The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre () is an exhibition and convention centre in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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 re ...

and congress facilities, owned and run by a

nonprofit foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...

, 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.

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 The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre () is an exhibition and convention centre in Gothenburg, Swe ...

. 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 is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, 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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. 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 (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...

. In the end, the

Malmö Arena Malmö Arena is a multi-purpose List of indoor arenas, indoor arena in Malmö, Sweden, and the venue for home games of Swedish Hockey League, SHL ice hockey team Malmö Redhawks. It is the largest arena in the SHL, and the List of indoor arenas ...

was chosen to host the contest.

References

External links

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