Photo: Hamburg Messe und Congress, Alexander Wöckener
Interview Katariina Rohrbach
"We have big plans!"
Photo: Hamburg Messe und Congress, Alexander Wöckener
Katariina Rohrbach took over as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at CCH - Congress Center Hamburg on 1 September 2024. In this interview, she talks about diversity in the congress industry, short-term bookings and increasing capacity utilisation, Hamburg in the New York Times and the event campus for trade fair and congress experiences.
tw tagungswirtschaft: You come from the trade fair industry and have been COO at the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg for six months. What attracts you to the congress industry?
Katariina Rohrbach: In the congress sector, the variety of formats is even greater and more striking than in the trade fair sector. The spectrum ranges from cultural and stage events such as concerts and theatre productions to general and members' meetings, corporate events and scientific congresses. Each of these formats has its own unique requirements, which we are happy to fulfil. This versatility makes our work not only exciting, but also very varied. The cooperation with the city of Hamburg is also much more noticeable, which makes it multi-layered and very interesting. For me personally, it is also important to keep learning, even after 30 years in the industry.
The last message on your website is from 20 August 2024. It is your personnel. What's new at the Congress Centre Hamburg?
You are talking about press releases, which we very rarely send out in connection with the CCH, as we never act as the organiser, but only accompany, support and make things possible. The press work for the events is the responsibility of the organisers themselves. In 2024, more than 70 events took place at the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg, which could hardly have been more varied. From general and works meetings to large national and international congresses and corporate events to the IAPH World Ports Conference and party conventions - the range was enormous. Culture is also back at the CCH. At the Eurofurence in September, colourful, fluffy animal figures and fantasy creatures created a special atmosphere not only in the CCH, but also in the neighbouring Planten un Blomen park. In addition, the CCH once again hosted numerous medical congresses. One particular highlight was the EANM'24 congress in October: more than 8,680 participants attended the 37th annual congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine - a new record! Another highlight followed at the end of December with the 38th Chaos Communication Congress and just a few weeks ago we hosted the SPOBIS Conference, Europe's largest sports business event, for the second time. It's great to see how the diverse possibilities offered by our flexible building inspire organisers and visitors. We are expecting a total of around 100 events at the CCH this year. That's great!
Katariina Rohrbach welcomes Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to the Spobis Conference, Europe's largest sports business event, at the CCH - Congress Centre Hamburg. Photo: SPOBIS, picture alliance
Your superiors Uwe Fischer and Heiko M. Stutzinger, Managing Directors of Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC), are expecting turnover of 133 million euros in 2024 and therefore a positive result. How will the Congress Center Hamburg contribute to this? In 2023, the CCH generated turnover of 21.4 million euros.
2023 was the best year in the history of the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg, partly due to some major special effects that unfortunately do not occur every year. Excluding these special effects, revenue in 2024 was slightly higher than in the previous year at 18 million euros.
The economic outlook for 2025 is bleak. The business associations do not see an end to the crisis in 2025 either: "31 out of 49 business associations describe the current situation as worse than a year ago", according to the German Economic Institute. What is your assessment?
We are experiencing short-term bookings, a desire for flexibility and cost sensitivity. Nevertheless, companies and event organisers want long-term planning security. People still want to meet in person. We are therefore not seeing any fundamental reluctance.
Almost 300 million euros have been invested in the revitalisation of the Congress Center Hamburg, which will reopen in 2022 with 12,000 square metres of usable space. How do you intend to fill the rooms, halls and Hall H with life?
We are very happy that the capacity utilisation of the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg is continuously increasing and that we receive so much positive feedback from event organisers. Our focus is on events with more than 500 participants. These can be large scientific congresses with an accompanying exhibition or corporate events. Customers from the DACH region, Scandinavia and the UK are particularly interesting for us, as are North Americans who are returning to the European market with their event formats. We are expecting a significant increase in interesting enquiries from North America, as Hamburg was recently recommended by the New York Times as one of 52 travel destinations worldwide. And, of course, we attach great importance to our existing customers and cultivate these relationships intensively in order to keep generating enthusiasm for the CCH. Due to the good cooperation, the demand for multi-year contracts is increasing, which of course makes us very happy.
