Fully Renovated HUNGEXPO
During the pandemic, Hungexpo Budapest, a GL events site, underwent a EUR 170m programme of expansion and refurbishment, including the enlarging of the exhibition space.
Gábor Ganczer, CEO of HUNGEXPO and President of the Association of Hungarian Event Organizers, said: “We are very proud to start a new chapter in our company history with the fully renewed and expanded HUNGEXPO, which now has the capacity to host complex events of any size in our state-of-the-art facilities, which offer maximum flexibility in terms of space and services. The development is a big step forward not only for Hungexpo but also for the entire Hungarian tourism industry, as larger events attract additional conferences of various sizes to the capital using all tourism-related services, hotels and other venues. Budapest now has everything to become a TOP destination for the European congress and meetings market.”
“Following an unprecedented quiet period for the events industry worldwide caused by the pandemic, event organizers, associations and corporates are eager to return with their events to be able to meet face-to-face. Exhibitors and visitors are very much looking forward to once more attending well-regulated business events.”
Events returning to the refurbished venue
Hungexpo Budapest, Hungary’s largest venue and event organizing company, established its Hosted Events business unit, in addition to its well-known exhibitions, when the new owner, the French GL events group, took over the company in 2006. GL events has not only undertaken to modernize the area, but also paved the way for huge international conferences and exhibitions such as the Congress of the European Football Association (UEFA), the Pan European Dealer Conference of KIA Motors, Bocuse D’Or European Selection in 2016, the ERA-EDTA 2019 Congress (with 9,000 attendees), and ITU Telecom World 2019 Telecommunications Conference (with 4,000 participants).
Hungexpo is working on tenders for several major international events in the coming years; Budapest is expected to host the Annual Congress of the European Psychiatric Society (EPA) with 2,000–3,000 participants in 2022, and the European Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) with 6,000–8,000 people in 2023.
As of September, events are returning to the refurbished and rejuvenated venue. HUNGEXPO hosted the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress as the first large international congress in early September, and the inaugural international exhibition of the new complex ’One With Nature’ World of Hunting and Nature Exhibition is now open for 3 weeks until 14 October 2021.
