Conferences in Bonn WCCB plans new start after Corona break

Bonn · After Corona, the WCCB is now starting its work again: Two general meetings and international conferences are planned for the autumn. And then there is the Beethovenfest in summer 2021.

 The flags in front of the WCCB have been hoisted: Operations should start again now.

The flags in front of the WCCB have been hoisted: Operations should start again now.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

North Rhine-Westphalia is further relaxing the rules for events. Meetings of up to 500 people are now permitted again with an appropriate hygiene concept. Thus, the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) is now also planning a new start.

The first event was a committee meeting of the Sparkasse Köln-Bonn at the end of May. The first major event will be the Annual General Meeting of the chemical group Covestro on July 30. However, shareholders will only be able to attend the event digitally, which will be transmitted by video.

"We certainly have new inquiries," reports sales manager Christina Esser. However, some of them still fail due to official requirements. Many events are moved to larger rooms if possible in order to comply with the required distance rules. "I think we will have a busy autumn, but under completely different conditions than usual," says Esser.

In addition to Vebowag's smaller general meeting, the architecture conference "EA Connect Days 2020" at the beginning of September and, a few days later, the "Haptica live" trade fair, which was postponed from June, are planned for hands-on advertising. The International Organisation for Renewable Energy (Irena) is planning its "Innovation week", as is another organiser, an international congress on the keeping of sheep and goats.

From 7 to 11 December, the EU plans to hold its "European Space Week" as things stand at present.

However, the so-called SB Conference, the annual preparatory meeting for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, was officially cancelled. With a rental period of three weeks, this is a bitter loss for the city's own operations.

According to current estimates, the overall result of Bonn Conference Center Management GmbH is likely to deteriorate by 4.1 million Euro as a result of the pandemic, according to city vice spokesman Marc Hoffmann from a controlling report from the end of March. According to this report, the WCCB had originally expected a profit of 2.4 million Euro. Now a loss of 1.7 million Euro will show on the books at the end of the year. Hoffmann points out, however, that when the municipal budget for 2020 was passed, only 980,000 Euro in profit were expected. Thus, the deterioration for the municipal budget was only 2.7 million Euro.

The Beethovenfest is to take place at WCCB in 2021

For 2021 a user is already firmly booked, if the infection situation does not change again. Due to the delays in the renovation of the Beethovenhalle, the Beethovenfest is to take place again to a large extent in the WCCB from August 20 to September 10, 2021, Esser confirms. The program is currently being prepared and will be presented soon.

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