Berlin Wall Anniversary Validates International Business Travel Opportunities Ahead for the German Capital
When the Berlin Wall collapsed on November 9, 1989, Berliners probably had no idea that 20 years later more than 100,000 public and private events would attract more than 8 million participants each year to Berlin, Germany.
Indeed, much has changed quickly in Berlin in two decades. I visited Berlin this summer as part of Meeting Place Berlin, stayed at the Grand Hotel Esplanade (located in the former West Berlin), and spent much of my time exploring eastern Berlin. What was once a cold, stark place where people willingly risked and sacrificed their lives to escape to the west – is now replaced by upscale hotels, venues, restaurants and shopping.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin created an annual theme year for the occasion. And on November 9, 2009, Berlin organized three major events: an open air exhibition about the revolution of 1989 and 20 years of a unified Berlin; a public celebration at Brandenburg Gate to include concerts and attended by world leaders; and a symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall.
In 2008, 14,500 business events attracted 2.5 million participants at 161 business hotels and 135 venues, according to the Berlin Convention Office.
Learn more about Berlin as a culture and business city in central Europe.
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