With new dimensions, new opportunities and a new personal best, the seventh edition brought to Ljubljana the highest number of international meetings planners and meeting providers in the history of the show.
166 international from 31 countries and around 100 regional and Slovenian meeting planners have come to Conventa to familiarize themselves with the meetings offer of New Europe. A milestone was reached also with the number of pre-scheduled meetings reaching 3.428.
The exhibition floor at GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre has been occupied by 135 meeting providers, most of them coming from Slovenia, Austria and Croatia. For the first time ever organizers have welcomed also countries like Greece, Azerbaijan and Russia.
Hosted buyers about Conventa 2015:
The main reason for hosted buyers attending the show remains One2One meetings between exhibitors and hosted buyers. On average, hosted buyers pre-scheduled 21,6 meetings but actually throughout the show and social events realized 34,5 meetings. They were satisfied with the content of their meetings rating it with 4,29 out of 5. They estimated that the success of their visit also depends on networking opportunities and quality of visitors. Networking opportunities at the show hosted buyers rated with 4,35 out of 5, while the quality of meeting providers exhibiting at Conventa they rated with 4,38.
The offer presented at the show was confirmed on fam trips, post tours to different meetings destinations in the region where hosted buyers experience the meetings offer first-hand. Hosted buyers were most satisfied with Ljubljana (5) and Portorož (5), followed by Bled (4,82), Kranjska Gora pre- tour (4,75) and post-tour (4,67) and Zagreb (4,40). All in all, the fam trips were extremely educational and remain an important part of the Conventa experience.
Overall results:
Almost 89 % of hosted buyers said that their participation absolutely meet their expectations.
Did your participation meet your expectations?
88,9 % yes, absolutely
11,1% yes, partly
Two thirds of hosted buyers agree their itinerary met their business objectives.
Did the itinerary meet your business objectives?
74,6% yes, absolutely
25,4% most likely
In the future, hosted buyers will most likely place business in the destination.
How likely are you to place future business in (1-not at all likely, 5 – very likely)
The destination 4,41
The hotels 4,19
The venues 4,00
The activities 4,02
Martin Šašik, Congress Sales Director, GUARANT International, Czech Republic and hosted buyer: „ Many thanks for your invitation to attend the Conventa and the care you took of me and my international colleagues in business. Being at the Conventa did contribute in substantial extent to my understanding Slovenia and Ljubljana capacities in terms of congress events. Now I am pretty well informed on the opportunities as well as limits of your capital to acquire international meetings.
In addition, thanks to my coming to the Conventa, I have all contacts for relevant persons to consult as well as discuss in detail potential projects. I can see your enthusiasm and strong efforts to enhance the position of Ljubljana and Slovenia in tourism and congress industry.“
Miha Kovačič, Director of Slovenian Convention Bureau and Organizer of Conventa: “The 7th edition called itself New Europe and it came big. Although we exceeded all expectations, Conventa has always been all about quality, not quantity.”
The 8th edition of Conventa will be held from 20 to 21 January 2016. Hosted buyer registrations are already open >>
