Introduction
The RAI Exhibition and Congress Centre is renowned
for organizing magnanimous exhibitions, conferences, seminars
and other events. This is an authentic organization spreading
over an area of 87,000 square metre housing 22 spacious congress
rooms with a seating arrangement for 1750 people and 11 exhibition
halls that capacitates 12,900 seats. There are within the compound
uncountable lounges meeting requirements of all kinds like holding
exhibitions and poster sessions and lots more. Air-conditioning
prevails in all of these well-facilitated halls and conference
rooms. Fifty important international congresses, seventy trade
fairs and exhibitions, over one thousand conferences, meetings,
smaller functions and events of a variety of types are being
held in the baronial RAI Congress Centre.
The RAI is perfectly located aligning the A10
highway and exit S109 making it easy for the visitors to reach
here by road as well as by public transport. All the major motorways
of the Netherlands can be well connected from this A10 ring
road. Tram, train and bus lines spread all over the city helps
the visitors reach the exhibition centre from Schiphol Airport,
Central Station, Amstel Station and Sloterdijk Station. Wherever
you are in Amsterdam reaching the RAI will never cause you trouble.
Even visitors from outside the city and also from abroad can
establish easy connections with the congress centre owing to
the availability of various modes of transport as well as the
excellent location of the RAI. Water transport can also be availed
from the RAI’s own harbour outside the building compound.
The RAI facilitates fashionable bars and lounges
for the participants and the guests to relax. A perfect atmosphere
prevails here where you can spend your time chatting with friends
in between presentations and stage performances. The extensive
facilities and services provided here attract visitors from
all parts of the world to this exhibition centre. Novelty is
evident in the catering and hosting services of this centre
as well as in the logistics and ICT. High international standards
have been maintained in the products and services of the RAI.
The interior of the complex as well as its facilities mark the
RAI Convention and Exhibition Centre as the world’s one
of the most celebrated venues for exhibitions, trade fairs and
conferences.
Location
The RAI Exhibition and Conference Centre Amsterdam
enjoys a perfect location to the southwest of the city. The
position of RAI near the A10 highway and exit S109 makes it
convenient for the visitors to establish easy access by road
as well as by public transport. The Schiphol Airport can be
reached from the adjacent Amsterdam RAI train station by just
ten minutes. The RAI is at a distance of mere 15 minutes from
the Amsterdam city centre and its variety of attractive sights.
Tram stop in front of the RAI makes it easy for the visitors
to come to this exhibition centre from all parts of the city
by express trams. There is a harbour of their own on the edge
of the compound allowing the visitors to connect themselves
to the entire city by canal boats. This congress centre is easily
accessible from within the Netherlands as well as from abroad.
Transport
From Amsterdam Central Station/ Tram 51 (12
minutes/ exit at the Amsterdam RAI station)/ Tram 4 (30 minutes/
exit at the RAI Europaplein)
From Amstel Station/ Amstelveen express Tram 51 (5 minutes)/
Bus lines 15, 69 or 169 (10 minutes/ RAI Europaplein stop)
Amsterdam Sloterdijk Station/ Express Tram 50
From Roosendaal/Belgium/ intercity trains to Schiphol Airport
From Arnhem/ Germany/ trains to Amsterdam Duivendrecht station
Direct connection trains are also available from Rotterdam,
the Hague, Leiden, Weesp, het Gooi and the Flevo polders to
the Amsterdam RAI station
Direction
Amsterdam’s well-known A10 highway (ring
road) with its S109 exit runs along the RAI Exhibition Centre.
This motorway links to the major motorways of the county, and,
thus, allowing visitors from outside the country to reach the
RAI without any difficulty.
Parking facility
The RAI garage and the nearby
car-parks around the building makes parking quite comfortable
for the visitors who prefer to drive to this convention centre.
Euro 11 per time is being charged for this facility. The speciality
of the underground parking spaces is that they remain open even
after 2 hours of the closing time. These specially designed
car parks are uniformly divided into sections. The RAI can be
easily reached following the various signboards indicating directions
to the RAI. At the time of exhibitions and programmes you can
find orange signs with ‘P RAI’ written on them directing
the visitors to the extra parking places allotted particularly
for those occasions. From there you can enjoy your way to the
exhibition centre by a free shuttle arranged by the authority.
