such as conferences for paediatric endocrinology, for clinical nutrition and metabolism and for microbiology. These meetings, in turn, make a contribution towards raising the scientific and economic profile of the host destination. Leipzig s calendar already features the next international congresses. In May 2015, the CCL hosted the annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) which will be attended by 3,500 international delegates. With ESPID, the CCL will host its second conference organized by Kenes International, one of the world s leading PCOs for medical and scientific meetings. The first time that Kenes was at the CCL was with FEMS 2013 where they could experience the high standards at one of Europe s most modern conference centres. The University s clinical centre has recently received confirmations for a major medical meeting. The EuroEcho Imaging will bring 4,000 cardiological experts from all over Europe to Leipzig and the CCL in This is to be seen as an acknowledgement of Leipzig s excellence in cardiology. KONGRESSHALLE am Zoo Leipzig The building operations are to be concluded by mid-2015, followed by a pre-opening phase. By January 2016 at the latest organisers will be able to use the whole, or parts of Leipzig s new conference center. It provides a unique atmosphere for conferences, congresses and events. The venue features 15 halls and rooms for 10 to 1,200 persons, and in addition numerous foyers and lounges and an area for exhibitions. Leipzig s core competences For many years now, Leipzig and the region have offered an attractive and expanding setting for innovative technologies, services and industries. Leipzig s core competences are in the fields of medicine and health management, biotechnology, information and communication technology, energy and environmental technology, automobile industry and logistics as well as media and creative industries, all of which are systematically advanced on the basis of a cluster strategy. The opening of the Porsche plant in Leipzig more than ten years ago was definitely the beginning of a major success story. In addition to the Cayenne and the Panamera the Leipzig is now producing the Macan as a new model. BMW is another big car producer with a Leipzig production site. Various car models are manufactured here, since 2013 also the electric cars i3 and i8. In 2004, DHL decided to make Leipzig/Halle Airport their European hub, thus creating 3,500 jobs in the area. Since 2009, AeroLogic, a cargo flight company founded by DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo and based in Leipzig, has been offering daily flights to Asia and the USA. Amazon.de also operates a logistics centre in Leipzig. Ever since the 1990s, Leipzig has been an important centre for the energy industry. The European Energy Exchange AG based in Leipzig is Germany s only trading market for electric power. Moreover, Verbundnetz 2

3 Gas AG, which operates across Europe, has its headquarters in Leipzig. The company caters for about 16 percent of the German gas market and ranks among the ten major gas wholesalers in Europe. In addition to Leipzig University, several institutions of higher education, institutes and clinics enrich the city s research sector. With its tradition of 600 years, the faculty of medicine today is a modern educational institution and closely connected with the university s clinical centre. 48 institutes and clinics as well as five independent departments make them one of the biggest medical institutions in Saxony. On an international level, the university is acknowledged for top performances in the fields of stem cell research, regenerative medicine, surgery and cardiology, such as in the Herzzentrum Leipzig, the centre for cardiology and heart surgery. Among Leipzig s major research institutions are the Max Planck Society and the Fraunhofer Society. Another exceptional institution is the BIO CITY Leipzig, a biotechnological-biomedical centre where economy, science and research live and work together. Additionally, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) is active in a great variety of environmentally relevant areas. The city of short distances The international Leipzig/Halle Airport connects Leipzig directly with many European and German metropolises. Furthermore, Leipzig is an integral part of the high-speed network of Deutsche Bahn (German Rail). Travelling non-stop to Leipzig by rail takes about one hour from Berlin, three hours from Hamburg and three and a half from Frankfurt. Leipzig is located at the intersection of three central autobahn expressways (A9, A14, A38). The exhibition grounds are in the immediate vicinity of the airport. By public transport it is a 15 minutes journey from the airport to the city centre. A comfortable network of commuter trains and tram and bus routes provides round-the-clock connections to all city districts and the surrounding region. Since December 2013, the Leipzig City Tunnel allows fast travelling from the city centre into the region. Hotels and meeting business Leipzig has almost 15,000 guest beds in approximately 7,800 rooms, 40 percent of which are in the four and five star categories. More hotels are currently being built and are due to open in the next few years. Conference, congress and seminar facilities reaching from small consultation rooms for just a few people up to ball rooms for nearly 1,000 guests complement the services offered by Leipzig hotels. In addition, unique event venues offer space for up to 10,000 people. Whether exclusive and elegant, good middleclass or with a rustic charm, historical or modern they provide highlights for every event. With about 2.8 million overnight stays and approximately 30 million one-day visitors tendency growing Leipzig is among Germany s most popular city break destinations. More than 70 percent of the guests come here for meetings and on business. Unparalleled options for cultural and leisure activities Leipzig also offers an unparalleled variety of options beyond the world of meetings: The Gewandhaus Orchestra, the opera, various dramatic, variety and cabaret theatre stages, more than 50 museums and the zoo ensure an outstanding cultural experience. Architectural highlights such as the Old Town Hall, St. Thomas Church or St. Nicholas Church in the city centre, but also many Gründerzeit city districts with 3

