Archives: R. Referenciák

From 13^th to 16^th June 2019 the ERA-EDTA (European Renal Association – European Dialysis and Transplant Association) Congress was held in Budapest at HUNGEXPO Congress and Exhibition Centre. The main goal of the congress was to raise public and political awareness of the problem of chronic kidney disease in order to encourage decision-makers to take the requisite preventive measures as quickly as possible.

Every year, one of the most prestigious associations of nephrology worldwide rotates its European congress and seven years ago, HUNGEXPO Budapest together with the support of the Hungarian Society of Nephrology submitted its bid to host the 2019 congress. Back in 1986, the congress with 3,000 attendees was already quite an important event for the Hungarian capital. Since then, the number of delegates has tripled. During the four days, 9,129 participants attended the event, of those 6,766 were congress members and 2,298 exhibitors.

The HUNGEXPO project team had prepared for the congress for two years working together with the organising committee to accommodate the best event flow and easy access to the scientific sessions and the large exhibition area as well. The largest plenary room was set-up for 2,500 people and a further 7 (500-1000 people) section rooms were built. The total space needed for the event was 40,000 square meters. Hall A housed several areas: an 8,000m² exhibition space for 119 exhibitors on 3,450m² booth space, as well as a 1,800m² poster display area for 1,700 posters and an E-campus community area.

One of the accompanying events of the congress was the ‘Run for Kidneys’ charity run on June 14th. The proceeds of the Charity Run, the € 20pp reg. fees, were paid to the Hungarian Kidney Disease Foundation. The distance of 5 kilometers is in the area of ​​HUNGEXPO and the neighbouring ‘Kincsem Park’.

Some more figures:

• More than 10,000 lunch bags were released, additionally nearly 10,000 meals were by over 300 catering staff
• More than 12,000 pieces of furniture was used
• 680 sqm graphics printed
• 315 hostesses were employed
• 6,000 meters of UTP and 900 meters of fiber optic cable were used

George Reusz
President of the 56th ERA-EDTA Congress, Budapest

„Now, as the 56th annual congress of ERA-EDTA is over, I would like to thank the Hungexpo team for all the precious and kind assistance, provided during the planning and the execution of the congress.

The conference returned after 33 years to Budapest. Since then the congress has evolved to be the largest nephrological event in Europe, with more than 6700 professional participants and over 2000 visitors from the industry.

Based on the feed-backs from Hungary and from the international participants, this year’s congress was a success both from the scientific and the social point of view. There was ample space for the plenary lectures and the symposia, and we could host more than 2000 posters and the industry exhibition without any problem as well. Thus, thank you again for your kind support and professionalism!”

Paolo Zavalloni
Congress & Industry Relations Manager, ERA-EDTA Group

“Despite the unusual venue, the Hungexpo team did its best in an efficient, helpful and well-organized manner. If during the event we had questions/problems they did their best to reply/resolve. The team also helped us to get a good coverage in the local press.”

HUNGEXPO has recently hosted several medical congresses and exhibitions: last year, the ESC (European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health) congress was held with 1,500 participants, and one of the largest US pharmaceutical companies held a professional seminar for 2000 European cardiologists at HUNGEXPO. The Dental World Dentist’s Professional Exhibition and Conference has been held here for the 5th time. 7-9 October this year HUNGAROMED, ​​ Health and Medical Technology Exhibition and Conference, launched in 2018 will take place.

The International Table Tennis Federation granted Hungary to host and organise the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest. The site selection process started in 2017. The Hungarian Table Tennis Association was in charge of the suitable venue search.

The championship’s space requirements were to accommodate 36 practicing tables, 24 tables for the qualifications and 8 tables for the finals along with 2.000pax+4.800pax grandstand and  the necessary spaces for the 400+ media and the TV broadcast. There were 1.500 accredited competitors and related staff, who required VIP catering services during the event and an expected 25.000 audience during the 8 days championships

HUNGEXPO’s Hall A on 20.000sqm served  for the runner up competitions and the practicing areas while Hall G was the main competition area where 4 tables for the finals were set-up with a viewer’s arena of 4.800 capacity including the broadcasting station for 400 and VIP section for 200 as well. The VIP rooms were  also set-up in this hall on 500sqm. In Hall F the media centre for 400 and some practicing areas were set up. Hall D served as the contestant food service area, while in the rest of the hall the fan zone was setup where viewers could try their table tennis skills as well as buy various sports equipment, sports clothing and memorabilia.

