Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre

The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre (Swedish: Svenska Mässan) is an exhibition and convention centre in Gothenburg, Sweden and one of Scandinavia's largest assembly points, which attracts around 1.8 million visitors a year.^[1] It is one of Europe's largest, fully integrated hotel and congress facilities, owned and run by a nonprofit foundation, the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre Foundation.^[2]

Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre
Location	Korsvägen, Gothenburg, Sweden
Coordinates	57°41′51″N 11°59′19″E / 57.69750°N 11.98861°E / 57.69750; 11.98861Coordinates: 57°41′51″N 11°59′19″E / 57.69750°N 11.98861°E / 57.69750; 11.98861
Owner	SECC Foundation
Architect	Nils Einar Eriksson (1939)
Inaugurated	1918
Opened	8 July 1918 (1918-07-08)
Renovated	1984, 2006
Expanded	1939, 1957, 1971
Meeting-room seating	180–800
Banquet/ballroom	350–1,100
Theatre seating	8,800
Enclosed space
• Total space	181,000 square metres (1,950,000 sq ft)
• Exhibit hall floor	41,000 square metres (440,000 sq ft)
Website
www.svenskamassan.se/en/

A third tower was built in 2011–2014, making the venue one of the five largest in Europe, with a room capacity of over 1,200. The third tower is the tallest building (100 m (330 ft)) in Gothenburg and the fourth tallest in Sweden.^[3]

History

In the early 20th century a variety of Swedish companies arranged fairs in order to promote Swedish industry. Hence emerged the idea of a congress centre, and on 8 July 1918 the official Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre was opened.^[4]

Svenska Mässan wanted to expand further. During the 1970s, they started organizing courses and conferences, thus conference and congress facilities were built.^[5]

Facilities

 

The congress hall

The centre has nine exhibition halls, 60 meeting rooms (from 2 to 8,800 guests), a congress hall for 1,500 people, eight restaurants, five bars and Scandinavia's largest hotel, Gothia Towers. The centre has an area of 41,000 m² (440,000 sq ft) for exhibitions and congresses, and each year about 30 exhibitions are held with 8,000 exhibitors. Festivities and banquets are held at the venue with up to 8,000 guests.^[6]

Location

The location of the Congress Centre was decided by different trade commissions and industry corporations when Svenska Mässan was established. The location is efficient since it is in the middle of Scandinavia, equidistant to the three capitals of Sweden, Denmark and Norway – Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.^[7] The central location also places the venue within walking distance of hotels, restaurants, pubs, shopping malls and theatres.^[8]

Events

The arena was one of the four potential candidate venues to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.^[9] In the end, the Malmö Arena was chosen to host the contest.

References

1. "About us - The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre". Retrieved 2016-09-02.
2. "Svenska Mässan - en global mötesplats i hjärtat av Göteborg". svenskamassan.se (in Swedish). Svenska Mässan. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
3. . www.traveldailynews.com. Travel Daily News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
4. Bergendahl, Erik. "En Modern Institution Med Gammal Tradition". Wezäta, 1947, p. 8-10.
5. "Historik&Framtid". gothiatowers.com. Gothia Towers. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
6. "Gothia Towers blir nordens största hotell". www.hotellorestaurang.se. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
7. Bergendahl, Erik. "En Modern Institution Med Gammal Tradition". Wezäta, 1947, p. 79.
8. . svenskamassan.se. Svenska Mässan. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
9. Gustavsson, Rikard (28 May 2012). "The bidding has started!". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 28 May 2012.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre.

• Official website (English language version)
• Gothenburg Convention Centre homepage