Kongresskultur Bregenz: review of 2017 and preview of 2018
460,000 visitors flocked to 207 events
Kongresskultur Bregenz can look back on a successful year, with approximately 460,000 people visiting Festspielhaus Bregenz in 2017. In all, 207 events were hosted there, some of them lasting several days.
The congress sector remains robust: there were 63 congresses, events, trade fairs and exhibitions, some lasting several days, which drew a total of approx. 41,000 corporate guests to the convention centre on the shore of Lake Constance. Among the top events of international scope were the World Future Forum in March and the LED professional Symposium + Exhibition in September.
2018: well attended congresses
The prospects for 2018 are good, too. Already 140 events have been booked, among them conferences that are expected to draw large numbers of visitors such as the Bundestagung Junge Wirtschaft – an annual federal conference for young entrepreneurs and executives – from 21 to 22 September 2018, the LED professional Symposium + Exhibition from 25 to 27 September 2018 and the HNO-Kongress from 10 to 13 October 2018.
Stübe: “further growth anticipated”
“Perspectives in 2018 indicate that the importance of being a platform for encounters is not diminishing. On the contrary: we anticipate further growth in both the conference business and the entertainment sector. Strategically, we will use the coming year to implement as well as possible the findings from the EU project micelab:bodensee at Festspielhaus Bregenz. This should further consolidate the location and make sure it’s well prepared for the future,” says Gerhard Stübe, Director of Kongresskultur Bregenz.
Cultural events for every taste
A large number of visitors came to Festspielhaus Bregenz in 2017 also for cultural events. There was a varied programme of cultural events catering to virtually every taste, including the Bregenzer Frühling dance festival, a homage to Tchaikovsky with David Garrett and the Basel Symphony Orchestra, and a concert by the band Söhne Mannheims in the original line-up. In the summer, Bregenz Festival returned for its 72nd season with around 80 events in and around Festspielhaus Bregenz, including Carmen on the lake stage.
“Festspielhaus Bregenz is important to the Lake Constance region”
“Kongresskultur has just completed a very diverse and successful year. We had the opportunity of hosting and helping to implement a wide range of congresses and corporate events, which, due to their participative structure, were able to fully exploit the advantages of Festspielhaus Bregenz with its various different rooms and spaces for events,” says Gerhard Stübe, taking stock of the year. “We were also delighted that the cultural programme of events in 2017 went down very well. This is confirmation of the role of Festspielhaus Bregenz as an important place of encounter throughout the Lake Constance region,” Stübe said.
2018: musicals, dance, opera and the Blue Man Group
The cultural sector looks set to remain strong in the year 2018. First of all there will be a wide selection of musicals – The Jungle Book, Elvis, The Little Prince, classics like Dirty Dancing and Grease as well as Falco, a musical about the Austrian pop legend. On top of that are lots of classic and pop events, including concerts by the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Reinhard Mey, Bonnie Tyler and Reinhard Fendrich. Among show highlights will be the Blue Man Group, making guest appearances at Festspielhaus Bregenz from 30 January to 4 February, and the Bregenzer Frühling dance festival whose reputation goes well beyond the borders of Vorarlberg. On 19 July the 73rd season of the Bregenz Festival begins. You can find more information about these and other events at: http://www.kongresskultur.com/events/.
Executive director of Kongresskultur is an ambassador of the World Future Council
A special highlight was the World Future Forum, held in March 2017. The agenda of the World Future Council (WFC), founded eleven years ago, is far-reaching, and encompasses the wider adoption of renewable energy, standing up for children’s rights, and working towards nuclear disarmament and a world without hunger. Some 50 international experts from the world of politics, economics, science and culture search for examples of best policy, propose effective solutions and present them to politicians. Among notable members of the council are Jakob von Uexküll, who instituted the Alternative Nobel Prize, co-president of the Club of Rome, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, and the actress Daryl Hannah. The annual meeting of the WFC was held at Festspielhaus Bregenz in spring 2017. It made a lasting impression on the councillors: the executive director of Kongresskultur Gerhard Stübe was recently named ambassador of the World Future Council.
Unforgettable experiences
Winner of several awards, Kongresskultur Bregenz has become one of Europe’s leading service providers in the conception, planning and implementation of high-quality events, most of which are held in Festspielhaus Bregenz and on the adjacent lake stage. Together with the approx. 200,000 visitors to Bregenz Festival, on average around 400,000 international guests every year visit the events centre on the Austrian shore of Lake Constance near the borders with Switzerland and Germany. The management’s mission is to make meetings and congresses as well as cultural and social events into unforgettable experiences.
To achieve this, a well conceived and coherent event plan is required, as well as a venue where the rooms and facilities, lighting and technology allow that plan to be executed to perfection. Beyond that, the location of the venue and the area in which it is embedded are decisive factors if an excellent event is to become an unforgettable experience.
(ar/cw)
