Going the extra mile

Budapest offered many of the features we look for in an ISUOG World Congress destination, firstly a modern, purpose-built venue: the Hungexpo. We particularly like how much natural light the venue has, its versality in terms of having a scalable auditorium and other session halls, and the expertise of the in-house event delivery team.

Secondly, a range of hotels and social events venues to suit the varied budgets and requirements of ISUOG, our diverse delegates and our mixed event partners, and generally being an appealing and accessible city to attract delegates to. Thirdly, supportive local medical partner societies and a supportive convention bureau.

We were attracted by the central location of Budapest and the fact that it can be reached by many neighbouring countries by car and train, rather than relying on air travel alone. Initially we were concerned about the transport options between the city centre and the Hungexpo. Whilst we would still urge the city to think about this in its mid and longer-term planning, we were significantly reassured and aided by the measures that were taken to support us. These included the Budapest Convention Bureau offering a number of free public transport passes to delegates, the Budapest Convention Bureau and Hungexpo co-operating to increase the frequency of buses to/from the venue for the duration of our Congress and the Hungexpo providing a temporary taxi rank.

The Budapest Convention Bureau played a crucial role in preparing the initial Congress proposal in collaboration with Hungexpo, assisting with site visits and facilitating introductions to potential suppliers, venues and hotels. They provided a wide range of support, especially with public transport arrangements and social events. The Budapest Convention Bureau team gave a really personal level of service, which was much appreciated as we had never worked in Budapest before and were working to tight timelines. The process of working with the team was a pleasure and, I would go as far as to say, through this very professional process, we’ve become friends.

ISUOG has to take its own budget and that of its delegates and partners very seriously when selecting a Congress destination. We would of course urge other prospective event organisers to check their VAT liability/processes and supplier negotiations for maximum efficiency, as they would in any destination. However, we definitely felt and heard anecdotally that delegates were getting a high quality of service for their spend at, for example, hotels and restaurants in the city. We also experienced this with our two official social events venues, the Gundel and Akvarium, which offered great value for money.

Ultimately, the services provided by the Budapest Convention Bureau directly mitigated one of our biggest concerns about holding the event in Budapest. They did this by providing free public transport passes to a number of our delegates and supporting the increased provision of buses to/from the Hungexpo for the duration of the Congress. They also supported us with the selection of venues for our Congress dinner and party, both of which were very successful, and our headquarter hotel, which was also well received.

We are still collecting delegate feedback, but initial impressions are that delegates really enjoyed their time in the city. Regarding the Hungexpo venue specifically, transport/access aside, the feedback from delegates and industry partners has been overwhelmingly positive. The layout and flow of the venue really suited a medical event of our scale (2,000-3,000 persons) and offered a great setting for the three main components of our Congress: educational sessions, networking and exhibition.

Although we would of course have preferred it if there was a tram or metro stop directly at the venue, and hope there is soon, transport functioned well overall. As staff we used a mixture of taxi/Uber/Bolt and public transport for our own travel needs and found all options to be relatively cost-effective and frequent. Where we arranged private coach transfers for specific delegates and social events, these were also relatively cost-effective and offered a friendly level of service.

The main thing that stands out to me and my team who were directly involved in the detailed event planning and delivery, is how co-operative all our local suppliers were. All our main contacts at the Budapest Convention Bureau, Hungexpo, hotels, social event venues and other supplier companies were extremely committed to us and our event. They did not just respond to us promptly and thoroughly, but also went the extra mile to co-operate and problem-solve with us. ISUOG does things to a high standard but often with limited timescales and all our suppliers in Budapest helped us to meet our standards and deadlines.

ISUOG’s partnership with the Budapest Convention Bureau helped us achieve many of our Congress goals by suggesting a well-suited venue that facilitated education and networking, offering delegates decent public transport options between the city centre and Congress venue so they could travel in a more budget and environmentally-friendly manner, suggesting social events venues that facilitated networking and generally offering a perhaps under-visited central European destination that was accessible and attractive to both new and repeat delegates.