IBTM Barcelona

Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG) was represented alongside the Convention Bureau at IBTM Barcelona in November—one of the world’s leading MICE trade shows and Europe’s premier event for the international events industry. The trade show serves as a central platform for professionals in the meetings, incentives, conferences, and events sector and highlights key trends in the global events industry each year.

The trade show appearance also marked the launch of the Europe-wide campaign “Hannover is: a different kind of meeting,” which has been running in digital media since IBTM. To date, the campaign has generated 4.5 million online impressions and more than 100,000 interactions, thereby making a lasting contribution to strengthening business travel tourism in the Region Hannover.

Diversity as a Strength: Hanover Presents “A Different Kind of Meeting”

The Hannover region offers an exceptionally wide range of venues: from the modern Future Meeting Space at the Hannover Congress Centrum to unique locations such as the Danish Pavilion, Herrenhausen Palace, or the Maharaja Palace at the adventure zoo. This diversity—ranging from modern to classic to prestigious—forms the basis of the “tagen mal anders” campaign, which highlights the multifaceted offerings of this MICE destination.

Positive trade show results: High demand and strong feedback

The trade show appearance proved to be a resounding success for the Region Hannover. The days in Barcelona were marked by numerous discussions with international event planners, strong interest in the conference destination, and positive feedback on the diversity of Hannover’s venues.

Record
Number of Overnight Stays In the first nine months of this year, the state capital of Hannover recorded more than 1,818,000 overnight stays, an increase of 2.3 percent compared to the same period last year, placing it well above the national trend.
The Region Hannover also saw growth, reaching more than 3,135,000 overnight stays—a 1.9 percent increase—in the first three quarters.

This development once again underscores the region's competitiveness in the international conference and meeting sector.

“IBTM is an integral part of our sales efforts for Hannover as a conference destination. Together with the Hannover Congress Centrum and Deutsche Messe AG, we held numerous meetings with event planners. There was particularly strong interest from associations and agencies in North America in new locations in Europe—this is where we will position the city for the long term,” summarizes Alexander Schneider, Senior Sales Manager at the Hannover Convention Bureau.

Benjamin Wirtz, Head of the Congress Division at Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH, also looks back on IBTM with satisfaction: “In-person events are a significant economic factor for the city as a conference and convention destination. A large number of companies in Hannover and the surrounding region benefit across the entire value chain. As the Convention Bureau, we will once again expand our outreach efforts in 2026 and be represented at a record number of national and international trade shows to further strengthen our direct engagement with event organizers.”

Outlook for 2026: Expansion of sales activities in close collaboration with the GCB
The Hannover Convention Bureau plans to significantly step up its marketing efforts in 2026. The focus will be on participating in numerous national and European trade fairs. These efforts will continue to be carried out in close cooperation with the German Convention Bureau (GCB), the central marketing partner for Germany as a convention and conference destination. With growing demand and strong visibility, the Region Hannover is positioning itself for the future—as an attractive, well-connected destination in the international marketplace.

For more information about the Hannover Convention Bureau, please visit here.