Guaranteed hotel capacity for city-wide congresses

Each year Amsterdam provides accommodation for 900,000 visitors to congresses. The city is generally ranked among the top ten international congress cities in such renowned rankings as that of the ICCA and the Union of International Associations (UIA). Amsterdam Marketing has realized that such a top ranking also involves obligations. Congress organizers of city-wide congresses expect their programmes to be carried out flawlessly, including with respect to everything that takes place outside the congress centre, such as transport and overnight stays. The label I amsterdam Approved was created in order to guarantee this. The label makes it possible for Amsterdam to come up with an attractive offer for renowned international congresses without the need of extensive preliminary discussions. This means that the city can guarantee up to 16,000 rooms in Amsterdam. During a city-wide congress, an approved hotel reserves a minimum of 65 percent of that hotel's rooms. Furthermore, the prices of rooms and the level of quality are within a range agreed with the congress organizer. Individual price agreements are negotiated by the housing office. This provides an organizer with the guarantee that sufficient rooms will be available at the desired price/quality level. And when it comes to sufficient congress capacity, then Amsterdam RAI, with a capacity of up to 30,000 participants, ranks among the category exceptional, even from an international point of view. In addition, it is the ambition of this congress centre to be ranked among the absolute top in terms of sustainability, for which it has already been awarded several international prizes for sustainability.