On March 28th, Meetex 2023 begins - the only B2B exchange of business tourism in Croatia

The end of March is traditionally 'reserved' for MEETEX - Croatian Meeting Experience Summit, the only one B2B gathering of representatives of congress and business tourism in Croatia. It is also the most important gathering of its kind and is included in the top 10 European ones B2B events MICE industry.

After two years of virtual meetings and socializing, this year MEETEX is being held live again. From March 28 to 30, the Westin hotel in Zagreb will be a gathering place for more than 160 convention industry professionals from around the world. Over 1200 1-on-1 business meetings were arranged with domestic exhibitors and buyers from 17 countries including Germany, France, Great Britain, but also guests from the USA, Canada and Mexico. From domestic exhibitors, there will be representatives of agencies, tourist boards, congress, boutique and luxury hotels, event industry and many other stakeholders of the business tourism industry.

This year, the emphasis is on a larger number of meetings and more intensive ones networking in order for the participants to connect as well as possible, make the best possible contacts and contract specific jobs. The segment of business tourism is extremely important because it brings guests who spend several times more than vacation guests. Also, they come outside the main season and in this way extend it in an extremely high quality way. According to some estimates, business guests generate up to 30% of the total traffic in tourism.

"Although we as organizers, as well as all other participants, were extremely satisfied with the hybrid editions in 2021 and 2022, we are still overjoyed that for this fifth edition of MEETEX we are returning to fully live happening. MEETEX is an extraordinary opportunity for all stakeholders of the Croatian business tourism industry - and even the smaller ones - to present themselves to the world through meetings with carefully selected buyers and start new business relationships. It is encouraging to see that interest in Croatia as a business tourism destination continues to grow, which was our goal when we started MEETEX. This year, the number of 1-on-1 meetings achieved will break the figure of 6.500, which is a great average and a very positive trend for the future.", He said Adem Braco Suljić, co-founder and director of MEETEX.

The fact that the organizational team of MEETEX, as well as MICE industry, attaches great importance to sustainability. That's how they joined the German initiative FrauBlau, whose mission is to preserve wetlands as a carbon footprint catalyst. All, of course, in accordance with the SDG6 protocols on preserving water resources.

This year too, MEETEX has the support of its partners, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Tourist Board and the Zagreb Tourist Board, who recognized the great importance of such events for the development of congress and business tourism in Croatia.