Q: What trends do you think we will see in meetings and events in your city in the next 12 months?
The types of events that we most want to attract in 2016-2017 are:
Corporate meeting of Italian companies (banks, private companies etc.), thanks to the central location of the city in the Veneto Region. The business segment is in a gradual recovery and Padua is located in an advantageous position compared to other destinations in northern Italy.
The north-east is particularly interesting thanks to a solid business fabric and advancement in entrepreneurship and technology. According to major national companies, Padua and Veneto can be an attractive destination for their business events, as it is perceived as a safe and prestigious destination.
Business roadshow
The easily accessible location makes it an interesting destination for roadshows, product presentations, sales events and workshops organised by companies and agencies.
The commercial events segment is a new improvement thanks to new company investments, with areas such as fashion, technology, tourism and finance representing particularly interesting opportunities.
Italian and European medical and association congresses (in close collaboration with the University and local institutions)
The congress sector remains a cornerstone of the target segment, thanks to the strong influence of the University of Padua and to medical excellence – the science-related hospital, the CNR and other important examples of local excellence. In Padua numerous scientific medical events are held, for which a greater collaboration with the University institution would certainly be desirable. Pending a conference venue with increased availability, Padua can undoubtedly propose conferences for around 300 to 600 people.
The sorting work, the new official candidates and any external collaboration can all be done in collaboration with the Convention Bureau Italy and affiliates of the same PCB.
Incentive and international meetings, mainly in Europe (UK, Northern Europe, Germany, Belgium, France) and incentives from countries of growing markets, such as Turkey, China and India. Foreign markets are those that historically have suffered less with the crisis, particularly some of the European markets like those in Northern Europe, Germany and England. Italy is always an attractive destination for foreign customers and Padua has a variety of competitive offers with good value for money.
I am currently developing Incentive requests, especially those related to sports and wellness, cultural, or related to music or art events. These are new international growth markets for which it would be worth investing commercial resources in order to increase new business segments.
Conferences and thematic meetings, particularly related to social and ecological sustainability
Padua and its province are particularly sensitive destinations on issues such as sustainability, ecology, sustainable transport, urban development, biodiversity and cycling.
In keeping with the themes of the recently ended Expo 2015 Milan, and enriched with some outcomes of what the MPI Convention in July 2015 and the AIGA conference organised in October 2015 on the lines of this focus on sustainability, the Padova system is able to offer itself targets of being green and sustainable thanks to the many similar characteristics. Padua is an ancient city that looks to the future, often defined as the green city par excellence. The new, growing trend that we are seeing is ecological meetings and events with a special attention paid to corporate responsibility.
Padua is the city of bicycle tourists and residents who use their bikes as a mode of transport. It is an ecological city with a modern, functional electric tram system. Then there is even more green in the Euganean Hills, with plenty of sustainable activities to be organised during meetings or events: adopt vines or olive trees, or plant new trees to address deforestation. Many hotels, conference centres and museums are also part of social responsibility programmes that include disabled people in their structure, as are social cooperatives are successful restaurants, catering services, gardens and pastry shops.
It is possible to make a contribution by leaving a positive and tangible reminder of the event, for example:
- Help the planet: Save or plant trees, help with the grape harvest, only use green transport, use the traditional bicycle – all ways to show that you care!
- Help others: catering services with disabled staff, organic locations, pastry produce made in prison, associations that invest in culture – make your event an ethical benchmark.
- Avoid all waste: thanks to the “Food for Good” project, no leftover food will be thrown away during your event, instead local cooperatives and volunteers will organise the collection and redistribution of any excess.
Q: How is your city positioned as a meeting destination today and what are its positive attributes that are often overlooked?
In 2016 we have had an increase of 118% and the city is truly growing, as in two years we will have a brand new conference centre for up to 1,600 people in plenary style. We are often competing with medium size cities such as Bologna, Verona and Genova, but also with bigger cities such as Florence or Milan.
In recent years Padua has still been suffering from insufficient visibility as a congress destination, although there has been a sharp increase in activity in this regard.
There are also structural limitations, offering at most 700-800 seats in the different conference venues, although these limits will be expanded with the new conference centre that will host events for much more significant numbers. The location of Padua is also strategic with respect to the road network, located on the main roads linking Italy north-south and east-west, but also in relation to the main traffic axis through roads and international highways networks.
The city is also easily accessible by train from the main Italian locations and from abroad, although the development of high-speed lines has created a slight disadvantage with the fact that the links favour the north-south rather than east-west. As for the air accessibility, Padova enjoys a privileged position in relation to the three main airports in Veneto, Venice, Treviso and Verona.