In the first three months, your calendar mainly includes cultural events such as concerts and ballet performances and only one congress, Spobis 2025 in February. How come?
There is a simple explanation for this: we only list events on our website if we have the organisers' consent to do so. We also have the task of organising congresses as well as cultural and regional events and distributing them skilfully throughout the event year. Many of the medical and scientific congresses take place in the second and third quarters. In the first quarter alone, over 30 events take place at the CCH - Congress Centre Hamburg. In addition to the many cultural events, these include several general and company meetings, annual conferences and other major corporate events. From 15 to 17 February 2025, the 54th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Thoracic, Cardiac and Vascular Surgery 2025 and the 57th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Paediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Defects took place at the CCH at the same time. At the beginning of March, we hosted the AMEX INTER[action] EMEA 2025 and only a short time later the International Foodservice Forum, which takes place alongside Internorga.
"This year, we are placing a special focus on the North American market and have launched a corresponding US marketing initiative."
Katariina Rohrbach, COO at the CCH - Congress Centre Hamburg
Photo: Hamburg Messe und Congress, Alexander Wöckener
One of her tasks is to permanently establish the CCH among the top international congress destinations. In the 2023 ICCA ranking, Germany is ranked 5th among countries and Hamburg is ranked 78th among cities. The top ten are Paris, Singapore, Lisbon, Vienna, Barcelona, Prague, Rome, Madrid, Dublin and Seoul. How do you intend to achieve this?
We have big plans! We will use our presence at the leading MICE industry events to draw attention to Hamburg and attract potential customers. We are also working closely with the Hamburg Convention Bureau to jointly market Hamburg as a destination even more effectively. Congress promotion is also an important supporting instrument. This year we are focussing in particular on the North American market and have launched a corresponding USA marketing initiative. And of course we are particularly pleased when satisfied customers recommend us to others. According to our surveys, event organisers are very satisfied with us. We not only want to maintain our level of service, we want to improve it even further.
With which topics does Hamburg profile itself for existing B2B events and which topics do you see potential for new formats?
We focus on scientific congresses in the fields of medicine, pharmaceuticals, chemistry and IT. At the same time, the CCH offers ideal conditions for major corporate events lasting several days. We also see potential here.
The Congress Center Hamburg is part of Hamburg Messe und Congress. How is it treated: as an independent location or as an additional hall for trade fair formats or as their incubator?
With our central event campus, we offer trade fair and congress experiences in the centre of the city. The "Planten un Blomen" park connects our exhibition centre, the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg and all connected areas to form the largest event site in the city. And with optimal transport connections. With our campus, the Hanseatic city has the perfect location for national and international events of the highest calibre - a real asset in the competition between German cities. The marketing of guest events on the exhibition grounds and in the CCH - Congress Center Hamburg is organised centrally. Depending on demand, requirements and availability, we provide our customers with a suitable offer for the exhibition centre or the CCH. And some events already take place in both venues - in the spirit of a campus. For example, Internorga and the International Foodservice Forum or the UITP in June 2025 - the world's leading summit for public transport. The UITP Summit will take place at our exhibition centre and the Opening will be held at the CCH. The CCH also has its own 7,000 square metre event hall and large foyer areas that can be used particularly well for accompanying exhibitions.
If time and money were no object: On which topic would you like to hold a congress with which people?
An international cardiology congress would be a great thing for Hamburg Messe und Congress. But I could also imagine the ESC, Telekom's Digital X event or an offshoot of Salesforce Dreamforce on the entire Hamburg Messe und Congress site. A product launch or keynote from Apple would be more than sensational.
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