4 historicist architecture make the city well worth exploring. Over 1,500 restaurants, cafés and bars cater for all tastes and boast a varied nightlife without an official closing time. Additionally, the pedestrian-friendly Leipzig city centre is known for great shopping and city experiences. Beside numerous department stores, the former exhibition buildings and the system of courtyards and passageways unique to Leipzig in size and complexity are especially interesting for Leipzig visitors. For centuries Leipzig has been the capital of music: Outstanding composers such as Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann or Wagner lived and worked here. This tradition has been kept alive by the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the St. Thomas Boys Choir until today. The combination of great tradition in music, numerous cultural institutions, the many waterways and the lake area Leipzig Neuseenland make for interesting social programmes. Organisers can choose from ample incentive options, adventure and teambuilding programmes, cooking events, evening programmes and guided city tours. And last but not least, with nearly 16,000 cultural monuments Leipzig is the monument capital of Germany with an architectural wealth from the periods of historicism (Gründerzeit ) and Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) that is matchless in quality and quantity. The Waldstraße district near the city centre is actually Europe s largest Gründerzeit district that exclusively consists of buildings from that epoch. Sustainability made in Leipzig Like many other congress partners in the city, the Leipzig Trade Fair and the CCL actively support the principles of corporate responsibility. As part of a long-term sustainability management, central environmental key figures are regularly checked in a continuous certification process. A comprehensive sustainability programme covering a broad range of areas, from energy-optimised air conditioning to environmentally friendly mobility solutions, has been in place at the Leipzig Trade Fair for some time now. They were the first major German trade fair and congress centre to be awarded the Green Globe seal for sustainability. In 2013, the CCL was presented with the Meeting Experts Green Award by the German Convention Bureau (GCB) and the European Association of Event Centres (EVVC). The partners of Leipzig s meeting industry also support the ideals of sustainability to make green events a reality. Leipzig is a pioneer in the field of sustainable growth: In 2012 the city received the German Sustainability Award in the category quality of life and urban structure. The decision was founded on the following: In Leipzig sustainability, growth and quality of life are excellently interlinked and this equally applies to urban development, traffic planning and energy efficiency as well as to civic participation or integration. In the light of a constant population increase the city has given long-term impetuses with the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities, which have resulted in a new entrepreneurial spirit on its territory, comparable to the historical Gründerzeit period in the late 19 th / early 20 th centuries. Leipzig trade fair and conference city a success story For many years, the initiative Feel the spirit... do-it-at-leizig.de has been setting new standards in the international congress marketing. It is above all the cooperation of Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing (LTM) GmbH, Leipziger Messe GmbH, congress hotels, event locations and a multitude of conference service providers that forms the basis of their success. 4

5 The 49 project partners share the marketing costs and join their marketing activities for Leipzig as a destination for conferences and congresses, and they support event planners with their know-how. The brochure Meetings & Events in Leipzig and the service portal are important results of this cooperation. Feel the spirit is the slogan of Leipzig s congress initiative project. Whoever comes to Leipzig is captured by the city s spirit and will leave it inspired and full of new ideas. Come and see for yourself! Contact: Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH Conventions Phone +49 (0) / congress@ltm-leipzig.de Information: