CONVENTA IS ENTERING ITS SECOND DECADE
Conventa, the New Europe business forum for business meetings, congresses and incentive travel,
will reopen its doors on 23rd and 24th of January 2019. Conventa presents the first event of its kind
and besides that, it is also the first industry event of every new year.
We enter the new decade as a forum with above-average quality growth. This has been confirmed
yet again with returning and new exhibitors from 15 countries, among which the leading
destinations are regions, and with Hosted Buyers, on the other hand, that visit Conventa from 44
different countries. The additional effort that has been put into searching for the most qualified
foreign event organisers that have shown an interest in the region of Southeast Europe has paid
off this year as well. Hereby, as many as 90 percent of Hosted Buyers are new, and 10 percent are
revisiting Conventa.
The organisers promise once more that Conventa will be a meeting point of New Europe, full of
energy and genuine Slovenia hospitality. Additionally, we believe that more than 3000 meetings
will be held, just as in previous years.
Numerous event industry experts have added Conventa to their calendar and describe it as the
indispensable event of the year. Since its beginning, the forum has been held in Ljubljana with the
strong support of Tourism Ljubljana, the Slovenian Tourist Organisation and many other partners.
Miha Kovačič, Head of the Slovenian Convention Bureau and Co-founder of Conventa, emphasizes:
“Conventa has been for eleven years connecting the destinations of New Europe. It presents an
example of good practice of connecting local partners, and it represents Slovenia in the best possible
way. The international meetings community has acknowledged the event as one of the most
important ones in Europe.”
Gorazd Čad, co-organiser of the event: “The key achievement of the event is that we have succeeded
in presenting the whole of New Europe to the international congress market. These are congress
destinations that vary according to culture, culinary, customs and especially to business
environment, but at the same time they are linked by a series of connecting elements, which almost
without exception convince participants of the event.”
Mr. Čad believes that the providers of New Europe that present themselves at Conventa are
connected by following common features:
The first one is an immense desire to host events. Such as you find difficult in more developed
destinations. Accordingly, hosts will put extreme effort into making the guests happy.
The second is genuine hospitality. We cannot find hospitality like that anywhere else in Europe and
after all the conflicts in the 90s, it is immensely attractive to tourists from all over the world. Mostly
because it is real, it is not fake.
The third, more rational one is the ratio between price and quality. At the moment, it is the best in
Europe and maybe even beyond. This does not mean this is a cheap destination, but that for every
euro invested into this event you will get the most out.
The fourth feature common to all the destinations is that they are still rough diamonds. Each
destination is missing something for its perfection. However, this does not mean that they are less
attractive, it may even mean that they are more interesting and that, with development of the
industry, will become even more attractive.
With the cooperation of regional congress bureaus, the eleventh edition of Conventa will yet again
see to the most personal experience of Hosted Buyers. There will be 9 Famtrips organised, 6 to
destinations in Slovenia and the others to Zagreb, Belgrade and Graz. Famtrips present a great
opportunity for Hosted Buyers at Conventa to personally experience the destination and thus
confirm offers presented at the event for themselves.
Among the key novelties of Conventa 2019, the organisers set out the following:
1. Conventa is no longer just a one-time event, but since 2018 it has included three programme designs
with various events. Each section addresses a different target group – from sales groups to marketing
experts in individual companies.
CONVENTA EXPERIENCE is a boutique business (b2b) event, oriented towards personal meetings
between Hosted Buyers and exhibitors. It will continue to be held in Ljubljana every January.
CONVENTA TREND BAR is an event that travels through the region throughout the year, promoting
the knowledge and connecting the regional congress industry.
CONVENTA CROSSOVER has grown from a conference into a festival of events and marketing and is
held every year at the end of August.
2. Refreshed design of networking
Conventa radiates positive energy, since positive energy is contagious. In that spirit, we have a
profoundly refreshed programme of social events. Furthermore, we changed the locations of the
main evening events.
3. Announcement of recipients of Meeting Star certificates
The recipients of Meeting Star certificates will be officially announced at the event. It is the jubilee
tenth round of evaluation of hotels and congress venues. The announcement will be made on the
evening before Conventa, on Tuesday, 22nd of January 2019 at 6 p.m. in the Kosovel Hall in CD.
4. Announcement of the best congress destination of New Europe
The best congress destinations according to the methodology of MTLG will be announced at
Conventa.
5. An even more intense Conventa experience
Visiting Conventa is a very special experience that includes visiting the business forum, an
educational and social programme and much more in only a two-day period. Moreover, in the new
decade we connect destinations with a new global image based on apples, with which we will
present the region in the future. The part of Europe that is still undiscovered, is waiting for congress
organisers and invites them with its rich offer, freshness, creativity and special energy. It is all that an
apple symbolises.
Conventa traditionally invites you for coffee and Ljubljana will once more be the centre of New
Europe from 23rd to 24th January 2019. We are pleased that key national and city bureaus, leading
congress hotels and above all buyers that believe in the advantages of New Europe will join us. Every
year more Hosted Buyers are coming and every year it is easier for us to convince them of our
advantages.
Conventa is therefore a holiday of the regional congress industry and there is still time for you to join
us!