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Riine Tiigi, Marketing Manager, Estonian Convention Bureau
Did you know that...
+ Tartu is often considered the intellectual centre of Estonia, especially since it is home to the nation's oldest and most renowned university, the University of Tartu, founded in 1632. Mainly for this reason, Tartu is also – tongue-in-cheek – known as "Athens of the Emajõgi" or as "Heidelberg of the North"?
+ the University of Tartu belongs to the top 3% of world's best universities?
+ 20% of Tartu´s population (100, 000) are students?
+ Tartu is also Estonia’s centre of medicine and science. It is home to the 200-year-old University Clinic, the largest complex of hospitals and laboratories in the country. It is no wonder that Tartu has a tradition of organizing medical and biotechnology conferences.
+ Professor Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (1793-1864), a long term director of Tartu Observatory, measured the largest piece of meridian in the first part of the 19th century. This helped scholars to estimate the Earth´s size and shape. Now, the the Struve Geodetic Arc has been included in the Unesco World Heritage List.
+ Tartu is a fast developing and competitive city. Two-thirds of Estonian biotechnology companies and some of the largest Estonian software companies are based in Tartu and it has long traditions and high competence levels in electronics, engineering, ICT and biotechnology.
Where to meet?
Tartu is an ideal place for conferences attended by 100-500 delegates, but it can accommodate gatherings with up to 1,000 delegates. The largest venues are Vanemuine Concert Hall (959 delegates), theatre Vanemuine (700), Dorpat Conference Centre (560) and Tartu University´s Assembly Hall (470). In addition, the Universiy of Tartu and University of Life Sciences buildings offer several modern halls for up to 500 delegates. The city has all of the necessary lodging, dining, entertainment and other services for a successful conference.
Where to stay
There are 13 hotels in Tartu with 700 bedrooms. Most hotels are situated in the city centre and within walking distance from venues, which means that there is no need for any public transportation while attending the conference. The most popular hotels with conference delegates are 4-star hotels Hotel London (60 rooms), Art Hotel Pallas (62 rooms), premium 3-star hotel Dorpat (205 rooms), hotel Tartu (72 rooms).
Luxurious boutique hotel Antonius is situated just opposite the university´s main building – ideal venue for high end accommodation.
A number of new hotel developments will be opened in Tartu next year, adding nearly 200 more 4-star bedrooms.
How to get there?
Tartu is situated in southern Estonia and connects to the world primarily through Tallinn ( Estonia’s capital) airport. The distance between Tallinn and Tartu is 180 km and it will take approximately 2,5 hours to drive to Tartu, similar to reaching your conference location from the airport in most large cities in the world. Buses leave from Tallinn almost in every 30 minutes. Bus ride goes very smoothly with free wireless internet available in most buses.
There is also a small regional airport in Tartu which has daily flight connections with Helsinki / Finland, served by Finnair.
Do you offer any special services/assistance for associations?
As every association has unique needs, we work with each association individually to guarantee the best service to meet its requirements.
Estonian Convention Bureau is the first contact point for any conferences in Tartu or other places in Estonia. We offer neutral information and advise on venues, hotels, service providers, social programmes, deliver quotes and help preparing bids if required, provide promotional material.
In addition to that, potential financial support is available for international association conferences if they have a local counterpart (e.g. local association, society, university, research institute). It is possible to apply for a grant in amount of max 30 000 EUR managed by Estonian Tourist Board. Application can be submitted by a local society. Estonian Convention Bureau is happy to provide detailed information on the requirements and procedure for this support possibility.
Whom to contact?
Riine Tiigi, Marketing Manager, Estonian Convention Bureau at riine.tiigi@ecb.ee
The Estonian Convention Bureau is a non-profit marketing organisation established jointly by the public and private sectors in 2008. ECB has 30 members, including the cities of Tallinn and Tartu, national flight company Estonian Air, DMCs, PCOs , conference hotels and venues, Tallinn University. ECB is co-financed by Enterprise Estonia. Check our web site www.ecb.ee for convention calendar to see the international association conferences already taking part in Estonia.