RAI Theatre/ Auditorium
The auditorium within the exhibition centre
is its largest conference hall where national and international
events are being held in a wonderful atmosphere. This auditorium
is known to the public by the name of Amsterdam RAI Theatre
after 6 p.m. and during the weekends. An approximate number
of 1,750 guests can be accommodated in this avant-garde theatre
hall that facilitates all possible amenities and equipments
catering to the requirements of the users. Stage presentation
and musical performance can be enjoyed in a highly inspiring
and stylistic atmosphere. The RAI theatre cum auditorium has
undergone quite a number of changes with a view to modernize
it with the best possible appendages. Here is a list of the
newly added features of the auditorium:
 2 entrances
by the side of the theatre
A new carpet
bearing a warm colour that changes with lighting
New Upholstery
and backs for all seats
A fully computerised
partition wall replaces the old hand-operated system at backstage
Renewed Side
panels of the stage
Modern air
conditioning
New theatre
curtain
Authentic
balconies and railing
New and modified
lighting to create more atmosphere
New audio
system
Ostentatious
wall décor
Orchestra
pit retained
Dressing rooms,
artists’ anterooms and stage floors refurbished last year
Bars and Lounges
The participants can relax in between presentations and conferences
in the charming bar of the RAI. A spacious and elegant Diamond
Lounge has been opened lately in the RAI where the guests can
enjoy exquisite dinner or just a cup of coffee. Conforming to
the needs and necessities of the visitors, the lounges and bars
of this conference centre have undergone prime changes some
of which are mentioned below:
New design
at the exterior walls of the Auditorium
Mobile catering
units
New atmospheric
lighting in the lounges
New carpets
in the upper lounge
New air conditioning
New ceilings
Services
Exhibition and trade fair organizers
Organising exhibitions and trade fairs in the Netherlands
and other countries have been a forte for the staff of the RAI.
They play a major role in arranging exhibitions and trade fairs
at the RAI exhibition centre or other areas in the Netherlands
as well as abroad.
Catering
“RAI Catering” makes arrangement for exquisite
meals for the participants in the various activities of the
centre. The needs of the customers are taken care of by the
catering staff that suggests unique catering concepts abiding
to the requirements of the users.
Conferencing
Conferences and seminars within the Netherlands as well as abroad
are organized by “Eurocongress”, a member of Amsterdam
RAI.
Hotel Reservations
The bedrock of successful conferencing rests on the foundation
of the organization. The whole process can be efficacious owing
to easy international access and availability of good hotel
accommodation. “The RAI Hotel Service” helps the
visitors with hotel bookings and is famous in Amsterdam for
booking over 2,00,000 overnight stays annually.
RAI Special Events
Numerous fun-filled activities like official openings, company
parties, anniversaries, incentives, special excursions, receptions,
sports events and social programmes for participants at seminars
or congresses are being conducted here at the RAI. A special
team, “RAI Special Events”, arranges all these activities.
Audiovisual Services
The RAI makes provision for every kind of equipment like
laser pointer, PC, video recorder and many more within the compound.
All these are facilitated by “ACS AV Company”.
ICT Services
ICT services are being provided to the exhibitors at the RAI
by “RAI Expo Services”in cooperation with “Mansveld
Communicatietechniek B.V”.
Conclusion
The RAI Exhibition and Conference Centre
Amsterdam is renowned more for the variety of services and
facilities provided to the users than for its number of exhibition
halls. Quality is what counts first here than quantity. Today’s
one of the busiest and leading exhibition and conference centres
of the world had started its business in 1893 as the Bicycle
Industry (De Rijwiel-Industrie) Association. This exhibition
and congress organization is known to have welcomed 70 million
visitors in 1998 since it opened its doors in 1961. The enormity
of the centre makes it famous people from all over the world.
The visitors as well as the organizers regard that visit to
the RAI is undoubtedly an inspiring experience.
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