HTZ: with the return of congresses and business meetings until the extension of the tourist season

Croatian tourist agency actively works on the promotion of the country as a high-quality and desirable business tourism destination, but also on education and connection with the stakeholders of the business meeting sector, so it is Congress department of HTZ participated in 61st Congress International associations for congresses and professional meetings (ICCA), which took place from November 7 to 9 in Krakow u Poland. It is one of the most significant annual events in the global meetings and events industry, which gathers leaders in the industry of business gatherings, but also leaders of other sectors that are directly or indirectly related to business gatherings, destination promotion, and international professional and scientific associations.   

ICCA represents a very strong international association that counts over 14 thousand members, that is, entities coming from more than 100 countries of the world. The positive impact and legacy of expert meetings, sustainability, diversity, equality and inclusiveness were the key themes of this year's congress, which was attended by a total of approx. 900 participants, of that 90 professional associations and others such as professional congress organizers (PCOs), congress offices, congress centers, hotels, etc. In addition to the aforementioned backbones, the topic was also digital transformation, which includes the connection and processing of various types of data, because the greatest strength of the ICCA association is precisely large and powerful database.

In the context of rapid and constant changes, education and monitoring of world trends are highlighted as a prerequisite for destinations in their adaptation to the challenges they face. Also, the ICCA annual congress is a great opportunity for all participants to find useful topics and opportunities for direct interaction with fellow delegates, as well as interesting panel discussions and numerous other activities.

"Croatia's presence at such a prestigious meeting is extremely important in the further development, improvement and positioning of our country as an attractive and sustainable destination for holding business meetings. We are happy that Croatia recorded an increase for 2019 in the number of held international meetings of associations, and we are according to ICCA ranked an excellent and very high 34th place in terms of the number of meetings held in the world. Although we are aware of the importance of monitoring the statistics of business meetings, one of the key topics at the congress was the importance of the positive impact of professional meetings on the local environment and society and their inclusion in the organization process gatherings of professional associations. This is an area where greater efforts are needed, both at the global level and in Croatia.", she stated Mirjana Resner, head of the Congress Department of HTZ.

Also, the let's add that as part of this year's edition of the ICCA congress, in addition to the presence of the national congress department, they presented their offer congress departments tourist boards of the cities of Zagreb and Dubrovnik. We also note that he attended the congress Senthil Gopinath, director of ICCA, while she was elected as the new president of the association Marta Gomes, one of the former members of the ICCA council.