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The results of exhibitors and hosted buyers confirm the quality of the event

According to the results of a survey carried out among hosted buyers and exhibitors, the 10th jubilee Conventa has been written into congress history in terms of the number of international hosted buyers (185) and the best results from the satisfaction survey.

The organisers of Conventa are therefore proud to present the results of the survey, which confirm the high professionalism and excellence of the event and the satisfaction of all those involved.

HOSTED BUYERS

The 10th Conventa was attended by 185 international meeting planners, of whom approximately 30 were from region, and more than 100 from the domestic Slovenian meetings industry market. The meeting planners came from 45 countries.


Below are the summarised key results of the survey:
• On a scale from 1-5, the average score for satisfaction with the event was a high 4.56
• On a scale from 1-5 the reputation of the event received an average score of 4.59, which is the highest score in the history of Conventa.
• 85% of hosted buyers responded that participation at Conventa exceeded their expectations.
• On average, hosted buyers held 29 meetings at the event.


Among the individual scores, hosted buyers gave the following areas the highest scores:
Quality of the venue and set-up of the trade show score 4.63
Friendliness and effectiveness of the show’s organiser score 4.62
Registration procedure at the show score 4.55
Conventa sustainable measures score 4.54
Networking opportunities score 4.46


Business will most likely be directed to destinations

Feedback from hosted buyers shows that, as a result of their attendance at Conventa, they will likely direct business to destinations (4.56), hotels (4.38), congress venues (4.29), and incentive provider (4.29). The scores in this segment are significantly higher than in previous years.

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What kind of ‘rhythm’ will hosted buyers experience at Conventa 2019

We also surveyed hosted buyers regarding the kind of musical style that would be best for Conventa 2019. The absolute winner was rock (12.7%), followed by world music (11.8%) and dance music (10%).  

conventa_2018

On average, meeting planners held 29 meetings.

Although hosted buyers pledged in advance to hold a minimum of 15 meetings, in reality a significantly greater number were held.

Among the 29 business meetings held, 18 were agreed in advance via the one2one system, five were carried out on-site, and six as part of social events.

Satisfaction with the content of the meetings was rated by attendees as 4.45.


Almost 83% of hosted buyers agreed that the timetable of meetings more than exceeded their expectations.

The majority of hosted buyers responded to the organisers’ personal invitation to attend the event. Detailed analysis of the results of the survey show that the main reason for attending Conventa was meetings between exhibitors and hosted buyers (90% of exhibitors) and networking (65% of exhibitors). In addition, they attended the trade show in order to discover new destinations, find new partners and create new business contacts.

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Personal experience remains the most important element

Conventa also ensured a comprehensive personal experience of individual destinations. Hosted buyers rated study trips and the personal experience of the destinations very highly. The highest scores were received for the following study trips:

– Post-tour to Bohinj, 25 – 27 January 2018 score: 4.75
– Post-tour to Bled, 25 – 27 January 2018 score: 4.68
– Post-tour to Montenegro, 26 – 28 January 2018 score: 4.60
– Pre-tour to Ljubljana, 22 – 23 January 2018 score: 4.57
– Post-tour to Portorož and Piran, 25 – 27 January 2018 score: 4.53

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EXHIBITORS

On average, exhibitors held a record number of 33 meetings

A record 96% of exhibitors confirmed that they would attend Conventa again, whilst nearly all (99.8%) would also recommend it to their colleagues in the industry.

 At the jubilee, Conventa 119 providers of congress services from 15 countries presented their services. Participation in the trade show is certain to have paid-off through the acquisition of important business contacts.


Below are the summarised key results of the survey among exhibitors:

  • On a scale from 1-5, the average score for satisfaction with the event was a high 4.36
  • 95.4% of exhibitors stated that the quality was the same or higher than the costs of exhibiting
  • 91.9% of exhibitors are certain that their investment in exhibiting at Conventa will pay-off
  • Exhibitors held a record average number of 33 meetings at the event.

Among the individual scores, exhibitors gave the following areas the highest scores: 

Friendliness and effectiveness of the show’s organiser score: 4.53
Registration procedure at the show score: 4.46
Overall satisfaction with the show score: 4.36
Quality of trade show set-up score: 4.30
Effectiveness and timeliness of communication score: 4.18

57% of exhibitors held up to 5 top-notch meetings that could result in potential business.

31% of exhibitors held up to 10 top-notch meetings that could result in potential business.

In total, exhibitors assessed that 8.6 of meetings had the highest potential for achieving new business.

