General Overview

In the heart of Switzerland and in the center of its capital Bern, BERNEXPO is a congress & exhibition venue offering a wide range of event options. With decades of experience and a site that is constantly evolving, BERNEXPO GROUPE offers an all-in-one events venue that impresses in every aspect, from infrastructure right through to the range of services available. With its wide-ranging offer, this is the destination of choice for conventions, conferences, forums, trade fairs and festivals, offering the perfect stage for national and international events. A new congress centre opens in 2025 on site and will enable the staging of congress and meeting formats, cultural as well as sporting events, art exhibitions, musicals, television broadcasts, and other congresses with a capacity of up to 9,000 people.

Location

Bern is a compact city and occupies a central Switzerland location, with strong (public) transit connections, and short walking distances, making Bern and BERNEXPO a strong option for medical meetings. Bern Airport is 15 minutes by car, or 35 minutes by train. Zurich Airport is 90 minutes by car, or 80 minutes by train, and Geneva Airport can be reached in 2 hours by car, or 110 minutes by train.

For attendees driving, BERNEXPO’s grounds offer parking spaces for 2500 vehicles. 

Design

BERNEXPO presents itself with a sleek, light grey exterior design, whereas the inside provides a ‘blank canvas, supporting any client event's theme.

Meeting Space 

Today, the BERNEXPO congress centre offers eight rooms with a modern infrastructure totalling a gross conference space of 1,300 m2 for up to 700 delegates.

The new Neue Festhalle facility is due to open in the Spring of 2025 and will provide a multifunctional hall, foyer and congress centre, complemented by a hospitality suite with catering facilities. Totalling more than 8,500 m2, this new facility will accommodate meetings, conventions, cultural events, shows, trade fairs and sporting events with a capacity of up to 9,000 people. These spaces can easily be combined with the site’s eight existing exhibition halls to create additional capacity. And its smart building logistics system and generous ceiling clearances of up to 10 metres, the venue will be able to accommodate two-storey stands, stages and tribunes. The centre also offers over 100,000 m2 of additional outdoor space.

The venue has preferred partners for audiovisual, ticketing and access solutions, catering, booth construction, and an in-house advertising factory as well as a craftsman studio. As an example, Sportgastro AG is our preferred partner for ALL catering needs.

Bedrooms

The venue itself does not offer accommodation however, the city of Bern has 3,000 hotel beds from various categories, with additional hotels in the surrounding areas which are mostly within walking distance.

Experience

The city of Bern is a medical hotspot, especially due to the University Hospital and other centrally located hospitals. The Medical Faculty of the University of Bern is one of the largest in Switzerland and strengthens Bern as a medical center. In addition, the University of Bern ranks highly in dentistry as well as due to the joint Vetsuisse Faculty of the Universities of Bern and Zurich. BERNEXPO works closely together with these cluster institutions and regularly hosts meetings organised by them. 

This is a multipurpose venue which hosts conferences, exhibitions, concerts and other pay to enter leisure entertainment events. This will be reflected in sales and marketing messaging and in our opinion should not distract bookers looking to use the venue for healthcare meetings and events.