Annual report 2018

This 2018 annual report provides you with a summary overview of the services provided by the Schmerlenbach Conference Center and Forum Schmerlenbach e.V., the independent institution responsible for the events offered at our venue.

Religious-theological education and life orientation as a trademark

The Catholic Adult Education Forum Schmerlenbach e.V. recorded a decrease of around 12% in the number of events in 2018. However, the number of double hours (equivalent to 2 x 45 minutes) fortunately increased by almost 17% to a 10-year high with 1,235 double hours (= 1,852
hours), a significant increase of almost 17 % to a 10-year high. This was therefore the third-best result in the more than 30-year history of Forum Schmerlenbach e.V.

Multi-award-winning conference venue of nationwide importance

In 2018, the hotel's occupancy rate reached record levels for the second year in a row. The number of overnight stays reached an "all-time high" of 16,326, an increase of 6.7 % (+ 1,031) compared to the previous year. The
visitor numbers also reached a record level in 2018 and, at 18,494, were 7.2 % higher than the previous year. This means that around 51 visitors came to the conference center every day last year. Overall, we had an average of 45 overnight stays per day, which corresponds to a room occupancy rate of around 57.3 %. We recorded our best monthly occupancy rate in November with 1,824 overnight stays, which corresponds to a bed occupancy rate of 78% in relation to the number of rooms. In 5 months this figure was over 65 %, in 2 months even over 74 %.
In particular, overnight stays for events from the diocese of Würzburg increased for the second time in a row and exceeded 2,000 for the first time in a 5-year comparison. Together with Forum Schmerlenbach e.V.'s own educational offers, these accounted for 16.5 %. The overall occupancy rate shows that two thirds of overnight stays are attributable to church events. In terms of visitors, which also includes guests who come to day events without staying overnight, the group of visitors to church events was by far the largest at almost 13,000 or just under 70%. At 45%, participants in our own events and diocesan offers were by far the largest group.
The attractiveness of the Schmerlenbach conference center in the ecclesiastical sector remains extraordinarily high. However, the monastic ambience also enjoys a high reputation beyond this for its attractive conference environment and high service quality. In 2018, Schmerlenbach was named the best retreat hotel in Germany. We also achieved 5th place in the seminar hotel category, confirming Schmerlenbach's growing importance as a place of education and hospitality, which is enjoying a steady increase in demand.