Press release Study: Berlin needs more conference space

• Recent study shows potential for further multifunctional event and conference centres in the mid-range segment in Berlin
• Messe Berlin plans venue for congresses and events with up to 5,000 people at the exhibition grounds
• Berlin events and congress market 2024: 12.9 million participants and strong demand for large-scale events

Franziska Giffey, Mayor and Senator for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises: "The event and congress industry is a key economic factor for Berlin. In 2024 alone, it generated around 1.4 billion euros. We expect an increase of three percent for 2025. This clearly shows the stable, sustainable development and ongoing growth potential. To ensure that our city remains at the forefront of international competition, targeted investments, modern infrastructure, and reliable political framework conditions are needed. The convention study presented today provides strategically important impetus for this and supports us in working with the industry to further advance Berlin as an international event and convention metropolis. The new construction of Hall 9 on the exhibition grounds, planned by Messe Berlin and supported by the State of Berlin, as a state-of-the-art multifunctional hall will make an important contribution to this."

According to dwif Consulting GmbH, the author of the potential analysis, one to two additional new venues could accommodate 76 additional congresses per year – corresponding to around 500 additional occupancy days and 215,000 additional participant days. The estimated economic added value is around 78 million euros annually for the capital.

“The analysis confirms that the market wants more Berlin. We are now responding to this,” says Burkhard Kieker, Managing Director of visitBerlin. “New convention centers are being built all over the world, and it is important that we can keep up. Convention guests spend a lot of money in the city, which Berlin can put to good use.”

Messe Berlin plans new venue on the exhibition grounds under the radio tower

An initial concrete project is already in the planning stage to expand the convention space in Berlin: Messe Berlin wants to build a new, multifunctional convention center with around 12,000 square meters of space at the site of the current Hall 9, which can be used for a variety of purposes – for conventions, conferences, and trade fairs alike. This will specifically expand the exhibition grounds' capacity in the mid-range segment.

“With the new convention center, we are creating additional capacity specifically where Berlin has been underserved up to now. This strengthens our position in global competition,” says Dr. Mario Tobias, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH. "Leading convention cities around the world are investing in precisely this segment. We want Berlin to remain at the forefront in the future."

In demand worldwide: Berlin's congress market attracts international guests

A glance at the figures shows that this strategic expansion is both right and necessary: in 2024, professionally motivated events such as congresses, conferences, and seminars accounted for 70 percent of the Berlin event market. According to event and convention statistics from visitBerlin's Berlin Convention Office, 60,886 business meetings with a total of 9.1 million participants took place last year. The international market is developing at an above-average rate: 21 percent of guests traveled from abroad – almost twice as many as the national average (11 percent). The strongest source markets included the United Kingdom (14.5 percent), North America (11.5 percent), Spain, Italy, and France. Large business events in particular are increasingly drawn to Berlin: the proportion of events with over 1,000 participants is 6.2 percent, well above the national average of 1.8 percent.

“In addition to large events, it is above all the many smaller conferences and meetings that drive Berlin's economy. They are the campfires of the modern age,” says Burkhard Kieker, Managing Director of visitBerlin.

Background to the study

The potential analysis was conducted by dwif Consulting GmbH and is based on market analyses, primary surveys, and expert interviews.