Dóra Kiss, Senior Project Manager of the Hungarian Convention Bureau

03/05/2011

"The statistics prove that meeting planners are recognising Budapest’s attractions"

BWMN caught up with Dóra Kiss, Senior Project Manager of the Hungarian Convention Bureau, to find out about the advantages of organising a meeting in Budapest, and get the lowdown on its latest campaign to attract events to the Hungarian capital.

BWMN: How would you describe the attractions of Budapest?

Dóra Kiss: One of the city’s main attractions is undoubtedly its location and accessibility. It is right in the heart of Europe, which makes it very easy to reach from all of the continent’s major cities, and the construction of a brand new third terminal at Budapest airport, which opened at the end of March, has made it even easier to get there.

Once visitors arrive in the city, they will immediately be struck by the beauty of the surroundings. Divided into two parts, Buda and Pest, by the Danube River, the city boasts beautiful architecture in a variety of styles, from baroque to modern. Indeed, the panoramic view of Buda from across the water is so spectacular that it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with several other areas, including Castle Hill. This district is home to the National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum, which are housed in the castle itself.

Visitors will also be captivated by the House of Parliament, the second-largest in Europe, the State Opera House and the Museum of Fine Arts, which is next to the City Park, the location of Vajdahunyad Castle.

In addition, Budapest, and indeed the whole of Hungary, are famous for their thermal water spas, of which the capital possesses 40, including the renowned Gellért and Széchenyi baths.

BWMN: What does it offer for MICE tourists, and what sets it apart from other MICE destinations?

Dóra Kiss: Budapest has an excellent infrastructure for events, which has just been further improved by the construction of the new airport terminal. It possesses 16 five-star hotels and 61 four-star hotels, as well as several large-scale event venues, including the Budapest Congress & World Trade Center, which can host up to 2,000 delegates, and the SYMA Event Hall and Hungexpo Fairground exhibition centres, which are also available to hold even larger conferences. The statistics prove that meeting planners are recognising Budapest’s attractions: last year, 537 international conferences for 125,000 delegates were organised in Hungary, of which the majority took place in the capital city. These figures represent a return to pre-credit crunch levels, and indicate that Hungary’s MICE market has fully recovered from the global financial crisis.

BWMN: Could you please describe your new marketing campaign to attract more meetings and events to Budapest?

Dóra Kiss: It is the first campaign that we have run that is promotional, rather than image-based. It is a cooperative effort on the part of the whole of the city’s MICE industry, including hotels, venues, DMCs, Malév (the Hungarian national airline), Budapest Airport, and of course the Hungarian Convention Bureau. It began on 1^st April and runs until June 2012, and during that time we are offering several fantastic Budapest venues for gala events on a complimentary basis. The venues participating are all premier, historical locations, and include the Royal Castle of Gödöllő, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of History, the Gellért Baths, and Wenckheim Palace.

To qualify for this superb offer, events need only fulfill a couple of conditions: the meeting has to last for at least half a day, it must be for at least 50 delegates, who must stay in a local Budapest hotel for at least two nights, and it has to include a gala dinner organized with the cooperation of a Budapest DMC.

We are heavily promoting this campaign in electronic trade media, such as e-newsletters and website banners, throughout Europe and the USA, and hope to generate 50-60 new events. If you are interested, visit our website to find out more!

www.budapestmeetings.com