All from the beginning
Following the summer break in 2021, the meetings industry is once again in full swing at numerous trendy, renovated, and transformed event centers.
With the MICE industry now back on track, many Swiss event venues have reinvented themselves. The focus has been on upgrading infrastructure and expanding their offerings to include hybrid events. Here are 13 trendy event venues that speak to their guests.
Industrial Charm
Digital Production and Factory Food: During the pandemic, Trafo Baden (pictured above) expanded its existing offerings as a venue rental provider, hotel, and restaurant to include high-end catering by Michelin-starred chef Martin Liefeith. The term «Factory Food» was coined to reflect the venue’s history and its industrial halls. Even before the pandemic, Trafo Baden had expanded its offerings to include online event planning using the «allseated» software. This allows Trafo Baden’s customers to take a virtual tour of a photorealistic model of the Trafo halls. Venue partner Habegger manages the event technology and organizes hybrid events to help Trafo’s customers reach a wider audience.
The place to be: Well over 100 industry professionals attended the Meet-Europe event in September at the brand-new «The Circle,» located right next to Zurich Airport. The Circle Convention Center’s 1,292 m² convention hall can accommodate 1,500 guests. It also features 15 meeting rooms and 554 guest rooms.
Eventfactory: Where the scent of Maggi production once filled the air, a breath of post-industrial architecture now sweeps through the former Nestlé production center—now known as «The Valley» in Kemptthal, which has been completely renovated to create a striking new setting. It is conveniently located between Zurich Airport and Switzerland’s sixth-largest city—Winterthur.
Steeped in history: Halle 550 in Zurich-Nord is a newly renovated flagship venue in the Swiss event market. It can be visited, explored, and experienced digitally through an animated 3-D flight through all four sections and into the farthest corners of this innovative event hall.
Architectural Highlight: Shortly before the second lockdown and at the height of the pandemic, JED—the new event and coworking hub in Schlieren on the border with Greater Zurich—had to develop new formats and solutions. Together with Winkler LiveCom, the decision was made to convert the event hall into a multifunctional streaming studio and focus on digital and hybrid event formats. Against a breathtaking backdrop, the venue now offers professional solutions for events. A completely new approach was taken to the pricing model, and a dynamic pricing system was developed that rewards organizers who hold their events on days with lower demand. By choosing the right date, total savings of up to 70% are possible.
A Spectacle for Emotional Experiences
Alternative Stage: The Umwelt Arena is an event venue dedicated to the environment that offers added value for large-scale events, seminars, trade shows, and meetings. The Arena is the heart of the building and can accommodate up to 4,000 people across approximately 3,000 m²—whether for a banquet, concert, trade show, in-house exhibition, or awards night.
Sublime: The Dolder Grand Hotel is breathtaking for its guests thanks to its unique location and architecture. In August, 300 guests attended the post-COVID relaunch of the established Swiss Brand Congress organized by the ESB Marketing Network, while 100 participated online via livestream. This is a clear sign that the industry is eager to get back out of home offices, said Hans-Willy Brockes, CEO of the ESB Marketing Network, the organizer of the brand conference.
A Fresh Start for the Established Players
The Star: Congress Basel is Switzerland’s largest convention center. During a period marked by travel and social distancing restrictions, new services were introduced. Congress Basel now offers a fully equipped, state-of-the-art streaming studio for hosting webinars, training sessions, and interactive panel discussions. Congress Basel has also made it possible to take a virtual site tour of the Congress Center Basel.
Trump card: Thanks to a partnership between Messe Zürich, Hallenstadion, and Zurich Tourism—known as Arena Convention Expo Zurich (ACE)—Zurich-Oerlikon offers virtually unlimited possibilities for corporate events, trade shows, sporting events, and international conferences. With 14,000 square meters of space and a capacity of up to 15,000, the Hallenstadion Zurich is one of the largest multipurpose arenas in Europe.
Relaunch: In September, the venerable Kongresshaus Zürich also reopened following its renovation. The new Kongresshaus Zürich skillfully combines its historic architecture with state-of-the-art technologies, such as the brand-new livestreaming studio operated by Venon, the event technology experts located in the same building.
«A lot has changed during the pandemic, but the need for in-person meetings has not.»
Culture: The Tonhalle Maag in Zurich has been transformed into the Lichthalle Maag, Switzerland’s first permanent museum dedicated to immersive art. It opened with a world premiere: «Viva Frida Kahlo – Immersive Experience» showcases the life and work of the legendary Mexican artist.
The Geneva Experience: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Palais des Expositions et des Congrès de Genève—Palexpo for short—deliberately expanded its core business as an organizer, host, and co-organizer of conferences and established a studio and a digital platform. The magnificent Villa Sarasin, located right next to the exhibition center, has always provided a luxurious, prestigious setting for seminars and receptions. The convention center at the exhibition center features 5,600 square meters of modular space.
At the Röschtigraben: Conference organizers in German-speaking Switzerland who want to attract visitors from French-speaking Switzerland simply cannot ignore Bern and the Kursaal Bern. The brand-new streaming studio was opened in collaboration with Habegger right at the start of the pandemic. This enables the Kursaal to host in-person, hybrid, or fully digital events.
The economy needs conferences again now
A lot has changed during the pandemic, but the need for in-person meetings has not. On the contrary: Various factors have reinforced the realization that in-person contact is irreplaceable, even in the business-to-business sector. Conferences also unlock economic potential for related industries such as caterers, hotels, and livestreaming providers—potential that is now, at the end of 2021, urgently needed once again.