Considered in this geo-strategic sense the location of Padua is an easy to get to destination. Padua also offers many cultural attractions and two, the Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica del Santo, are high points, the former for the high artistic value and the latter for religious and cult value. In addition, Padova offers a full calendar of exhibitions across the range of the various fields of applied arts.
There is also the Botanical Garden that in September 2015 opened its new wing dedicated to biodiversity. Historically linked to the scientific realm it has a high added value for the congress sector. The 2015 opening of Musme, Museum of the History of Medicine and related events in the Palazzo della Salute space, represents yet another a new interesting push forwards. In general the province of Padua shows a good number and wide variety of resources, but they are not sufficiently utilized as such in terms of tourism, as with other resources that could be complementary to the main existing bid for the potential they represent.
The offer in relation to congress tourism in Padua and the province is made up of 22 convention centres with a capacity of 8,200 seats, 27 historic houses with a capacity of 500 seats and 43 conference-hotel facilities with a capacity of 850 seats. The hotel offer is varied and there are some high-level structures and with a very good offer.
Many of them are located near the Padua Fair. In other areas, however, the offer appears insufficient, especially as regards the level of services offered and the number of rooms available, as well as the strong seasonal nature of the structures that are not located near Padua city or the area of the fair. However, Padua is a destination particularly suitable as a location for meetings and conferences of various kinds.
Q: How hard is it to get the message out about all that your city has to offer?
It is not easy, but we have been doing our best for just three years, since 2013, when the Convention Bureau was founded by the Chamber of Commerce and the Province of Padova.
For now the Convention Bureau will pursue the objectives of the congress sector through actions of great importance: in fact it is designed to promote the entire area as an attractive destination for organising congresses.
It has an affiliate system (based on a participation fee) that aims to bring together congress operators to create a network system and offer a concrete proposals market.
It aims to create a synergy among stakeholders, actors and institutions with the goal of promoting the destination as one for events and meetings.
The CB must attract the largest number of events in the area through concrete actions such as:
- Develop the Padua brand as a destination for events (through web marketing, advertising, editorials, newsletters etc.)
- Participation in workshops, educational and trade fairs
- Organisation of promotional events
- Nominations for meetings and conferences
- Support to partner operators nominations
- Develop the Convention Bureau website
In the last year there has been a steady and continuous development of communication activities through newsletters and a press office dedicated to the local, national and international organisation of promotion events.
It promotes the destination through publi-editorials in leading meetings industry publications and constantly participates in major trade fairs, both national and international (see list of activities below). There is also the participation of the industry and workshops of the meetings industry, as well as business to business appointments.
We are a member of Federcongressi & Eventi (Italian association) and personally I’m in the board of the MPI Italian Chapter and in the technical table of the Italy Convention Bureau.
The number of affiliates is currently rising and we plan to continue to grow steadily. Of the affiliates there are Congress centres, DMCs and PCOs, numerous hotels and spas of Padua and the Province, tourist transport services, villas and historic houses, audio-visual technical services, which altogether make up the entire conference chain.
The promotion, as well as the service given, announces a new business appeal to the destination of Padova, attracting new and diverse events in the region, which are supported as set out in the approved codes.
The monitor of the requests received is steadily growing and the CB is working with affiliates and not to the formulation of interesting and competitive offerings that include the entire chain of services in the territory.
We recently started on large national and international applications in collaboration with affiliates, through search systems such as ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) and Convention Bureau Italy.
The objective is to concentrate more and more effort towards congresses with large numbers for the greatest impact on the region. This objective goes hand in hand with the new convention centre.
Q: How do you see relationship between the meetings industry and the tourism industry?
As a Convention and Visitors Bureau we constantly see the cross-fertilisation between the two segments. The strengths and weaknesses are different and a separate promotional plan is necessary to focus on results.
The brand awareness of a tourist destination can help the development of the city as MICE destination, but it is important to focus on the different services and activities when proposing to possible clients.
Q: Tell us something that might surprise meeting planners about your city?
We can help organisers to arrange very special activities in the city. Check these out:
- Rugby, one of the city’s most popular sports: put your work team to the test on and off the pitch.
- Rowing: challenge yourself and the rest of your team on our magnificent rivers.
- Spritz making: the aperitif par excellence was born in Padua and we’ll show you how to make it like a real local!
- Piazza life: drift among the traditional “sottosalone” bars, talk to the locals, make a few purchases and then cook some traditional Veneto dishes.
- Euganean Hills wine tour: explore our green hills to discover the traditional vines along with tasting and aroma tests.
- Cultural and scientific treasure hunt: follow in the footsteps of Galileo in the UNESCO botanic location, made interactive with some digital tools.
