Sophia Antipolis, 29 October 2014. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) announced today that its annual congress will be held in Barcelona in 2017 and Munich in 2018. ESC Congress is the largest cardiology meeting in the world and hosts more than 30 000 cardiovascular medical professionals during the 5 day event.
The announcement was made today by Isabel Bardinet, CEO of the ESC:
“We are delighted to be returning to Barcelona and Munich, which have both been excellent venues in the past. ESC Congress 2014 was held in Barcelona and will be remembered as one of the best and most exciting in the history of the society. In 2012 we were in Munich and received very positive reviews from delegates about the location, venue and ease of access."
The news comes as the ESC’s industry partners visit ExCeL London, where ESC Congress 2015 will be held from 29 August to 2 September.
Commenting on the announcement, Christoph Tessmar, Director, Barcelona Convention Bureau said:
“We are delighted to have been selected as host city for the 2017 edition of the ESC Congress. This confirms the excellent partnership between Barcelona and the ESC and allows us to continue with our privileged position in the congress world. It represents also an important economic impact for the city. The delegates will experience a very comfortable congress. The access to the convention centre will be much easier with the new metro coming in 2016.”
Rubén Dalmau, Guest Events Director, Fira de Barcelona said:
“ESC delegates will benefit from the venue’s location, in a new business development area, very close to Barcelona airport and connected to the public transport network. The design of the venue, with its pavilions connected by a walkway that channels the flow of visitors, and its cutting-edge services and logistics, will provide to visitors and exhibitors the best trade fair experience possible.”
Mayor Josef Schmid, Manager of the Department of Labour and Economic Development and Munich’s key person responsible for tourism, considers the city’s repeat victorious bid an outstanding success:
“It again shows that Munich plays an important role in the competition with major congress destinations. The organisers are correct to place their trust in Munich once more. The Messe München International is an excellent event location. The city will again present itself as experienced host with a great entertainment value. Last but not least, this city of knowledge where top achievements are accomplished in heart surgery presents the ideal framework for the ESC. The award of the bid also testifies to the effective cooperation of the professionals of city, tradeshow and congress industry in promoting the success of Munich as a congress city.”
Dr Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy CEO, Messe München GmbH, said:
“It is a great honour to host the ESC Congress at Messe München and ICM – Internationales Congress Centre München again in 2018 (for the fourth time already after 2004, 2008 and 2012). [Our congress facility is] one of the most modern and successful in the world, famous for its architecture, state of the art equipment, infrastructure and a passionate and dedicated team. Especially its comprehensive layout makes orientation on site easy for the delegates. Munich [is] a ‘metropolis with a heart’: the phrase emphasises that Munich does a perfect job in combining the professionalism of a commercial centre with culture and hospitality.”
Professor Fausto Pinto, President of the ESC, concluded:
“ESC Congress is the world’s largest cardiology meeting and in 2014 again broke records in attendance and scientific submissions, with more than 30 300 delegates, nearly 11 500 abstract submissions and over 700 journalists. Each year cardiovascular disease causes over 4 million deaths in Europe and costs the EU economy €196 billion (1). We look forward to welcoming the international cardiology community to Barcelona in 2017 and Munich in 2018 where we will continue our fight against cardiovascular disease by discussing the latest developments in cardiovascular sciences.”
Our mission: To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.