A review of 2019 and a preview of 2020

Kongresskultur Bregenz can look back on an eventful year. In 2019 a total of 438,086 visitors – including the 249,511 guests of the Bregenz Festival – flocked to Bregenz Festival House.

Booked to 92 per cent capacity, Bregenz Festival House welcomed 438,086 visitors at 349 events, including the Bregenz Festival. Cultural and social events in addition to many congresses were a central feature of the 2019 programme.

Around 25,000 people visited 109 events in the high-revenue congress and conference category. Another 57,821 visitors attended the 62 social events, among them the apprentices’ ball of the association of Vorarlberg trade and industry (WKO) at the end of November 2019. In all, the Kongresskultur Bregenz (KKB) events drew 188,575 visitors (not including Bregenz Festival visitors).

Among top congresses with international appeal hosted by KKB were Nutrition 2019, a congress on healthy eating held in May, the FIRST® LEGO® League research and robot competition for central Europe in late March, and the LED professional Symposium + Exhibition, which took place in late September. The convention category consequently remains a strong segment.

Wide-ranging culture programme

Culture also remained an important category in 2019. Not including the Bregenz Festival, there were 98 cultural events that drew about 106,000 visitors to Bregenz Festival House. The year began with a wide range of musicals such as Mamma Mia!, Aschenputtel plus a musical on the life of the Austrian pop legend Falco. Concerts also figured prominently on the programme – by the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the farewell tour of the band Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung, and the Bregenzer Meisterkonzerte concert series. There were the dance events of Bregenzer Frühling, a festival well known beyond the borders of Vorarlberg, as well as other highlights in the show calendar like Thriller Live in February and the stand-up comedian Michael Mittermeier in October. In summer, the Bregenz Festival put on some 80 performances in and around Bregenz Festival House. The highlight of the festival’s 74^th season was the opera Rigoletto on the lake stage.

Preview of 2020: well attended congresses

Prospects for 2020 are good. Several conventions with large visitor numbers are lined up, including the congress of the Austrian hotel industry association ÖHV this week, and the Ophthalmological Winter Academy at the end of March, which will bring 120 eye specialists from all over the world together at Bregenz. The European Investment Casters’ Federation Conference will be held in Bregenz Festival House in May 2020, succeeding Porto in 2018, and the International Blum Forum is scheduled for September. Another highlight in the packed events calendar is LandStadt Vorarlberg, a conference organised by Kongresskultur Bregenz for the end of March 2020.

“With this congress we would like to make a contribution to better understanding Vorarlberg as both a rural and an urban entity, and to exploiting its potential in a collective and constructive way,” says director of Kongresskultur, Gerhard Stübe.

2020: Musicals, dance and opera

The year kicked off with the classic ballets Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. After them comes the musical highlight Bodyguard – Das Musical along with other musicals like Beauty and the Beast and Beat it! – Das Musical about the King of Pop. The events calendar contains many concerts of pop, easy listening and classical music, including Bregenzer Meisterkonzert performances by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra and the Real Filharmonico de Galicia. Dance is also on the programme, with Bregenzer Frühling festival events and big shows like Mama Africa in January. In May the veteran comedian Otto Waalkes will be making an appearance. On 22 July the Bregenz Festival opens for its 75^th season. You can find out more about these and other events here: kongresskultur.com/e/events.

“A look ahead to the year 2020 indicates that people continue to want to hold meetings and conferences at the Festival House. So that congress participants can have the best possible stay at this destination, what’s needed is not only optimum conference conditions but also sufficient capacity for overnight stays. Which is why we are very happy about current developments in the hotel industry, with many hotels increasing their room availability so that more guests can be accommodated,” says Gerhard Stübe.

Congress calendar, 2020

• 12-14 January: congress of the Austrian hotel industry association ÖHV
• 6 March: Vorarlberg AIDS symposium 2020
• 22-27 March: Ophthalmological Winter Academy
• 30 March – 1 April: LandStadt Vorarlberg
• 22-25 April: the symposium Childhood, Youth and Society
• 11-12 May: European Investment Casters’ Federation Conference
• 17-18 September: International Blum Forum
• 22-24 September: LpS 2020 – LED professional Symposium & Trends in Lighting
• 8-9 October: Forum BGM conference on generation management
• 19-21 October: international commercial partner meeting
• 9 November: autumn seminar of the Academy of Accountants and Auditors ASW
• 12 November: Vorarlberg Economic Forum, international conference

(lk) 3.1.2020