Why Geneva? 
 
 
Anja Loetscher, Director Geneva Convention Bureau
 
 
Did you know that…?
+ Regarding the scientific field the University of Geneva has a strong international reputation for the quality of its research. In addition to excellent medical clinics, Geneva University Hospitals manage a first-class research program. The renowned CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is one of the biggest and most prestigious scientific laboratories in the world. Furthermore Geneva is a big economic hub in many fields providing unique synergies and partnerships: flavors, fragrances, banking, finance, biotech, medtech, cleantech, watchmaking, luxury goods, microtechnologies, commodities trading, trade finance, information technology, and much more. This dynamic environment has made of Geneva one of the top destinations for world-class international conferences and congresses.
 
+The Geneva Convention Bureau is very well connected to all these entities, providing qualitative links with local specialists. These connections are very useful when planning important international congresses.
 
+ It takes only 6 minutes to go from the Geneva international airport to the city centre by train, and public transport is free of charge for visitors staying in hotels.
 
 
Where to meet?
Geneva has a lot of meeting facilities with state-of-the-art technology, hotels equipped to the most exacting standards (33 conference hotels 3-5 stars), 2 congress centres for up to 10,000 delegates and more than 50 special venues.
 
The two main congress centres are Palexpo and CICG. Palexpo is one of the largest exhibition halls of Switzerland. Situated next to Geneva airport it offers 106,000 sqm of Wi-Fi-equipped, pillar-free multi-functional areas all under one roof, including a convention center seating up to 2,500 participants. The International Conference Centre, Geneva (CICG) is situated in the international area, near the UN. 27 conference rooms can accommodate between 20 and 2,200 people. The multi-functional infrastructure of the CICG provides ideal solutions and combinations. It offers also 4,000 sqm of exhibition space and a restaurant.
 
 
Where to stay?
Geneva has 120 hotels, representing a total of 9,500 rooms. Among them 14 5-stars hotels, 26 4-stars hotels and 38 3-stars hotels. Furthermore 14,500 extra rooms are available 30 minutes maximum from the city center. We have the two biggest hotels in Switzerland: the Starling Hotel Geneva (4-stars hotel) and the Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneva (5-stars hotel).
 
 
How to get there?
Geneva has an international airport with direct flights to over 130 destinations, as well as low cost carriers (including easyJet) and high-speed trains from European cities (Paris is for example 3 hours away from Geneva by train). It takes only 6 minutes to reach the city centre by train. Moreover, public transportation is free for visitors staying in hotels: every visitor receives a free ‘Geneva Transport Card’ upon checking-in to their hotel, valid for the duration of their stay.
 
 
Do you offer any special services/assistance for associations?
All our services are free. They include analysis of congress/meeting requirements; venue search; bid preparation and support; tentative reservations for conference and seminar spaces and room allocation; help with partner programs, transfers, excursions, guides and social events; site inspection arrangements; assistance in the selection of the DMC/PCO; supply of promotional publications and inclusion of the events in our online convention calendar.
 
 
Whom to contact?
 
Anja Loetscher, Director Geneva Convention Bureau
loetscher@geneva-tourism.ch
 
 
 
Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation's (GT&C) mission is to promote and sell Geneva as a tourist, leisure and business destination, to welcome, inform and assist tourists and to support and organize tourist events such as the Fêtes de Genève. GT&C has a staff of approximately 50 working in six departments: Convention Bureau, Marketing, Tourist Services, Events, HR & Administration and Finance.
w w w. geneva-tourism. ch