MEETING GUIDE BERLIN LAUNCHES VIRTUAL 360° VIRTUAL CONFERENCE SITE TOURS

More than 120 locations and hotels for conferences, meetings and events in the German capital, Berlin, can be explored via an interactive, online 360° tour in the Meeting Guide Berlin.

It includes a Live Guided Feature where both customers and venue providers meet online for virtual site inspections. This new facility has been made available as part of Berlin’s strengthened marketing effort to encourage conference and MICE event organisers to hold events in the city.

With the new offer of Meeting Guide Berlin, planners of conferences, meetings and events now have the opportunity to explore more than 120 locations and hotels in the capital through the digital 360° tours.

The interactive tours, provided by the Berlin Convention Office, also include another important innovation – “Live Guided Feature“. This allows customers and location providers to meet on the platform and visit the event location online simultaneously to discuss details and ask questions via video conference. Meeting Guide Berlin is available on convention.visitBerlin.de/en.

Virtual visit and 360° panoramic views of facilities

Marco Oelschlegel, director conventions of the Berlin Convention Office, an affiliate of VisitBerlin explains: “With the new features of the Meeting Guide Berlin, we further extend our digital offer to our customers and make the diversity of the city an even more pleasant experience for event managers. The 360°- tours and the Live Guided Feature combine the advantages of a virtual site inspection with personal customer contact, which benefits both event planners and our partners in the city.“

With more than 120 conference hotels and locations in Meeting Guide Berlin, no other European destination showcases so many offers for the events industry in a 360° format. The hotel section includes well-known establishments such as “Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin“, “Hotel Berlin Central District“ and “Radisson Collection Hotel, Berlin“ at Alexanderplatz, as well as new ones such as “The Student Hotel“.

Meeting Guide Berlin offers event managers approximately 200 locations and conference hotels, more than 100 service partners and 179 incentive programmes to choose from.

The 360° images of the locations and hotels are promoted by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. Berlin-based company “nexpics by mediaglobe GmbH” was commissioned with the technical implementation.

In parallel, Berlin is boosting its support for the MICE and conference industry with a comprehensive relaunch programme. A total of 13 measures are planned over the next two years in order to help its event industry emerge from the coronavirus pandemic stronger.

These include global marketing campaigns, a MICE Acquisition Task Force for creating new events, the international customer event BESTIVAL 2022 on 25 and 26 August in Berlin, the extension of the Berlin Congress Fund that provides funding to events in Berlin, and the expansion of the “Sustainable Meetings Berlin” initiative.

Additional measures to relaunch the MICE and conference sector

BESTIVAL 2022 is considered to be one of the biggest funding measures for the event industry. Organised by Berlin Convention Office, visitBerlin as well as partners in the Berlin convention industry, the event will invite German and international representatives from the MICE sector and travel industry to an innovative, festive event in Berlin from 25 to 26 August. Participants can expect an extensive schedule with networking opportunities and site inspections.

Another important measure is also the increase in the allocation for funds to organise meetings. The Berlin Congress Fund can provide fund up to €99,950 to event planners hosting their event in the city. The measure has been extended until December 31, 2022.

Burkhard Kieker, CEO visitBerlin said: “The Relaunch Programme will provide a significant boost to trade show and conference business. The event industry, which is so crucial to Berlin, can be successful again following two years of the pandemic. Our Berlin Convention Office looks forward to implementing the many good ideas with partners in Berlin from the fields of policy and business.”