In the competition areas special sports flooring  and lighting requirements were prescribed by ITTF directives. To facilitate the live TV broadcast and the special 2.000 lux lights 10km electric cables and 1450 lamps were installed in the halls. The halls needed to get total blackout too.

Careful planning was a crucial part of the successful organisation as during the one week set up the electricity, AV, flooring, grandstand, media and broadcast places were to be built up in a layered manner by several different in-house crews and outsourced suppliers coordinated by HUNGEXPO’s project management team.

Security and badge control was another complex issue to manage; the event was divided into nine different access zones (Field of play, Competition Preparation, Tournament Control Desk, General Area, Media, Studios, Commentary Positions, Offices  and Meeting Rooms, VIP, VVIP, Accredited seats) and  strict security control was set up at each zone entrances to secure that only accredited persons were permitted into the zones.

A dedicated project staff on behalf of HUNGEXPO was supporting the event; daily 230-400 experts and assistances were working during the  20 days including Easter weekend.

ITTF CEO Steve Dainton on WTTC 2019:

 “The ITTF, together with the Hungarian Table Tennis Association, showed the world that great things can be achieved with a professional operation.”

“The 2019 World Championships is also a wonderful success, expected to be the most followed and reported table tennis event in history. The global media coverage will be huge simply due to the spread of success at the tournament.”

“There are too many persons to thank – Firstly thank you Budapest and the Hungary Table Tennis Association for an amazing Job. All ITTF officials who work tirelessly as volunteers, and everyone involved in the event whom I hope will take some rest after assisting to deliver an amazing, jam packed event.”

WTTC 2019 in figures:

• Enlio sports flooring 9.100sqm
• Tennis tables: 64pcs
• Media stations: 400
• Accredited media: 361
• Accredited competitors, staff: 1.500
• VIP and VVIP areas: 460sqm rooms, +VIP parking,
• Catering: 60.000 meals served in 11 days,
• Areas in use: 58.000sqm
• Hungexpo project staff: 230-406/day
• Addl. staff by organisers: 300-250/day
• Total viewers audience: 25.500
• Set-up days: 7
• Event days: 11
• Breakdown days: 2
• Lamps, lights: 1450pcs
• Led walls: 240sqm
• Broadcast cables, used: 6.000m

EuroSkills 2018 Budapest is the European Championship of Skills the biggest biennial vocational event in  Europe where young professionals under 25 compete in all the main industrial areas represented in six groups – Creative Arts and Fashion, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Transportation and Logistics, Information and Communication Technology, Social and Personal Services, and Construction and Building Technology. The participants arrive form the 28 member countries of WorldSkills Europe the owner of the competition in order to find out who is the most talented in the continent in such skills bricklayers thorough bakers to electrical installation technicians.

Objectives, planning and execution
Organizing this event was a huge opportunity to prove the importance of the quality of vocational education and the importance of skills in achieving economic growth. The huge attention that comes with organizing such an event gave the perfect opportunity to bring together leaders of government, education, business and industry and use this event as a catalyst for further transformation of the vocational training in Hungary and to attract considerably more students in the future.

37 workshops were to be set up and turned into professional and high level production areas for 3-4 days and then turned off again. All skills have special industry regulations, health and safety regulations and rules how professionals can work in correct conditions.

The competitions took place in five event halls in 180-1600sqm size competition areas totalling 40thousand square meters in Hall A, D, G and F.

The conferences took place in two meeting rooms 100pax and 280pax in Hall B. The exhibition totalled 6000 square meters with 45 exhibitors –sponsors, member countries and government bodies. Two thirds of the stands were custom design, the rest were shell scheme.

