December 2006

Report by Norbert Bargmann, Managing Director of Messe München GmbH at the end-of-year press conference on 14 December 2006 in Munich
- Summary -
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At the end-of-year press conference 2006, Managing Director Norbert Bargmann summarised the performance of the ICM International Congress Centre Munich in the financial year now drawing to a close:

“The year of events in 2006 proved to be ‘world champions’ year’ for the International Congress Centre Munich. No less than four special congresses of world status took place in the ICM in the year now drawing to a close and brought eminent experts to Munich from all over the world.”

Thus the world robotics congress in connection with AUTOMATICA provided a platform for 500 international specialists from the automation sector. The FIFA congress before the start of the World Cup in Germany was one of the most prominent events worldwide in the year 2006; with 1,500 participants, a ‘who’s who’ of the world of football assembled at the ICM. For the World Congress of the International Federation of Social Workers, 2,500 specialists came to Munich from more than sixty countries. The F.I.G. Congress (Fédération Internationale des Géometres) was attended by 5,000 geodesists from throughout the world, stated
Mr. Bargmann.

These congress highlights greatly enhanced the international reputation of the ICM and once again underlined its competence as a venue for high-class special congresses.

Norbert Bargmann emphasised that with the congress of the EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOCIETY (ERS) 2006, the ICM had already brought to Munich the third of a total of five major medical congresses in Europe with between 18,000 and 25,000 participants respectively. The congress of cardiologists will be taking place at the ICM in August 2008 for the second time in a row after 2004. This decision represents a very special distinction for the ICM as a congress destination. Apart from the physical and technical conditions in the ICM and the adjoining exhibition halls, Munich’s locational advantages too had proven to be decisive in winning the contract. A registered association – the Kongress Initiative München, or ‘K I M’ for short – was specially founded to additionally concentrate the forces of the Munich congress industry and push forward the destination marketing for Munich.

Mr. Bargmann went on to explain that in the year 2006, a total of 101 events occupied 1,368 rooms and attracted around 111,000 participants to the International Congress Centre Munich. Numerous events, some of a very high calibre, had ensured a balanced economic result at the ICM in the year 2006.

As was the case throughout Germany, no larger scientific congresses took place at the ICM during the World Cup, continued Mr. Bargmann. But on the other hand, the world football association FIFA occupied the ICM for the entire duration of the World Cup. Internally, the ICM made use of this time to install a long overdue escalator in the foyer to convey the trade visitors and congress participants in comfort from the ground floor to the first storey in future.

Apart from the events and congresses already mentioned, numerous events with corporate clients again took place in the ICM in 2006, stated Mr. Bargmann. These included BMW, DEUTSCHE TELEKOM, MICROSOFT and TOYOTA. As in the previous years, numerous well-known business enterprises held their general meetings at the ICM in 2006 too, including EPCOS, INFINION, MÜNCHNER RÜCK, HVB, LINDE and MAN.

The prospects for the years 2007 and 2008 are positive in every respect. Eleven major medical and scientific congresses with around 80,000 participants have already made firm bookings for dates at the ICM, reported Mr. Bargmann. Seven major events too in the information and telecommunications sector will be inviting over 30,000 delegates to the ICM. Among the highlights of the coming two years are the surgery society congress of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie in May 2007 (5,000 participants), the congress of the Society of Anaesthesiology in June 2007 (5,000 participants), the congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in August 2008 (25,000 participants) and several events in the information and telecommunications sector such as OOP, the SAP congress and DATE 2008.

Messe München’s own events such as BAU and BAUMA – both in spring 2007 – or METALL MÜNCHEN, for instance, will be making regular use of the ICM’s capacities for accompanying congresses and special events in the coming two years.

As for the Pope’s visit in September this year, Mr. Bargmann explained that this event was one of the challenges of the year 2006, especially from the point of view of safety, security and logistics. On only one morning, around 250,000 of the faithful had pressed into the special open-air exhibition ground in the east of the New Munich Trade Fair Centre to celebrate mass together with Pope Benedict XVI. “But because of the multifunctionality of Messe München and its physical and technical infrastructure, this unique, major event went off without a hitch”, emphasised
Mr. Bargmann.

In conclusion, Mr. Bargmann explained that these successes had been achieved in close cooperation with the City of Munich, the authorities of the Free State of Bavaria, Munich airport, the Munich Hotel Alliance (an association of 16 five-star hotels in Munich) and the Munich Fair Hotels (an association of hotels in the area around the New Munich Trade Fair Centre). Under the motto ‘all for one and one for all’, it is important to carry conviction in national and international competition for the long term.

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