News

Best stand prize for the HNTO in London

December 30, 2007

An independent jury at the Confex fair in London last week voted the Hungarian booth the best among the foreign exhibitors. The HNTO’s installation received the Best Stand, Shell Scheme award from the panel.

Country brands: Hungary is value for money!

November 22, 2007

The latest Country Brand index, compiled by FutureBrand and Weber Shandwick, was published in November 2007 at the World Travel Market in London. The list ranks countries according to the strength of their brands: the top 10 countries are Australia, USA, the UK, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Greece and Japan. Other rankings were also drawn up, among which, in terms of value for money, Hungary is second globally, following Thailand. Further information: www.countrybrandindex.com

Award to Novotel Budapest Congress & World Trade Center

September 07, 2007

The team of the Novotel Budapest Congress & World Trade Center has been awarded: "THE BEST ACCOR MEETING-INCENTIVE-CONFERENCE-EVENT HOTEL OF THE YEAR"

The international Accor sales office teams from the world’s major cities voted based on the following criteria:
• Reaction time for Requests
• Layout and presentation of the proposals
• Content of the proposal
• Welcome and preparation of site inspections
• Overall impression and feedback from clients

At the end of June the Novotel Budapest Congress & World Trade Center completed the renovation process which started in 2005.
Some of the new facilities that the Novotel Budapest Congress & World Trade Center offers are:
• 319 brand new Novation Bedrooms with contemporary design
• High-speed wireless internet throughout the hotel and congress center
• A new design in the lobby, bar, lounge,terrace and restaurants
• A 300 m2 wellness center with swimming pool, sauna, Turkish bath and fitness area.
• 19 meeting rooms for up to 2000 people with modern audio-visual equipments

Accor, the European leader in hotels and tourism, and a global leader in corporate services, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000 employees and offers to its individual and corporate clients 40 years of expertise More information about Novotel hotels is available on the Internet at www.novotel.com

Ask for the new MICE Guide to Hungary!

September 07, 2007

The newest publication of the Hungarian Convention Bureau "The Meeting Planners’ Guide to Hungary" was published beginning of September. The 104-pages Guide was written in English and it is a combination of our previous publications, which aims to present the Hungarian MICE market. Following the introductory pages 4 chapters present the Hungarian suppliers: Conference hotels, Unique meeting venues, PCO and DMC agencies and last but not least the most popular Incentive Programmes.
The subtitle "where meetings meet traditions" is the new motto of the HCB - the photos at the beginning of each chapter reflects this message: Hungary is not only a place with top quality services and facilities, but it is also a country where unique, unforgettable events take place due to the special Hungarian touch. The guide was printed in 20.000 copies and reaches MICE professionals all over the world through the channels of HCB and through the representative office of HNTO in Europe and overseas. To receive a copy of the brochure just drop us an e-mail! hcb@hungarytourism.hu

Green light for a large conference centre

May 22, 2007

The Hungarian government has decided to support the construction of a large conference hall in Budapest. The new facility, created through the upgrading of "Tüske Hall" in the 11th district, aims to be the largest in Central Europe with a capacity of at least 4000 persons. The venue has good accessibility, the existing building is a good base for the development and the surrounding area is also suitable for further hotel projects. The tender for the construction and operation will be announced soon, and the opening is scheduled for 2009. Though Budapest is ranked 6th in the ICCA list of congress capitals of the world, Budapest is currently strong in the 50-300-person meetings market only. The capital can’t boast a venue for larger, 2500-5000-person conferences is missing. The opening of the conference centre would generate 3400 new jobs and at least HUF 3 billion (11 million) annually in tax revenues. The conference centre with a capacity of 4000 persons would be among the first establishments of this size in the region. The centre could even get ahead the big competitor Vienna centre with its capacity of 3500 people.

Budapest is the 6. under the most popular conference destination in the world

April 20, 2007

The organization of the international conferences (ICCA - International Congress & Convention Association) has recently published its statistics for 2006. On the basis of the announced results Budapest is proud to report its outstanding 6. place, which means it has achieved to amend two places in comparison to 2005. Budapest has beaten important cities as Brussels, London or Prague. The ranking represents the number of held conferences, which measure up to the criteria, determined by ICCA. Within the frameworks of this study, the ranking of the most chosen countries has been made public as well, which placed Hungary before countries like Belgium, the Czech Republic and Poland, similar to the previous year on the 20. position.

New hotels with conference capacities in Budapest

March 06, 2007

A 4-star superior hotel is planned in Budapest’s downtown, located in the former Zichy Palace (8th district). The investor won the tender for the building from the local government. Construction would start this July, with the opening scheduled for summer 2008. The hotel is planned with 80 rooms and a limited conference capacity.
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The latest boutique hotel in Budapest is expected to open in March, at the foot of Castle Hill. Lánchíd 19 Hotel boasts several unique architectural features: the exterior is covered with a movable special glass partition, while inside the building the floors are connected with glass bridges. The 48-room, 4-star hotel offers guests a conference room for 100, bar and restaurant, and parking in a nearby garage.
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The latest property development of Italian Baglioni Hotels is expected to open in Budapest within a year. The 5-star Baglioni Hotel Rácz Thermal Spa, located next to the Rác Spa, will have 62 rooms, a lounge, two restaurants (one of which aims to offer unique gastronomy), and a conference room for 80. The hotel will have a direct link to the spa, which is currently undergoing reconstruction. Baglioni chose Budapest because of its spa history, central positioning, rich history and culture.

UK’s leading conference organizers meet in Hungary

March 05, 2007

The 7th CONFEC RED forum, the international workshop for UK conference and event organizers, was held in the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal Budapest between 8-11 February. Altogether 70 professional buyers gathered to meet with 119 suppliers from 25 European countries; altogether 1900 pre-scheduled appointments were registered during the 3-day workshop!

UNWTO conference a huge success

February 17, 2007

The World Tourism Organization’s Destination Management (DM) conference held in Budapest between 7-9 February attracted 340 participants from 61 countries to the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest. During the conference, Hungarian and foreign experts presented DM as a new way of enhancing tourism competitiveness. The aim of the meeting was to share international experiences of this valuable marketing tool.
Presentations can be downloaded from www.destinationmanagement2007budapest.com