There was a 2600 square meter restaurant tent where 1300 guests were served at the same time. In addition 20 organisers’ offices, 3 VIP rooms and a 5600sqm storage hall was also provided.

The build up period started 9 days before the first competition day. Before the event was opened for the public two test days were carried out, so build up had to be completed in 7 days.

The competition at HUNGEXPO was open to the public, after a pre-registration, the visit was free of charge.  Daily visitor numbers reached 30-35k totalling 100k attendees in three days.

Transportation challenges, visitor flow – To be able to raise the number of visitors transportation was organized for the students from the countryside. That meant that the daily number of visitor buses were around 300 that reached the site every day. Special traffic restrictions and road closures had to be implemented to achieve as quick and effective flow of traffic as possible. Because of the high number of vehicles, the allocation of bus stops and the coordination of visistors arriving by train also required on-site management and coordination.

The goal of the communication and PR campaign was twofold: to raise awareness in Hungary about the EuroSkills competition and to engage the young generation towards vocational skills.
The primary target was elementary and secondary school audience, including students, their parents, and teachers who have an influence on the younger generation’s career choices.

The campaign included:
– national campaign (outdoor, television, print)
– online campaign
– social media
– PR in the above

Innovation and creativity
The owner of the competition WorldSkills Europe has an inner quality assurance system that is used during such type of events. The system has two parts: technical preparedness and participation experience.
The biggest challenge of these type of events is technical preparedness, because everything has to be on site and functioning by the time participants arrives, there are no second chances. Since the equipment was provided just in time and mostly by sponsors with such variety it is extremely difficult to carry this out.
All workshop is monitored daily in terms of preparedness and functionality, with 3 different statuses: red – big issue, yellow – small issue, green – no issue. Unprecedented in this events there were no other status given out but green, thanks to the committed partners and the excellent built up services.

Increased visitor experience: TRY A SKILL areas

The main industrial areas were represented in six groups – Creative Arts and Fashion, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Transportation and Logistics, Information and Communication Technology, Social and Personal Services, and Construction and Building Technology. In order to increase the visitor experience, and engage the youngsters special career orientation „islands” were created near the 37 competition areas where it was possible to try the basic activities that are typical in the skill. Overall 29 different Try a Skill workshops were built up and operated to represent 33 skills (from joinery to hairdressing) all across the whole competition area.

Effectiveness and results
The event overall was highly praised and successful according to both visitor and both participant feedback, truly setting up new standards to the next organizers.

The event summary in figures:
9 SET UP, 3 EVENT DAYS
28 COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
37 SKILLS, 40,000SQM WORKSHOP AREAS
525 COMPETITORS
470 EXPERTS AND JURY
60 000 M2 AREA FOR THE COMPETITION, AND SUPPORTING EVENTS (CONFERENCE, EXHIBITION, CATERING)
29 TRY A SKILL AREAS
700 VOLUNTEERS (with a 95% turn up rate)
350 MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES (approx. 100 more than the previous event)
85 320 INDIVIDUAL VISITORS (approx. 11.000 more than previous event)
8 224 CEREMONY SPECTATORS (approx. 1.500 more than previous event)
250 PARTICIPANTS AT THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM (free of charge but registration required, full house which is unique)

Media interest
In total, 261 international an 98 Hungarian media representatives pre-registered to cover the EuroSkills Budapest 2018 competition. Including its opening and closing ceremonies and the side events, the competition received 542 media coverage.

UPDATE: Euroskills Budapest 2018, HUNGEXPO’s biggest event last year wins Silver Prize at the ‘Oscar gala of events’, Global Eventex Awards.

​The winners were announced on March 26, 2019, and in the Educational Event category, EuroSkills Budapest 2018 won an outstanding second place. The Global Eventex Awards is one of the largest international event competions that have been awarded the most outstanding events since 2009 in six different categories. In 2018, a total of 331 events were nominated in 42 subcategories, from over 80 countries worldwide.

