Frequently asked questions

Recipients of funding are event organizers or persons verifiably appointed by them who plan and carry out events in Bavaria.
Eligible applicants are

• Legal entities under private and public law,
• partnerships with legal capacity,
• self-employed and freelance professionals.

In particular, the federal government, federal states and municipalities as well as regional authorities under public law, political parties or comparable foreign organizations are not eligible to apply. Further details are set out in section 3 of the funding guidelines.

Yes, agencies are eligible to apply if they are demonstrably working on behalf of the organizer. A maximum of one agency per event is eligible to apply. An assignment must be signed by both contractual partners.

Yes, organizers or agencies from abroad are also eligible to apply.

Yes, this is possible. The maximum amounts according to the de minimis rule must be observed (see question "What is the de minimis rule?")

Funding is available for events that meet the following requirements:
The event takes place in Bavaria. The location of the organizer is irrelevant for funding purposes.
The event has at least 100-300 participants on site on each event day, depending on the event location. Hybrid events are eligible for funding, but online participants are not counted when determining the number of participants.
The event must last at least two days with at least four hours of content per day. The substantive program does not include breaks and parts of the program that are essentially for entertainment purposes.
The event is being held for the first time or at least one of the three previous events has not taken place in Bavaria or, in the case of events that have only been held once or twice before, at least one event has not taken place in Bavaria. Events can be funded up to twice in five consecutive years. (Further details are set out in Section 4.1 of the funding guidelines)
The event venue must not be provided or rented out by the applicant itself or by an organizational unit legally affiliated with it (e.g. subsidiary).

Yes, this is possible. Financing contributions from third parties do not exclude funding, but may reduce the eligible expenditure.

Yes, if they are rented as event venues for a fee. However, universities as event venues are excluded if the university itself is the applicant or an organizational unit legally affiliated with it.
The event venue may not be provided or rented by the applicant itself or by a legally affiliated organizational unit (e.g. subsidiary).

Yes, this is possible. It is irrelevant whether the event takes place in a single venue or is spread over several venues. For example, it may be necessary to use several venues or rooms for one event for capacity reasons (or for reasons relating to the equipment of individual rooms). Example: Use of the ballroom in the city and conference rooms in a hotel or exhibition center. This event is eligible for funding as long as it is a holistically conceived event and does not involve several events taking place at the same time without a common theme.
The eligibility requirements (duration, number of participants, etc.) must be met in their entirety. The use of several event venues or rooms at the event location in Bavaria is therefore not eligible for funding for an overall event.

As part of the application, various details about the applicant and the planned event must be provided. This information is required to assess the eligibility of the measure and must be complete before the funding decision is made. If the application is submitted by an agency, the assignment signed by both contracting parties must be submitted by the organizer.

In addition, a so-called de minimis declaration must be submitted (see question: "What is the de minimis rule?").

It should also be noted that proof of booking the event venue in Bavaria must be submitted to Bayern Innovativ GmbH no later than six months after the funding has been approved.

Yes, it is always possible to submit an application during the term of the guideline as long as the corresponding budget funds are available. The funding provider reserves the right to (temporarily) close the application portal.

Applications are submitted online via the Bayern Innovativ GmbH application portal. You can also upload all the necessary documents there. Please note that the application must be completed in German.

No, all you need to do is register on the Bayern Innovativ GmbH application portal.

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact Bayern Innovativ GmbH using the following contact details:

E-mail: kongressinitiative(at)bayern-innovativ.de

Service number: 0911 20671-370

Monday to Thursday from 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. Friday from 9 - 11 a.m.

Address: Bayern Innovativ GmbH, Am Tullnaupark 8, 90402 Nuremberg

The approval body is Bayern Innovativ GmbH.

No, the event must take place within Bavaria.

In particular, the conclusion of a supply or service contract attributable to the execution of the event is to be regarded as an early start of the measure that is detrimental to the funding. This includes, for example, rental contracts for the event premises, service or rental contracts for technology, catering contracts or contracts for advertising the event.
If such obligations are entered into before the application is submitted, funding for the entire event is excluded.
Excluded from this are existing framework agreements for the call-off of individual services prior to the call-off of individual services that relate directly to the funded project, as well as the conclusion of contracts that are attributable to the revenue side of the event.
The so-called approval for the early start of measures allows you to act in a manner that is not detrimental to the funding even before an approval notice has been issued. With this approval, contracts can be concluded and obligations entered into without this being detrimental to the funding.
In this funding procedure, approval for the early start of measures is granted as quickly as possible once the digital funding application has been successfully submitted.
It should also be noted that no entitlement to funding can be derived from the approval of the early start of measures. In this respect, the applicant acts at their own financial risk until the approval notice is issued.

