A journey through time – from the “Götheborg of Sweden” in Barcelona to today’s modern, sustainable host city
Swedish tapas – with a taste of 18th-century century spices and a whiff of good old ship’s tar. During IBTM World, one of the major meeting industry fairs, in Barcelona, the Gothenburg Convention Bureau and the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre presented their city, past and present. All on board the world’s largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship, the Götheborg of Sweden.
The port city of Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden is today a host city offering a wide range of opportunities for organisers of international congresses and meetings, with sustainability and digitalisation as two of its unique selling points.
– Gothenburg is at the top of sustainable destinations according to the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDSI). Over the years, the city has transformed into a hotspot for knowledge and innovation. And, of course, for meetings and events with world-class venues located right in the city centre, says Annika Hallman, Director of the Gothenburg Convention Bureau.
Next year, Gothenburg celebrates its foundation 400 years ago and a breath-taking history. During IBTM World 2022 in Barcelona a number of distinguished guests were invited to an exclusive historical journey from past to present on board the Götheborg of Sweden. The ship is a replica of the Swedish East India Company sailing vessel that sank off the Gothenburg harbour entrance on its return from China in 1745 and is currently berthed in Barcelona.
Malin Erlandsson, Director of Congress & Events, went on to talk about the story of The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre, one of Europe’s largest integrated meeting venues with a unique city-centre location in Gothenburg. The story of collaboration, offering a meeting place to show innovations and goods to international visitors that started over 100 years ago, in 1918.
Today the venue offers 60 conference rooms and meeting rooms for any number of participants from a handful to tens of thousands, 41,000 m2 of exhibition space, 1,200 first-class hotel rooms and suites and five popular bars and restaurants.
– The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre and Gothia Towers is located in the heart of the events area in Gothenburg, where a major expansion is now taking place. Internationally, the events area is extremely popular, with our unique facility offering sustainable meetings, all under one roof, as well as entertainment and business within a radius of just a few hundred metres, says Malin Erlandsson.
The historical journey “Gothenburg from Past to Present” aboard the Götheborg of Sweden ended with visitors being served specially made Swedish tapas, flavoured with spices used in the 18th century when the original ship, the Götheborg, sailed the high seas. The much-appreciated and historically-based menu was composed by Fredrik Andersson, Culinary Executive Chef at The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre and Gothia Towers.