Danica Ćeranić, Director of the Montenegro Convention Bureau

How many Fam trips do you organize per year?

It depends on our annual budget. All the groups are organized in cooperation with partners of Montenegro Convention Bureau. Some of the DMC’s, with their representatives at certain target markets, are organizing a number of Fam trips per year and MCB is helping in the organization of those as well.

How important are Fam trips for your organization?

Study groups are extremely positive for the country’s image and we are pushing them to be present here as often as possible, if not by ourselves then in cooperation with local partners in Montenegro. Not just the Fam trips of hosted buyers but media are also very important. Montenegro Convention Bureau as a part of Montenegro National Tourism Organisation promotes Montenegro through all available marketing tools.

How effective are Fam trips?

For a relatively new destination which needs to position itself as a world-recognized destination in MICE tourism, it’s important to present what we have to offer to potential buyers. After the Fam trip the participants know our product and talk about it through our industry. Promotional effects cannot be seen earlier than in one or two years.

What does it take to organize a successful Fam trip?

First of all you have to have good buyers. Before the arrival of each study group research of the target source markets and selection of buyers is very important. The good representative at each target market can help a lot.  Then it is important to involve the partners, hotels and DMC’s, special venues… And to make programme memorable, with the best selection of what the country has to offer. The local partners have an important role in the whole process, and I can, with great pleasure, point out our good cooperation.  And of course, follow up with each group is necessary.

 

Miloš Milovanović, Director of Serbia Convention Bureau

How many Fam trips do you organize per year?

Although we would like to have more, for now we organize one or two Fam trips a year.

How important are Fam trips for your organization?

We take Fam trips very seriously because they are one of the most effective ways to promote a destination – each time we organize it, we try to involve our industry partners. Usually we have a networking evening and a small workshop in form of speed dating during a Fam trip.

How effective are Fam trips?

Beside the opportunity to present the destination firsthand the effectiveness of Fam trip is reflected in the form of feedback that we are getting back from participants. We are also getting more useful inside information from clients we could never get from regular meetings.

What does it take to organize a successful Fam trip?

When we decide to conduct a Fam trip we take that responsibility very seriously – each detail is triple checked. We make sure that the itinerary and scheduled timetable are well known and understood by all the parties involved in it because everything must go fluently. We always have backup plans in case something goes wrong and try to have one person as forerunner just to make sure that there are no surprises.

 

Mag. Andrea Sajben, Manager of Steiermark Convention

How many Fam trips do you organize per year?

Prior to important events (i.e. trade fairs) we organize Fam trips for groups. Individual Fam trips and site inspections are available any time, on request.

How important are Fam trips for your organization?

Fam trips play a major role for our Convention Bureau. Multi-Level marketing is necessary for successful Fam trips: mailings and appointments during trade fairs precede the participation in Fam trips. On site the customers get to know the wide variety of the services, products and infrastructure. The authenticity, the landscape and the culinary delights of Styria impress the customers.

How effective are Fam trips?

The efficiency also depends on the customer. If you know the interests and customers’ preferences beforehand you can plan accordingly. Additionally the success is not measurable immediately; this is a long term business and also the outcome of all individual marketing activities.

What does it take to organize a successful Fam trip?

The right balance between information and entertainment is crucial. For example only guided tours would be quite strenuous, so a good mixture of incentives and useful tips vary and mix up the program. Furthermore professional and qualified employees are vitally important.

 

Nik Račić, Director of the Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau

 

How many Fam trips do you organize per year?

The number of inspection or Fam trips depends primarily on the potential customers’ decision to visit Croatia, and that is preceded by a series of activities including the presentation of the Croatian convention and incentive offer to the interested parties, as well as their requests related to the convention and incentive organization.

The markets include the following: Europe, Canada, Russia, Japan and the USA.

How important are Fam trips for your organization?

Inspection trips are, in addition to the convention and incentive market, one of the most important promotional channels and an excellent way to provide the chosen, quality customers with a direct insight into the Croatian convention and incentive offer.

How effective are Fam trips?

Many of the Croatian candidacies for hosting international conferences have been won on the basis of presentations and individual inspection trip organization. Inspection trips have created new opportunities and customers now have a clear picture of the destinations and of what to recommend to their clients, depending on the type of congress.

What does it take to organize a successful Fam trip?

Inspection trips for convention and incentive organizers and journalists. The Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau uses the interest that has been shown and the verification of the customers’ creditworthiness, in accordance with the financial plan, as the basis for the organization of a certain number of individual and group trips of the convention and incentive organizers to Croatia. The above mentioned trips are realised in cooperation with the Bureau’s regional offices, County Tourist Boards, Town Tourist Boards and representatives of the Croatian convention and incentive industry, with logistics support by the Croatian National Tourist Board representatives located abroad.

“Buy Croatia” organization works for the convention and incentive organizers throughout Croatia. This demanding project is organized through marketing activities which imply collaboration with specialized magazines from Europe, Russia and the USA. Based on the previous experience, the Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau tends to adjust the organization of the “Buy Croatia” activities to the customers’ demands as much as possible. The adjustment primarily implies the arrival of the customers from each country separately and at a different date, at their own request, due to the differences and specific features of their demands. Pursuant to the above mentioned, and on the basis of prior research of the participants’ profiles, appropriate programmes are developed; separately for convention organizers and incentive organizers, the same applying to the workshops. This demanding project can be successfully organized only with maximum synergy between the Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau and its regional offices, County Tourist Boards and Town Tourist Boards, congressional hotels, Destination Management Companies (DMC) and Professional Congress Organizers (PCO).

 

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