From 21 to 23 of January, Ljubljana was buzzing with excitement for Conventa 2014. The most important trade show for South East European meetings industry surpassed all expectations and truly heated the meetings floor of GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The sixth edition attracted the largest number of international meeting planners in the history of the show, congress destinations were presented in the highest number so far, the organizers recorded a record number of pre-arranged meetings between hosted buyers exhibitors, more fam trips than ever were available to hosted buyers and last but not least, the educational program got new segments and has been extended over all Conventa days. The trade show once again demonstrated why it deserves the title of the leading business-to-business event in the area of meeting industry in South East Europe and beyond!
From the outset Conventa has been successfully working on gaining the attention of key meeting industry players and turning their focus to the region of South East Europe. With over 15 000 meeting planners that follow the show throughout the year, Conventa is definitely successfully expanding and each year persuading more and more meeting planners to attend the show, explore the region and find something new and different to offer to their clients. Additional effort that was this year put into the search for the highest quality international meeting planners genuinely interested in the SEE region certainly paid off. To the positive outcome contributed also new foreign partners who used their many years of experience, connections and acquaintances to help find the best hosted buyers. Compared to last year, the number of international meeting planners at Conventa has risen by at least 25 percent. This means the trade show hosted over 175 hosted buyers from as many as 25 countries. They were joined by more than 25 international meeting professionals that contributed to the success of the show. Conventa in addition hosted over 100 national and regional meeting planners. Moreover, an amazing 90 percent of hosted buyers were first-timers while 10 percent were re- visiting the show.
At Conventa meeting planners met with meeting providers from 12 different countries. Conventa exhibitors ranged from convention bureaux, PCOs and DMCs to congress centres, convention hotels, special venues, event agencies, airline companies and more. The majority came from Slovenia and were followed by providers from Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Turkey. Pre-arranged meetings between exhibitors and hosted buyers were the core of Conventa. This year, 3.158 meetings were pre-arranged before the start of the show and another 600 meetings were arranged on location.
With such great representation of meeting providers and the greatest hosted buyer attendance so far, Conventa without a doubt reached a milestone in the growth and importance of the event not only for the host country of Slovenia, but also for the whole region. Karmen Novarlič, Msc, Tourism Division, SPIRIT Slovenia added: “Slovenian tourism boasts a number of excellent business events, characterized by professional execution and satisfaction of domestic and foreign business partners. Conventa ranks at the very top of these events and this year with more than 200 international hosted buyers from 25 countries proves once again that events carried out with quality each year attract the most important players from business and congress tourism in the region and beyond. Congress as a product with high added value and multiplicative effects is ranked among the key products of Slovenian tourism, so we are glad about the optimistic forecast of a positive global trend in business meetings and congresses for the year 2014. Positive is also the fact that the organizers of congresses and business meetings are increasingly looking for new destinations, often with accompanying “outdoor events” where Slovenia can offer attractive tourism products with a good ratio between price and quality of the product offered. “
Adding value to the Conventa trade show experience Added value of this year’s Conventa was also the most comprehensive and best educational program so far. During the traditional Conventa Academy, brand new Conventa morning energy sessions and for the first time ever also Conventa Expert’s corner, visitors were able to listen to the experts from the meetings industry and marketing such as Mike van der Vijver (MindMeeting), Davor Bruketa and Ivan Tanić (Marketing agnecy Bruketa&Žinić OM), Roger Pride (Heavenly Wale), Anja Bauer Minkara and Petra Despot (Brandoctor), dr. Danijela Brečko (GV Izobraževanje), Chris Parnham and Angela Mason (Absolute Corporate Events), Paul Kennedy MBE (Kennedy Intergrated Solutions), Prof. Dr. Ricarda Merkwitz (Immens Events), Marko Križnik (Promo d.o.o.) and others.
For the first time ever Conventa also co-organized and hosted the Business Breakfast of British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce (SBBC) titled “Event Management as a Profession” and co-organized and hosted the lecture of Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce titled “Corporate Events Trends in Germany”.
