Bratislava: ‘Surprisingly Close – Exceptionally Smart’

The building plans for a brand new conference centre in the heart of the Slovakian capital have been announced. The city now reviews the second phase of the Eurovea development project to make it futureproof. For the Bratislava Convention Bureau, the good news means to put more focus on city’s unique assets – accessibility, innovation and execution. “We are looking forward to the future convention centre for Bratislava”, says Nina Erneker, Head of the Bratislava Convention Bureau. “Obviously, a purpose-built conference venue would make it lots easier to convince meeting planners and PCO’s of sizeable international events. Most of them are surprised when they learn that Bratislava is actually sometimes much more convenient to reach to Vienna International Airport than the city of Vienna itself because of the traffic. All of them are stunned when they discover our 3,200 room hotel capacity in the 4 and 5 star range. They are charmed by the atmosphere in the inner city, where most of the traffic is banned. But when they ask whether we can assemble 2,000 people in one single auditorium, the current answer is no, - unfortunately.”

Eurovea Congress Centre

Bratislava’s destination marketing baseline is ‘Surprisingly Close – Exceptionally Smart’. It takes no more than a few hours to fully understand what this slogan boils down to in practice: Stare Mesto, the historical heart of the city, banned all traffic from its cobblestones and is home to dozens of cosy restaurants and bars, where locals and visitors love to meet over a cup of freshly roast coffee, a heart-warming shot of Slivovica or a local potato dumplings dish. Bordering the Stare Mesto and Ruzinov boroughs, between Pribinova street and the river Danube, is the Eurovea area. Surprisingly close to the intimacy of the old town centre, and fairly smart as a modern city development project. Eurovea features apartments, offices, a shopping mall, a casino, cinemas, catering outlets and a Sheraton hotel with 209 rooms. The second phase of the project should include Slovakia’s first skyscraper and a 2,000 seats conference centre. Nina Erneker: “To a certain extent, Eurovea symbolizes our eagerness to progress. Bratislava ranks in the top 10 of international meeting destinations (according to The Kongres Magazine 2018 – Meeting Star Awards). We are strongly aware of our unique assets – accessibility, intimacy, multiculturalism, walkability, heritage, hospitality, multilingualism, safety - but at the same time, we are very determined to look forwards and embrace new opportunities. As far as I know, the Eurovea Congress Centre will soon be the first purpose-built venue that neighbours ten centuries of history.”

Bratislava Convention Bureau

The Bratislava Convention Bureau started its operations in 2012, as part of the Bratislava Tourist Board. It is a non-profit organization with the City of Bratislava as a main partner and 77 members (hotels, agencies, venues, museums, other vendors). BCB operates a chain of Tourism Information Centers and is also a part of the regional DMO called Bratislava Region Tourism. www.visitbratislava.com/convention