The City of Athens Convention Bureau’s (ACB) participation in the EIBTM 2009 international conference tourism conference, which took place 1-3 December in Barcelona, Spain, was declared a crowning success.
ACB’s assertive presence at EIBTM, one of the most important exhibitions in the conference market worldwide, is one of the main axes of City of Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis’ strategy to establish Athens as one of the top international conference destinations.
ACB representatives, headed by City Councilor and President of the Athens Tourism and Economic Development Co. (ATEDCo) Dr Katerina Katsabe, used every available time slot to conduct more than 70 scheduled and unscheduled meetings with hosted buyers and trade visitors and representatives of international associations, Professional Conference Organisers, multi-national corporations, and meeting and incentive travel management companies(TMCs) from more than 30 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia.
The fact that the time for pre-scheduled meetings (about 42 meetings with hosted buyers) had been completely filled just a few hours after the electronic programme went into operation a month ago is indicative of the interest shown in the ACB’s presence at EIBTM.
For the most part, foreign visitors requested information about infrastructure and services, either because they have already undertaken to stage conference and company meetings in Athens in the near future, or because they plan to include Athens among destinations they are considering for future events. In addition, they commented positively on the fact that Athens in 2008 rose 10 places among top conference destinations internationally to finish in 15th place.
The main conclusion drawn from contacts made at EIBTM 2009 was that Athens is attracting an increasing amount of interest as a destination for conferences, company meetings and incentive travel. This is particularly important in the areas of company meetings and incentive travel, as these two sectors have been particularly hard hit by the economic crisis on both an international and a European level.
As results from the annual survey conducted as part of EIBTM (Industry Trends and Market Share Report 2009) indicate, the international conference and meetings market is looking to 2010 with reserved optimism, as 65% of respondents claimed that they will either not go through with cutbacks in budgets for conferences (38%) or that they will increase budgets or the number of planned events (27%).
Additional trends and findings highlighted by the survey include:
-The cancellation of events was the most common form of adapting to difficult economic conditions during 2009 (31%). “No change” was noted by 25% of respondents and 21% said they opted for “less luxury.”
-The process of selecting a destination in all categories of events – even for international conferences staged by associations which have not been particularly affected by the crisis – involves thorough market research and price comparisons in search of the best infrastructure and prices. Destinations which seem or could be conceived as “exotic” or “luxurious” are already at the bottom of the list.
-The H1N1 virus has not influenced the decisions or organisational plans of 74% of respondents. Nevertheless, 13% stated that they had decided to cancel an event because of the pandemic.
It should be noted that the ACB, as part of the new development actions it is planning and in cooperation with its members, will participate in the first AIBTM event in the USA, which is to take place in 2011 and is already drawing considerable attention in the international market.
