Venue

Meeting location

The scientific sessions will take place at the Ghent International Convention Center.

The auditorium is equipped with the latest ventilation and CO₂ measuring equipment to always guarantee us clean air. Together with a Covid Safe Ticket Pass, this will make it more likely that our symposium can take place, even under COVID restrictions.

The convention center can easily seat 300 people and the seating area can be expanded if social distancing would be required. The ICC also provides a beautiful indoor patio to hold our coffee and lunch breaks, as well as plenty of space for our sponsors to welcome you at their booths. It is an excellent location to hold our traditional Thursday-night reception with walking dinner, to catch-up with friends and colleagues. After the meeting, you can easily walk or use public transportation to reach the city center or your hotel.

Hotels

You should book your hotel by contacting the hotel directly or using the booking agency of your choice.

• Recommended Hotel IBIS Ghent Centrum Opera - 20 min. walk (1.5km) to ICC or 20 min. by tram
  Special discount rates are available for ESER participants: €97/day for a single room and €115/day for a double/twin room, including breakfast and city tax. Rooms can be booked at a discount until 9/9/2022 using the code ESER-CONGRESS.
  For booking, send an email to IBIS Opera at H1455-re@accor.com. Discount code: ESER 2022.
• Recommended Hotel IBIS Ghent Centrum St Baafs Cathedral - 30 min. walk - 20 min. by tram to ICC
  Special discount rates are available for ESER participants: €94/day for a single room and €112/day for a double/twin room, including breakfast and city tax. Cancellation is possible until 2 days before arrival.
  For booking, send an email to Ibis Gent Kathedraal - Sveinhildur Torfadottir at H0961-re@accor.com. Discount code: ESER 2022
• Hotel Carlton Gent
• Hotel Chamade Gent
• Hotel NH Ghent Belfort
• Hotel Novotel Ghent Centrum
• Hotel Gravensteen
• Ghent Marriott Hotel
• Hotel Onderbergen
• Hotel Flandria Centrum

Travelling

By car

Ghent has several large underground parking garages at close proximity to nearby hotels where you can leave your car for several days. Check with your hotel, but customer parking is rare in Ghent.

By plane

Brussels International Airport (Zaventem) is the main airport. There are trains to Ghent leaving from the train station situated in the lower level of the airport (you may need to change trains in Brussel Midi/Zuid to Ghent St Pieters). Travelling from the airport to Ghent takes between 30-45 min. Some of the low-cost airlines also land in Brussels International Airport (Zaventem). The alternate airport is Brussels Charleroi. This is the low-cost carrier airport. There are special shuttle bus lines (private carriers) bringing you directly from Charleroi Airport to Ghent St Pieters Station. The journey from Charleroi Airport to Ghent St Pieters will take about 2 hours. For more information, see the Useful Links section below.

Tourism

Ghent is one of the most beautiful cities in Belgium (view photos, view a short video). There are many historical buildings and museums to visit; the Graslei which is considered the heart of Ghent; plenty of good restaurants, shops and fine hotels and lots of well provided bars where you can taste over 200 regional beers. In short, it is the perfect place to relax after two days of intense learning at the ESER Symposium. For more information, take a look at these images.

Useful links

• Ghent: Must See, Public Transportation, Events - visit.gent.be/en/home
• Ghent Overnight Stay, or what to do in Ghent - visit.gent.be/en/overnight-stay
• Shuttle bus service from Charleroi International Airport (Ryanair and other low-cost carriers) to Ghent Central Station - flibco.com
• Train schedule between Brussels International Airport (Zaventem) and Ghent - belgiantrain.be