MPG-2015-cd

Convention and
Exhibition Centers
A
s one of the “World’s Top 10 Congress Destinations”, İstanbul is an ideal city
to convene congresses with 100 to 30,000 or more participants. The city is
home to 7 convention centers and 3 exhibition centers, each capable of hosting
major events with thousands of delegates, İstanbul has 4 independent meeting
clusters spread around the city – The Congress Valley, the Golden Horn, the
Airport Area and the Asian side.
The Congress Valley is located in the city centre and features two main complexes, namely
İstanbul Congress Center and the İstanbul Lütfi Kırdar - ICEC. Opened during the World Bank
– IMF Summit in 2009, the İstanbul Congress Center covers more than 16,000 square meters
(172,222 sq. ft.) of exhibition space, which includes a 3705-pax auditorium and 115 meeting
rooms. As the first convention venue of Turkey İstanbul Lütfi Kırdar – ICEC, features a 2000-pax
auditorium, many meeting rooms, over 7000 square meters (75,347 sq. ft.) of exhibition space,
and 27 multi-functional rooms. These venues are only at a walking distance from a wide range
of hotels, restaurants and attractions. Near Congress Valley, Grand Cevahir Hotel & Convention
Center in Business District, has the biggest ballroom with 1.013 people capacity and has 22 multipurpose
meeting rooms.
The Haliç Congress Center, situated on the shores of the Golden Horn, is another massive
complex which hosted the 5th World Water Forum. It compromises of a 3008-pax auditorium,
meeting spaces covering an area of 102,000 square meters (1,097,919 sq. ft.) and indoor spaces
of 86,000 square meters (925,696 sq. ft.).
The Airport Area, on the other hand, contains CNR EXPO, which is preferred by the business
world with its indoor area of 150.000 m2 and outdoor area of 120.000m2 and 8 halls is the largest
fair complex in Eurasia. İstanbul Expo Center (IFM), owned by World Trade Center İstanbul, is
the biggest exhibition ground in Turkey. The center stretches over 162,000 m2 and the overall
rentable area is 98,000 m2 consisting of 11 exhibition halls. Also in the area, WOW Convention
Center has 34 halls, 8500 m2 meeting area and a capacity of 6500 people and can serve up to
4000 people with its 3108 m2 area of usage without columns.
The Asian side is the newly-flourishing cluster that has been developing through new auditoriums
built and opened each day. The Asian side hosts new openings and new congress’ constantly. Its
capacity of hosting a number of people in its hotels and its convention centers are the features
that make this side preferable.
In addition to all these venues, İstanbul offers several multi-purpose indoor sport arenas, theatres,
cultural and show centers capable of hosting mega events. All these venues have easy access
via the efficient system of transport in İstanbul.