A Good Place for Team Building and Wedding Vows!

Brno and South Moravia belong to the dynamically developing regions of Central Europe. The development program of the South Moravia region makes it one of the fifty most innovative regions in Europe. Supporting the research infrastructure and business incubators, which make it easier to connect the result of scientific research with manufacturing, is characteristic of the regional and municipal public administration for local universities, the research facilities of The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and for local business too. It is no accident that Brno is called the Silicon Valley of South Moravia. From the total population of Brno of almost 400,000 more than 80,000 are students at the six public and several private universities.

The newly emerging multi-billion CZK projects such as the Central Europe Technological Institute CEITEC and the International Center of Clinical Research ICRC built by the local St. Anne's University Hospital with the support of the Mayo Clinic from Rochester, USA, give Brno the perspective of being among the cities with state-of-the-art research and development in the field of advanced technology, biotechnology and medical research. And Brno has a history to build on; the 190th anniversary of the birth of Gregor Johan Mendel, the father of genetics who worked in Brno, is being celebrated this year. Also the work of the local scientists Ernst Mach and Kurt Gödel should not be overlooked.

This genius loci, as well as the modern conference center, which thanks to its 80 year exhibition history is available in the city and in the region is drawn on by the concept of conference tourism in South Moravia. Brno can offer an exhibition area whose complex of halls can accommodate up to 10,000 people, twenty four-star hotels with 3,315 beds many of them having their own conference facilities with modern technical equipment for political and business meetings, the unique modern campuses of Masaryk University and the Technical University of Brno, and premises in unique styles for community events in many places in the region.

There are plentiful opportunities for adrenalin, cultural and relaxing activities for the conference, congress and symposium participants to enjoy in their free time. The rail, road and direct air connections from Brno International Airport to London, Moscow, Rome, Eindhoven, St. Petersburg and Milan are of major importance as well. These are some of the parts of the mosaic offered to congress planners by the Moravia Convention Bureau, part of Tourism Central of South Moravia.

Companies and individuals wishing to celebrate a special event or even get married in unusual places can take advantage of the comprehensive range of services offered by Tourism Central that includes almost all the remarkable places in the South Moravia region. Nowadays it is not as common as in the past to get married in a city hall or in a church. The experience of many newlyweds and their numerous relatives shows that the experience and memories of such an important day are based to a large extent on the environment. "The more it differs from our common environment, the more we remember the experience" said Zuzana Vojtova, the director of Tourism Central of South Moravia, about the Nontraditional Places for Nontraditional Meetings project. And she adds that conferences or congresses of professional and community organizations or company meetings meant to strengthen the relationship within teams do not have to be held in traditional lecture halls or congress halls. These can be accompanied by a varied programme of activities to utilize free time.

Those who want to take these meetings to new dimensions and have lasting memories can use one of the twenty places in the region chosen by Tourism Central. In the brochure "Nontraditional Places for Nontraditional Meetings", which will soon be available in audiovisual form on the Internet, interested parties will find significant buildings, castles and palaces, and unique natural creations such as the caves of the Moravian Karst. We should also mention the recently opened Brno Underground, the cruisers on Brno dam or on the Bata canal, or the wine cellars of the National Wine Center in Valtice. The brochure also includes contact details and practical information about rental availability and services. So just browse and choose. It's that simple.

(ccrjm, mcb)