Prague Congress Centre in profit and building new 5,000sqm space

Prague Congress Centre (PCC) achieved a profit of CZK33m (US$1.46m) in 2018, on a total company turnover of CZK486m. It was also a year of modernisation at the centre, with new technical equipment and 86 hotel rooms refurbished of the 254-room Holiday Inn Prague Congress Centre. With an increase in the average hotel occupancy to 73.9%, the hotel increased its 2018 sales to a total of CZK155m. A new hall is also set to be constructed over the coming years. Revenues from short-term rental of PCC congress and conference events amounted to CZK152.2m, management revealed. Long-term leases rose to CZK157.1m, mainly due to the 100% occupancy of the Business Centre Vyšehrad. Good figures were posted from the parking segment, where sales increased 22.5% by rationalising operations. The annual accounts put the company’s total costs at CZK 457.5m. “Last year,” says Lenka Žlebková, Sales and Marketing Director, “we hosted major international congresses such as CYTO 2018 (International Society for Advancement of Cytometry congress) with 1,500 participants, IUPESM (International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine) (3,000) delegates, and many different cultural events such as the Illusionists show and the Evanescence concert. The most technologically demanding event was Devcon congress, which tested the quality of our new Wi-Fi network with 4,000 connected devices at one moment and 2GB of data per second.” Prague Congress Centre’s commercial leases include RENOCAR, which opened the new BMW Urban Store showroom on the ground floor, and, in September, Newton College, a private college, will open its teaching premises on the 4th floor with spectacular views of Prague and Prague Castle. PCC’s stated ambition is to bring the world’s largest congresses to the Czech Republic, and therefore it is ramping up the pace on design work for the construction of a new unique architectural building, which will expand the PCC exhibition space by an additional 5,000sqm by 2023. “Besides making the congress offer more attractive, the construction will solve the revitalisation of the public space of the entire Pankrác Square,” says Pavel Habarta, CEO of PCC. PCC is already the largest congress centre in the Czech Republic, offering 70 halls and large areas for a range of events. The centre received the prestigious Superbrands 2019 award and the EKO Gold certificate for the use of renewable energy. More information: www.praguecc.cz