„We are proud that Hungexpo was the host and organizing partner of EuroSkills Budapest”- said Gábor Ganczer, CEO. After four years of preliminary work, hundreds of people were working to bring this great prestige event to a success. This was the largest event of all our international hosted events, and it was a great success.” added Mr Ganczer.

Hungexpo won the opportunity to host a two-day semi-annual repetitive event of one of the biggest American pharmaceutical companies during the national holiday weekend of March on 30.000 sqm used event space across 3 halls.

2.100 people from 33 countries around the World were participated on the event compared the 1.800 which was the originally planned invited number at the beginning in 2017.

The event used a huge plenary session for all of the participants on 4.500 sqm in classroom style setup. During the 2 event days 4 sessions were held by professional speakers with unique AV equipment.

Furthermore 20 smaller workshop rooms have been built up by special soundproof temporary structure for 20-100 people where the different country meetings could be organized.

Despite stringent legal requirements for pharmaceutical companies in Hungary, Hungexpo found the possibility to present a high level quality seated buffet lunch and coffee breaks for 2.100 people between the sessions on more than 7.500 sqm.

The title of the congress was ‘Family planning and contraception from adolescence to the menopause’ which attracted many professors, doctors, clinicians and other professionals to expand their knowledge in the field of reproductive health.This event is repetitive in every second year and this time Budapest hosted it at the first time, The congress was held between the 9th and 12th of May 2018 and more than 1500 participants attended on the event from 86 countries internationally.
The main sponsors and exhibitors were world famous pharmacy companies such as Bayer AG and Gedeon Richter.

The conference was held in Hall G with 1 plenary room for 1300pax and 3 smaller breakout rooms, where all together 193 presentations were displayed during the 2 and a half days. The event was a success and the organizers were happy with the proffessional approach and hospitality of Hungexpo team.

The ICT Proposers’ Day was organized at HUNGEXPO-Budapest for the third time after 2009 and 2011. It is a great honour to us to gain such an institution to hold its event at our venue for several times. The ICT Proposers’ Day 2017 was take place on 9 and 10 November in Budapest, Hungary. This networking event centred on European ICT Research & Innovation.

The event was be held on Hall G and F on more than 13 000 sqm with the participation of 2500 visitors. Hall F was separated into two section. One of them was the venue of the face to face meetings for more than 500 pax, while in the other side of the hall ensured place for a coffee station and two breakout rooms. In Hall G there were four further breakout rooms and a catering area.

On the two-days event there were six soundproof breakout rooms for 300 and 400 pax, perfectly fit for the event needs. The rooms were built from a special sound proof panel structure thus it was possible to schedule parallel sessions in all of the 6 rooms without having any interference.

HUNGEXPO was not only hosting the event, but provided a 360 degree scope of services such as the building of 21 booth and the six breakout rooms and provided more than 3000 pieces of furniture (chairs, tables, lounge furniture).

EFTTEX 2017 has returned to Budapest after eight years absence and for the 2^nd time in its history. The 36^th edition of the European Fishing Tackle Trade Exhibition was hosted at HUNGEXO-Budapest between the 29^th June and 1^st of July. EFTTEX is a truly international show and is proud of its 35 years serving the trade in a variety of Europe’s most visited cities.

On the event 1600 visitors participated from the five continent and 231 exhibitors awaited them. The three days long exhibition was held on 13,000 sqm in hall G and F. The 2 halls were fully dedicated to the exhibition with plenty of unit and custom-made stands.

Some side events such as the Best New Product showcase or the Visitor’s Choice Award voting for their favourite products were also organised. The Annual General Assembly was open to all members and non-members of EFTTA, and the latest on EFTTA activities and ideas where discussed. For product trials a 20 meter long stretch of water, the Casting pool was set up for those interested in fly fishing and wanted to test the waters.

The World of Coffee exhibition on the 13-15 June was organised by the Irish EventHaus Ltd. on behalf of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), the network of coffee lovers and industry professionals across more than 90 countries worldwide.

On the event about 7000 visitors participated from over 100 countries, while on the 234 booths 2500 exhibitors awaited them. The three days long exhibition was held on 13,000 sqm in hall G and F and also in Building 25.

