Gothenburg, foremost in Europe with unique venue

Gothenburg will soon have the largest fully integrated hotel, exhibition and conference facility in Europe now that it has been decided to add a third, even taller tower to Hotel Gothia Towers and extend the hotel’s original East Tower. The new tower and the extension, which is slated to be ready in the second half of 2014, will increase the number of rooms by more than 500 to a total of 1,200.

“The expansion will make us one of the absolute elite venues of the international meetings industry,” says Roger Holtback, Chairman of the Board

“The decision to invest billions of kronor in this project will mean that this will be by far the biggest investment the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre has made,” said Roger Holtback.
“The main reason is to give the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre the ability to seriously compete for conferences and events on a global level.”

Together with the extension of the existing East Tower, the number of rooms will be increased by more than 500. The new hotel will then have more than 1,200 rooms, putting it among the five biggest in Europe. Gothia Towers’ third tower will be 100 metres high, making it the tallest occupied building in Gothenburg.

Carin Kindbom, President and CEO of the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre, sees the new hotel as a boost for the whole of Gothenburg.
“The intention is to achieve strong growth on the meetings side,” she points out.

“The expansion is necessary to lift the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre venue to the highest division.”
She sees great potential, especially for international congresses.
“We’ve enjoyed fantastic growth in this segment. In fact, 2010 was a record year with over 330,000 conference delegate days.”
“With one of the largest hotels in Europe as an integral part of our facility, we are looking to attract more conventions and more foreign visitors every year, something that will benefit all the hotels, restaurants, shops, transport companies and the like in Gothenburg.”

The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre’s integrated business model, in which all elements - exhibitions, trade fairs, meetings, hotel and restaurants - are in-house, is a key success factor according to Carin Kindbom.
“This concept enables us to take full responsibility for our guest’s stay, while the various business areas create synergies within the Group.
“Providing everything under one roof also means we save time for delegates. In fact, not having to spend time getting from one place to another is a trump card when people are deciding where to locate their congresses and events.

In Carin Kindbom’s view, the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre is pretty well uniquely placed.
“We’re in the middle of town, right on the ‘Avenue of Events’, within walking distance of most everything. So, we have everything we need to take on the battle for the biggest events.”

“The construction work will be in two phases,” says Petter Ullberg, Deputy Managing Director of the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre and Business Area Manager Gothia Towers.

The Crown Tower, as the existing East Tower will be named after the addition of six more storeys, will be opened in summer 2013. In addition to some 50 exclusive rooms, the extension will also house a wellness centre with three pools, a gym, sauna and hammam. The third tower, i.e. the new East Tower, will be 29 storeys high and have over 450 rooms. The opening is expected to take place in the second half of 2014.

Final negotiations with contractors are ongoing and construction is scheduled to start in September this year, about the same time as the tremendously popular annual Gothenburg Book Fair takes place.

High definition images/photo montage can be seen here:
Exterior visualisation Gothia Towers, Swedish
Exhibition & Congress Centre 2014 
Aerial visualisation Gothia Towers, Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre 2014


FACTS, Gothia Towers
• The hotel will have over 1,200 rooms
• Additional area: 40,000 m2
• The new tower will be 100 metres high. Only the Liseberg Amusement Park Tower (116 m) will be higher in Gothenburg
• The current East Tower will be extended to 82 metres
• The 77-metre-high West Tower (the tallest today) will be the lowest of the three
• The three towers will be linked by glazed overhead walkways, 55 metres above street level
• There will be twelve new meeting rooms, plus several lounges, and rooms for break-out sessions, etc.
• Seven meeting rooms on the 28th floor, 82 metres above street level, will have panoramic windows
• There will be four new restaurants and a banqueting hall for 300 people on the 29th floor
• There will be a wellness centre with an outward projecting pool, 49 metres above the ground
• The new tower will have ten lifts
• All three towers will have external panoramic lifts
• The entire hotel will be certified in accordance with the international environmental standard, BREEAM

Want to know more?
Call Roger Holtback, tel +46 (0)705 48 68 18, Carin Kindbom, tel +46 (0)708 80 80 00 or Petter Ullberg, tel +46 (0)708 80 80 01.