The sixth Conventa also increased the number of fam trips, a professionally guided trips that offered hosted buyers the opportunity to personally experience the destination and confirm the offer presented to them at the trade show. With the help of convention bureaus and local providers, the organizers have managed to offer seven different programs. Some of hosted buyers got a chance to get to know the host city of Ljubljana on Ljubljana pre-tour, while the rest were able to explore Bled, Zagreb, Carinthia, Trieste / Friuli – Venezia Giulia, Opatija and Portorož, right after the trade show.
To sum up, Conventa was definitely the place to be. An unforgettable experience cherished for a lifetime. Those who have missed it can always be a part of the Conventa magic at the next edition that will be held from 21 to 22 January 2015 in Ljubljana!
At Conventa meeting planners met with meeting providers from 12 different countries. Conventa exhibitors ranged from convention bureaux, PCOs and DMCs to congress centres, convention hotels, special venues, event agencies, airline companies and more. The majority came from Slovenia and were followed by providers from Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Romania and Turkey. Pre-arranged meetings between exhibitors and hosted buyers were the core of Conventa. This year, 3.158 meetings were pre-arranged before the start of the show and another 600 meetings were arranged on location.
With such great representation of meeting providers and the greatest hosted buyer attendance so far, Conventa without a doubt reached a milestone in the growth and importance of the event not only for the host country of Slovenia, but also for the whole region. Karmen Novarlič, Msc, Tourism Division, SPIRIT Slovenia added: “Slovenian tourism boasts a number of excellent business events, characterized by professional execution and satisfaction of domestic and foreign business partners. Conventa ranks at the very top of these events and this year with more than 200 international hosted buyers from 25 countries proves once again that events carried out with quality each year attract the most important players from business and congress tourism in the region and beyond. Congress as a product with high added value and multiplicative effects is ranked among the key products of Slovenian tourism, so we are glad about the optimistic forecast of a positive global trend in business meetings and congresses for the year 2014. Positive is also the fact that the organizers of congresses and business meetings are increasingly looking for new destinations, often with accompanying “outdoor events” where Slovenia can offer attractive tourism products with a good ratio between price and quality of the product offered. “
Adding value to the Conventa trade show experience Added value of this year’s Conventa was also the most comprehensive and best educational program so far. During the traditional Conventa Academy, brand new Conventa morning energy sessions and for the first time ever also Conventa Expert’s corner, visitors were able to listen to the experts from the meetings industry and marketing such as Mike van der Vijver (MindMeeting), Davor Bruketa and Ivan Tanić (Marketing agnecy Bruketa&Žinić OM), Roger Pride (Heavenly Wale), Anja Bauer Minkara and Petra Despot (Brandoctor), dr. Danijela Brečko (GV Izobraževanje), Chris Parnham and Angela Mason (Absolute Corporate Events), Paul Kennedy MBE (Kennedy Intergrated Solutions), Prof. Dr. Ricarda Merkwitz (Immens Events), Marko Križnik (Promo d.o.o.) and others.
For the first time ever Conventa also co-organized and hosted the Business Breakfast of British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce (SBBC) titled “Event Management as a Profession” and co-organized and hosted the lecture of Slovenian-German Chamber of Commerce titled “Corporate Events Trends in Germany”.
The sixth Conventa also increased the number of fam trips, a professionally guided trips that offered hosted buyers the opportunity to personally experience the destination and confirm the offer presented to them at the trade show. With the help of convention bureaus and local providers, the organizers have managed to offer seven different programs. Some of hosted buyers got a chance to get to know the host city of Ljubljana on Ljubljana pre-tour, while the rest were able to explore Bled, Zagreb, Carinthia, Trieste / Friuli – Venezia Giulia, Opatija and Portorož, right after the trade show.
To sum up, Conventa was definitely the place to be. An unforgettable experience cherished for a lifetime. Those who have missed it can always be a part of the Conventa magic at the next edition that will be held from 21 to 22 January 2015 in Ljubljana!