The 2 halls were dedicated to the exhibition, they were full of unit and custom-made stands, completed with the venues of the five special coffee competitions and some lounge and networking areas. In the VIP rooms of Hall G and in Building 25 section and meeting rooms were shaped.

The set-up of the event was fulfilled with the participation of 252 builders, when 1900 meters electrical and 270 meter Internet cables was laid, 1.27 km octanorm panels were built up. Before the event 9365 sqm carpet was laid and a total of 1877 sqm signage surfaces helped the visitors. And when speaking about coffee making, a total of 4100 water was used by the exhibitors, 650 kg ice and 230 litres fresh milk was used during the event.

As springtime comes around, the season of the international events has started at HUNGEXPO-Budapest, the biggest multifunctional event venue in Hungary. The first in the event row was the ISF World Seed Congress organised by the International Seed Federation (ISF) together with the Hungarian Seed Association on the 22-24 May.

ISF has represented its members’ interests since 1924 and is widely regarded as the voice of the global seed industry. Its biggest, world-wide congress is organised in every year. This year nearly 1700 seed industry professionals gathered from 62 countries to discuss the global issues facing the seed industry.

The event took place in Hall G and F on more than 14 000 sqm. A trading floor with 314 tables was furnished in Hall F, where the participants could organise meetings during the event. Hall G was divided into two parts with the built in mobile wall. The Hall G2 hosted an exhibition with 40 stands and 18 private meeting rooms.

Hall G1 had several functions during the event. At the beginning of the event it hosted the grand opening ceremony with 1650 chairs then it functioned as a plenary room with 100 school desk and 200 chairs. Finally it hosted the gala dinner for 1400 pax.

The guests had several options to travel to the hotels: beside the public transportation they can commute by the shuttle buses, which parked in Hall A and they can also choose the on-site taxi service, where altogether 600 taxi served the participants during the three-day event.

And when talking about numbers, some interesting figures should be mentioned in connection with the event. The set-up of the event was fulfilled with the participation of 150 builders, when 585 meters electrical cables was laid, 1.15 km octanorm panels were built up, 250 lamps and 1,15 tons of truss were used. Before the event 7485 sqm carpet was laid and a total of 2750 sqm signage surfaces helped the visitors.

Bocuse d’Or contest, the most prestigious gastronomy competition in the world has come a long way since 1987 when Paul Bocuse launched an event that he intended as a celebration of haute cuisine and the grandest chefs of the world! Since then, dozens of chefs have earned international recognition and fame for themselves, new cooking techniques have been revealed, new trends have emerged, and lesser known culinary cultures have come to the spotlight and gained recognition.

The European selection is a biannual competition in rotating locations, organised in order to select the top European chefs who will be representing their countries on the World Final held in every odd year in Lyon. Looking at the great prestige and highest standards of the competition it is no surprise there were very strict rules and requirements to follow for the host countries and organising venues.

The Hungarian Bocuse d’Or Academy submitted its bid in close cooperation with Hungexpo, the venue of the contest, and won the rights to organize the event, which was announced in Stockholm on the European Selection of Bocuse d’Or 2014.

To boost synergies, the European Selection of Bocuse d’Or was organised in conjunction with SIRHA Budapest, Hungary’s number one HORECA trade show, occupying 20 thousand sqm exhibition space in Hungexpo’s  Hall A, attracting 20 thousand visitors overall.

There were 20 countries’ chefs and their teams participating over the two days. Ten identical, 18sqm fully equipped kitchen boxes have been installed, creating a restaurant kitchen-like environment in hall G.

A grandstand of 1800pax capacity was built opposite the kitchen boxes to accommodate the spectators and supporters arriving from 20 countries of Europe. Pre-event ticket sales have been provided through HUNGEXPO’s online platform and visitors were able to purchase their passes on-site as well. For the sponsors and partners 13 corporate boxes each with 20 seats were installed in the front for best views. In addition altogether nine large screens with total surface of more than 200 sqm were providing great visibility of the whole competition from anywhere in the hall.  In order to reach the faultless production Hungexpo’s technical operations team was cooperating with GL AV from the very beginning of the project with great success.

