The Vienna Meeting Fund is open to large international companies and organisations based in Vienna for meetings that take place in the Austrian capital until 31 December 2024. Photo Credit: Unsplash/AnnaHunko
The success of its business events incentives in the past year has
spurred the city of Vienna to inject an additional four million euros to
its 2022-2024 fund.
The Vienna Meeting Fund is now intended to further boost the business events sector in Meeting Destination Vienna.
"The funding has positive effects along the entire value chain of the
meetings industry. After all, in addition to booked venues, events also
mean overnight stays in Viennese accommodation, among other things,
thus securing jobs in other areas of the Visitor Economy," explains
Christian Woronka, head of the Vienna Convention Bureau and market
management at the Vienna Tourist Board.
"The additional funds are an important acquisition tool and support
event organisers and thus, the meetings industry as well as tourism as a
whole in Vienna," added Woronka.
The events promoted with the first edition of the Vienna Meeting Fund
in 2021 will trigger a total of 557 million euros (US$570 million) in
direct and indirect value added over a period of three years. The most
successful year for Vienna's entire meetings industry to date was 2018,
which generated around 1.2 billion euros.
Almost two-thirds of the funded events (72%) until 2023 are
congresses - totalling 282 while 110 are corporate events (28%). More
than half of these meetings (54%) are in hybrid formats.
In total, about 231,000 attendees participated or will participate in
the funded meetings by the end of 2023, with half (50%) being
international guests. Medicine and biological sciences account for 16%
of the industries represented, business and computer sciences each
account for 11%, and other sectors account for the remainder.
The amount of funding is tied to certain criteria, including number
of participants, with the maximum capped at 60,000 euros per event.
Support will be paid out after the meeting has been held and all
necessary supporting documents have been submitted.
Applications for the Vienna Meeting Fund are now welcome up until December 2024, or, until the funding is depleted.