Proof of this is only required if the funding supplement of 30% has been applied for due to the international nature of the event. The exact proportion of foreign participants must be verified by submitting the list of participants "Proof of origin of foreign participants". The list is available in the download area. A mere registration list is not sufficient.

The amount of the own contribution is not to be shown in the course of the funding process. However, the funding amount may not exceed the eligible expenditure.

Prioritization is based on the time of receipt of the electronic application by Bayern Innovativ GmbH.

The funding will be paid out after submission and verification of the proof of use by Bayern Innovativ GmbH.
From receipt of the approval, a one-off partial drawdown of up to half of the approved funds is possible, provided that these funds are required within three months of disbursement to settle expenses for the event venue. The invoice/request for payment from the event venue must be submitted as proof. The remaining funds will then be disbursed as a second installment after the audit of the proof of use has been completed.

Multiple funding with public funds is excluded. For example, no funding from other public funds, in particular budget funds from the Free State of Bavaria, other federal states, the federal government or the EU, may have been applied for or utilized for expenses that are funded in accordance with the guidelines of the Congress Initiative for the Bavarian Tourism Industry.

This restriction does not apply to public loans and guarantees from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and the LfA Förderbank Bayern.

Income from sponsorship agreements also does not exclude funding.

Yes, under certain conditions. It must be possible to separate the general meeting from the congress for which funding is requested. If, for example, a members' meeting (or a comparable, upstream or downstream, closed event of an association, club or company) takes place prior to a congress, this does not automatically lead to the exclusion of funding. Rather, it must be ensured that the eligibility criteria (in particular with regard to duration and number of participants) are met for the actual congress, i.e. without taking the general meeting into account. The congress can therefore also be held immediately after a general meeting or merge into a congress.

Funding is available for conferences and congresses that are aimed at a specialist audience as closed events. This also includes conferences and congresses that take place in connection with trade fairs and also those that take place in connection with (legally required) general meetings. In principle, there is no restriction with regard to the specialist focus of the congress. This means that medical conferences, scientific congresses or congresses of individual or several business sectors are conceivable.

The following are not eligible for funding
Trade fairs, exhibitions, cultural, sporting events and similar formats, even if they are aimed exclusively at a specialist audience and/or are associated with an eligible event, as well as leisure events;
purely corporate, association and club events as well as events within the framework of existing business relationships, events within a scientific institution and comparable conferences and events;
events that the applicant or third parties are legally obliged to hold.
Section 2 of the funding guidelines provides further details.

Only expenses actually incurred and supported by an invoice that are directly related to the eligible event are eligible for funding

Eligible expenses are

• Rent for event rooms including operating and ancillary costs;
• expenditure for catering;
• Expenses for technology, equipment, etc;
• Fees, travel expenses, accommodation and catering expenses for moderators, speakers and interpreters;
• Expenses for general organization;
• Registration/hostesses on site;
• Expenses for public relations work;
• Expenses for security, insofar as these are not incurred due to a legal obligation;
• protective and hygiene measures, unless these are incurred due to a legal obligation.

In the case of combined events - i.e. conferences and congresses that take place in connection with trade fairs or (legally required) general meetings - a corresponding delimitation of expenses is required.
Any financial contributions from third parties (sponsors etc.) do not exclude funding, but may reduce the eligible expenditure.

Expenses for a supporting program are not eligible for funding. A supporting program is defined as parts of the event that take place alongside the main program items and are not primarily intended for professional exchange. Examples of a non-eligible supporting program include

• Dinners inside/outside the event building;
• Gala evenings;
• company tours;
• excursions.

VAT is only eligible for funding (i.e. is only included in the eligible expenditure) if the recipient of the grant is not entitled to deduct input tax for the funded event.

No, funding is generally also possible if some or all of the participants take part in the event free of charge.

Yes, according to the funding table in No. 5.3 of the funding guidelines.

Not automatically. A corresponding notification of change is possible before or after approval of the funding, but at the latest by the start of the event.