The project team of Hungexpo was responsible for providing each service necessary for creating the perfect environment and circumstances for the contest, such as security, electricity and water connections, rigging, stand building, carpeting, lighting, the construction of the whole Taste Hungary area, cleaning, building of the backstage and the corporate boxes.

The overall security of this high profile international event was a crucial part of the organization. Due to high security alert for any large European event HUNGEXPO created a security plan approved by the Hungarian authorities. The event area was fenced and inspected before and during the event with strict access controls provided by the Counter Terrorism Centre.

One of the other challenges were the separation of spaces with different authorisation and access to the public visitors, the VIP’s, press, the competition participants and jury and the organisers. Solution: well-organized security check points and badges with color-codes which clearly showed the access and authorizations to the designated areas. A coordinated security and hostess team guided visitors and shared all necessary information let everyone enjoy the contest.

To promote Hungarian cuisine the Hungarian Bocuse d’Or Academy in cooperation with 14 top restaurants, three patisseries and a café from all over the country set up Taste Hungary gastro-village on 2600sqm next to the contest, also in hall G. Each restaurant and patisserie offered their specialty fresh made meals and dessert. A selection of Hungary’s top wines and champagne accompanied the dishes.

Numerous sponsors of the contest -namely Metro, Grand Tokaj, Bridor, Bragard and Bocuse d’Or Winnes- were present at the event with stands of individual designs in the VIP Village to promote themselves to partners. While the other sponsoring suppliers – Mauviel, Convotherm, Rougié, Villeroy & Boch, Nespresso, Duni, CHEF, Valrhona, S.Pellegrino –  contributed to the success of the event with their products only. The patrons of the Hungarian Bocuse d’Or Academy, FHB, MKB and Magyar Telekom received the opportunity to also appear with a stand at the entrance of the competition.

A 330sqm VIP Lounge was dedicated to the distinguished patrons, partners and guests. Everyone invited to this area enjoyed the contest along with delicious food and beverage specialties.

The event included several off site social functions as well over the three days, some of which were also organized by the HUNGEXPO team: The Grand Chef’s dinner started with a cocktail function in the Parliament, then guests were transferred to the Pesti Vigadó, taking one of the world’s most spectacular tram line offering World Heritage views of the illuminated Danube bridges and Buda. The five course dinner took place in the ballroom of the historic Pesti Vigadó, Budapest’s 19^th c. entertainment venue.

The closing event of the competition, the Gala Dinner was held in one of the most prestigious and beautiful locations of Budapest, the Buda Castle, where a glass tent with the capacity of 900 was built only for this purpose.

After two days of fierce competition, 11 European candidates earned their qualification to take part in the World Final that will take place in Lyon, France on January 24th and 25th, 2017 when they will also be celebrating the 30 years of existence of the contest.

The success of the event was crowned by the victory of the Hungarian chef Tamás Széll, who won Bocuse d’Or Europe 2016, at home, surpassing the other 19 participants with his talent, creativity and great competition skills.

Bocuse d’Or contest in Budapest attracted great media attention: 500 accredited members of the press, half of them from abroad attended and reported from the event which created a great buzz for the city and the Hungarian culinary art across Europe.

In his closing remarks, the President of the jury, Jerome Bocuse –son of the founder of Bocuse d’Or, Paul Bocuse- called the event the best organised European final in its 30 year history, putting Hungary on the world map of culinary art.

“It has been a real pleasure to collaborate with the Hungexpo Team for Bocuse d’Or Europe 2016’s edition, especially as we stayed in a family group which already has a strong business expertise in the events field, whether exhibitions or conventions. The team’s reactivity and professionalism have been remarkable through their precious knowledge of the local participants, the ministries, the consular corps, the city and the tourism office. Moreover, their international orientation shows that we were right to trust them and that their philosophy matches to the Bocuse d’Or family’s one. “ – said the Organizer team.