A study of the German meetings and events market has found that the industry in the country is growing significantly in terms of number of events held and delegate attendance levels.

The findings were presented at this year’s global meeting and events industry show IMEX last month in Frankfurt. The presentation stated: “Throughout Europe, Germany is regarded as the best event destination; worldwide it is ranked in second place behind the USA. In 2007 the number of events increased by 6%, reaching 2.8 million. Last year the number of participants increased even more perceptibly by 8%.”

What’s more, the report revealed that 314 million individuals attended German meetings and events in 2007, almost four times the population of the Federal Republic of Germany. “This clearly demonstrates that meetings and events in Germany are being held more frequently and are attracting an ever growing group of participants to German events venues,” concludes the report.

Commenting on the results, Petra Hedorfer, the chief executive of the German National Tourism Board, said: "The results are of great importance for tourism in Germany. Because, even though people frequently tend to forget it, our country is not only a popular vacation destination; we are also highly regarded worldwide as a business travel destination. Almost one third of trips to Germany are professionally motivated."

Lutz P Vogt, managing director of the German Convention Bureau, agreed, adding: "One crucial result of the study that I would like to highlight is the continued growth of demand for meetings and events in Germany. Meetings are not only being held in Germany more frequently, those meetings are also attracting increasingly larger numbers of participants.”

Meanwhile, August Moderer, president of the European Association of Event Centers (EVVC), said: "Our study indicates that there has been a perceptible improvement of the image of events facilities in Germany. In order to be able to maintain this level or even to further expand it, professionals are required in all areas of the events industry: the budgets for implementation of events are growing once again – but so are the requirements for the highest level of professionalism!"