An e-mail to kongressinitiative(at)bayern-innovativ.de (please state the file number) or a message via the application portal informing us of the change is sufficient. Notification by telephone is not sufficient. In principle, all changes that may affect eligibility for funding or the amount of funding must be communicated. For example: event location, period, title, planned number of participants, type of event, change of organizer, significant deviations in planned expenditure, 30% participants from abroad.
Changes must be communicated immediately. If changes that are only discovered shortly before the event result in a higher grant amount than approved, these must be communicated by the first day of the event at the latest. This may be the case, for example, if many additional registrations are received shortly before the event and the event therefore falls into a higher funding category. In addition, a new de minimis declaration must be submitted if the funding amount is higher than originally approved in the grant notification. A notice of amendment will only be issued if the approved funding amount in the grant notification is increased.

Proof of booking the event venue in Bavaria must be submitted to Bayern Innovativ GmbH no later than six months after approval.
After fulfillment of the purpose of the grant (= implementation of the event), but no later than seven months thereafter, proof must be provided that the funds have been used appropriately (simple proof of use). At the request of Bayern Innovativ GmbH, it must be possible to provide corresponding evidence/receipts. The use of funds will be checked more closely on a random basis. In addition, supplementary checks are carried out on site.
If a funding supplement of 30% is applied for due to the international character of the event, proof of the origin of the guests must be provided.

You can withdraw your application at any time.
Please contact Bayern Innovativ GmbH if you have any questions.

The prerequisite for disbursement of the funding is the submission of the proof of use. This can be completed and submitted via the application portal. This must be submitted to the approval office no later than 7 months after the last day of the event (the funded event). It primarily concerns proof of expenditure for the event venue and, if the funding amount is higher than this, further invoices in direct connection with the implementation of the event in accordance with Guideline 5.2. In the course of the proof of use, payments made by the applicant must be evidenced both by invoices and by the corresponding payment receipts. If the proof of use is successfully checked, a final notification will be sent directly to the applicant via the application system and the final funding amount will be determined. Payment is then made promptly (after the final notification has been sent) by the approval office to the applicant's account.

According to the guidelines (7.5), it is possible to apply for a partial drawdown of up to half of the approved funds after receiving the grant notification. A corresponding application form is available in the application portal for this purpose. These funds are intended exclusively for settling advance payments or down payments for booking the event venue. The requested funds may not exceed the amount invoiced by the venue. A corresponding invoice must be uploaded in the application as proof. Payment must be made no later than three months after disbursement of the partial call-off and must be evidenced by proof of payment as part of the proof of use. Failure to pay on time may result in the entire grant being reclaimed.

Publications at the funded event itself or other forms of public presentation of the funded event (e.g. website, invitations, advertising materials, press releases) must refer to the financial support provided by the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism. The following funding notice is generally required:

"This event was funded as part of the congress initiative for the Bavarian tourism industry (Congresses in Bavaria - KiB)."

If you wish to use the sponsorship reference in English, please use the following sentence:

"This event was sponsored as part of the congress initiative for the Bavarian tourism industry (Kongresse in Bayern - KiB)."

The logo of the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism (StMELF) must be used in this context. This can be found in the download area of the website.

Notes on using the logos:
4C is to be used for printing (e.g. event flyers), RGB for digital applications. The files with the addition "20mm" are to be used if the width of the coat of arms is less than 20 mm.

Under certain conditions, the EU's de minimis rule permits aid to companies (economically active entities, regardless of their legal form) without extensive approval procedures under state aid law. Funding from the Congress Initiative for the Bavarian Tourism Industry generally constitutes aid for the recipients in accordance with European Union (EU) regulations, which can be processed by way of the de minimis procedure if, in particular, the total amount of de minimis aid granted by a Member State does not exceed EUR 300,000 within a three-year period.
The grant recipient shall declare all de minimis aid granted to it and, if it has affiliated companies, also the de minimis aid granted to these companies over the aforementioned period in the application portal (so-called de minimis declaration).
The grant recipient receives a de minimis certificate with the grant notification.

Universities, colleges and research institutions are also always obliged to submit a de minimis declaration if the organization of the event is to be attributed to the respective institution as an economic activity and is therefore relevant to state aid in accordance with the De Minimis Regulation.
If the planned event is classified as a non-economic activity, the institution must submit a corresponding written confirmation.