The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre ( sv, Svenska Mässan) is an exhibition and convention centre in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and one of Scandinavia's largest assembly points, which attracts around 1.8 million visitors a year. It is one of Europe's largest, fully integrated

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and congress facilities, owned and run by a

nonprofit foundation A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...

, the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre Foundation. 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 () in Gothenburg and the fourth tallest in Sweden.

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 8July 1918 the official Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre was opened. ''Svenska Mässan'' wanted to expand further. During the 1970s, they started organizing courses and conferences, thus conference and congress facilities were built.

Facilities

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 Gothia Towers, in Gothenburg, Sweden, is the largest hotel in the Nordic countries. Part of the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre, it has 1,200 rooms and eleven suites and offers a variety of restaurants and bars. Construction The ...

. The centre has an area of 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.

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 Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, equidistant to the three capitals of Sweden, Denmark and Norway –

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. The central location also places the venue within walking distance of hotels, restaurants, pubs, shopping malls and theatres.

Events

The arena was one of the four potential candidate venues to host the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...

. In the end, the

Malmö Arena Malmö Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Malmö, Sweden, and the venue for home games of SHL ice hockey club Malmö Redhawks. It is the largest arena in the SHL, and the second-largest indoor arena in Sweden. Apart from hosting Redh ...

was chosen to host the contest.

References

External links

Official website (English language version)Gothenburg Convention Centre homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svenskamassan Infrastructure completed in 1918 1918 establishments in Sweden Convention centres in Sweden Buildings and structures in Gothenburg Tourist attractions in Gothenburg