On 14 November 2017, it was finally time for the Rhein-Erft Tourism Board’s Fam-Trip No. 11, only a few days after the Rhenish national holiday of 11 November and with enough time to regain a clear head for the inspiring business ideas after a weekend of carnival exploits.

“Treasure Hunt 4.0 – at the Gates of Cologne” this time bore the slogan “Innovation / Future / Discussion”.

Once again, new and old location treasures were discovered:
1. An industrial loft filled with atmosphere: the cable factory in Bergheim-Rheidt.
2. The modern interpretation of a tradition-steeped, almost 200-year-old inn with a hotel and conference facilities: the Wilkens house of 1835 in Kerpen-Sindorf.
3. The list would be incomplete without a location in Germany’s region with the largest number of water castles: Hemmersbach Castle in Kerpen-Horrem in a transformed chateau style look.

After a guided tour on the “magic of the place”, the guests came together for the Fraunhofer Institute’s impulse lecture to find out about the “Future Meeting Space and Developments in Focus”. Finally an illustrious circle of conference facility providers, a destination representative and applied science experts met to discuss the 4.0 topic. The 40 participants in the auditorium were able to follow the discussion live via the I-POD5 provided by the sponsor Gahrens + Battermann from their G+B Interactive System tool.

welcome prepared and presented the Fam-Trip in cooperation with the Rhein-Erft Tourism Board.