We surveyed exhibitors regarding what they like most about Conventa. Below we have chosen 10 of the most interesting responses:

1. The friendliness of organisers and attendees
2. The environmentally-friendly approach
3. The networking programme and catering
4. Everything was close-by so no lengthy transfers
5. The Conventa atmosphere
6. Great hosted buyers
7. The opportunity to meet so many people from different countries
8. The face-2-face meetings
9. Free water, café, snacks and other drinks at the exhibition centre
10. Good energy everywhere and a family feeling


What kind of ‘rhythm’ will exhibitors experience at Conventa 2019

We also surveyed hosted buyers regarding the kind of musical style that would be best for Conventa 2019. The absolute winner was rock (37.9%), followed by jazz (37.8%) and pop music (31.2%).  


Conventa Trend Bar 2018

Almost 80% of exhibitors welcomed the idea of hosted buyers being able to find out more about individual destinations though the educational events at the Conventa Trend Bar. The most interest was show in the following themes:

  • New incentive product development
  • Event marketing
  • Event planning
  • Social media marketing

The quality of hosted buyers influences the success of attendance for exhibitors

Exhibitors take part in Conventa mainly due to the opportunities to hold face-to-face meetings with hosted buyers (93.2%). The second reason stated by exhibitors was networking opportunities with colleagues from the congress industry (63.5%), and the third for the range of hosted buyers from Europe (62.2%).

57% of exhibitors held up to 5 top-notch meetings that could result in potential business.

Positive Comments About Conventa From Exhibitors

“Over 30 quality meetings with hosted buyers from CEE countries, the DACH region, the rest of Europe and the world. The numerous impeccably-organised networking events are a great opportunity to generate new leads that should not be ignored by any serious hotel companies in the region!”
Primoz Golob, Best Western Hotels Central Europe


“A perfectly-organised exhibition with friendly staff and a high quality of one2one meetings”
Gerald Wenger, Bad Hofgastein


“The variety of hosted buyers was selected very carefully to offer quality meetings and networking opportunities.”
David Pobjecky, x-bionic® sphere


Conventa offers an amazing opportunity to meet people from around the world in just one place who are very interested in what you have to offer. This is a hance not to be missed!”
Monica Ioanitescu, Parkhotel Pörtschach


“I met with very interesting hosted buyers from all over the world within 2 days. Where else could such a fast business growth opportunity happen.”
Birgit Geieregger, Senior Sales Manager at the Romantik Hotel Schloss Pichlarn


“CONVENTA is a trade show that is unique, different in setup and very well organized.” Petra Nestelbacher, Sales Manager bei Wörthersee Tourismus GmbH

Positive Comments About Conventa From Hosted Buyers

“Conventa is the most sympathic trade fair iI have visited. Very friendly staff. Very well organised.”
Dieter Krasa, Mondial GmbH & CoKG, Vienna


“A wonderful atmosphere, very impressed with the attention paid to every detail, from the look and feel of the space, to the design of the hall and lobby, to the entire format, very professionally organised and extremely friendly people! I felt very much welcomed :) Thank you and congratulations!”
Dorina Nas/HelmsBriscoe


“I would like to express my great compliments to the Conventa team for the excellent organisation of the one2one meetings and the whole logistics related to this exhibition. Thank you!”
Zuzana Janovská, Touristic Travel Prague, Ltd


“An excellent trade show that gives you the opportunity to meet quality vendors not only from Slovenia, but from the surrounding regions as well. A show that should not be missed.”
Dr. Abe Korn / Worldwide Meeting & Event Services


“I admire the consistency of the GREEN Tourism concept at Conventa 2018, from the wooden decor to the paper name badges, and it will surely attract the right crowd to the region. It was great to see many serious hardworking forces during the conference, especially young people who are sincere about professionalising the tourism industry. The service staff and the management did a great job in preparation and execution! The well co-ordinated effort of the caterers, suppliers, and organisers helped the delegates and participants fulfill their business goals and have an amazing experience beyond the destinations!”
Maria Riikonen, Sunbee Tours and Travel, Finland


“The Conventa Trade show 2018 will remain in history as a shining star in our event galaxy. It was a great pleasure to meet all of you, and to explore, meet and create with you!
Tatiana Stoimenova, Image in Travel Ltd.

The 11th Conventa trade show will take place from 23-24 January 2019 in Ljubljana. More information about the event can be found on www.conventa.si

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SOURCEKONGRES MAGAZINE
A long-time meetings industry addict, Gorazd is the Founder and owner of marketing and event agency Toleranca Marketing. He has many years of experience in planning, preparing and carrying out large international meetings and exhibitions. As the founder of the "Power to the Meetings" methodology, he still firmly believes in the power of live events and human to human communication. He is also the author of numerous articles and editor-in-chief of the meetings industry magazine Kongres Magazine.