Month: June 2012

Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria’s primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million (2.4 million within the metropolitan area, more than 25% of Austria’s population), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 9th-largest city by population in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was the largest German speaking city in the world, and before the first world war and the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian empire the city had 2 million inhabitants. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city lies in the east of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be “The City of Dreams” because it was home to the world’s first psycho-analyst Sigmund Freud, a neurologist who is well known for being one of the greatest interpreters of dreams. The City’s roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is well known for playing an essential role as a leading European Music Centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The Historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first (in a tie with Vancouver, Canada) for quality of life (in the 2011 survey of 140 cities Vienna was ranked number two, behind Melbourne). For three consecutive years (2009–2011), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual “Quality of Living” survey of hundreds of cities around the world. Monocle’s 2011 “Quality of Life survey” ranked Vienna sixth on a list of “the top 25 cities in the world to call home” (up from eighth in 2010).

Analytically, the city was ranked 1st globally for a culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008, and 2nd globally after Boston in 2009 from 256 cities on an analysis of 162 indicators in the Innovation Cities Index on a 3-factor score covering culture, infrastructure and markets. As a city, Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is often used as a case study by urban planners.

Each year since 2005, Vienna has been the world’s number one destination for international congresses and conventions. Vienna attracts about five million tourists a year.  

The new Online Group Booking Tool at aerlingus.com makes Group Travel much easier. Groups can book early to secure the best available fare, 7-25 persons can be booked in one single transaction and names need not be confirmed until 10 days pre-departure.  For added convenience, travel essentials such as checked bags, lounge access and assigned seating can be added to the Group Reservation using the ‘Manage Booking’ facility.

The airline also has a new Online Portal for Conference and Event Organisers, which can be tailored to their event, gives instant access to flights to Ireland from 22 countries, and includes an easy-to-follow online booking facility. It can include logos, text & images as required. Requests to use this portal are welcome from PCOs, Convention Bureaux, Venues and Event Organisers.

The Madrid Tourist Board has also confirmed 14 events which, together with these conferences, will attract some 16,000 professionals to the capital

• The Pan-American Congress on Intensive Care Medicine (3,000 attendees) and the Congress of the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (2,000 participants) are two of the events to be hosted by the city

• The selection of Madrid as the host city for these conferences demonstrates the sector’s confidence in the city’s organisational capacities and the quality of the services provided by the Madrid Tourist Board

 • Madrid predicts that it will consolidate its position in the ICCA ranking for 2011 and strengthen its position among the top ten international business destinations

• The quality-price ratio offered by Madrid’s hotels as well as the capital’s infrastructure and cultural and leisure activities make it a city where doing business is a pleasure

The congress city of Vienna has once again come out on top in the face of strong competition: the European Academy of Childhood Disability will hold the 26th EACD annual meeting in Vienna in 2014, and the European Paediatric Neurology Society will come to the Austrian capital for the 11th EPNS Congress 2015.

Around 500 delegates are expected to attend the three-day event organized by the European Academy of Childhood Disability, which will hold its 26th annual meeting in Vienna in 2014. With the help of the Vienna Convention Bureau (VCB), Dr. Friedrich Brandstetter, medical director of the Vienna Social Services Center for Child Development, won through against competition from Jerusalem. “The congress is an ideal fit for Vienna, ‘city of Freud’, especially because Sigmund Freud worked as a pediatric neurologist early in his career,” he said.

The European Paediatric Neurology Society will hold its 11th EPNS congress in Vienna in 2015. Some 1,500 delegates will come to Vienna for this four-day event. Vienna won this congress on its third attempt – Dr. Günther Bernert, head of the pediatric department at Gottfried von Preyer’schen Children’s Hospital, regards this as a golden opportunity for Austrian researchers in international competition and stated: “The congress will allow us to showcase Austria as a location for science and to convince delegates of the quality offered here – an advance from introspection to international scientific competition and mutual exchange.”

According to VCB Director Christian Mutschlechner, “The acquisition of these two congresses underscores the internationally recognized importance of Austrian pediatricians and pediatric neurologists. The two congresses will generate some 8,000 bednights for Vienna hotels, and contribute around EUR 4.4 million to GDP,” he explained.