The Conventa Trade Show is the most important meetings industry event in Southeast Europe, therefore the editorial board of Kongres Magazine have decided to introduce some of the most important findings from the survey the organisers conducted after the event with both hosted buyers and exhibitors.
Rating marks: 5 – Excellent, 4 – Good, 3 – Adequate, 2 – Poor, 1 – Very poor
Hosted Buyer Response
Main reasons for attending Conventa
As the main reason for attending the Conventa Trade Show the hosted buyers listed ‘one to one meetings’ and the presentation of Southeast Europe’s meetings industry offer in one place. We can conclude that hosted buyers perceive Conventa as a trade show representing and presenting the offer of the entire region.
| Presentation of Southeast Europe’s meetings industry offer in one place | 28.0% |
| One to one meetings between exhibitors and buyers | 29.8% |
| Networking | 22.4% |
| Fam trips | 18.0% |
| Other | 1.9% |
The level of satisfaction with the fam trips
All the destinations scored highly and achieved at least a 4. In Slovenia, Bled was a stand out, with an exceptionally high mark, as was Dubrovnik in Croatia.
| Ljubljana, Zagreb, Portoroz and Piran, Lake Bled, Opatija and Rijeka, Dubrovnik, Montenegro | 4.4 |
Possibility of placing future business in…
We can assume the destinations which reached the highest marks had the best presentation and offer and that the infrastructure in the region is still slightly worse than other conditions for the development of the meetings industry.
| The destination | 4.3 |
| The hotel/s | 4.1 |
| The venue/s | 4 |
| The activities | 4 |
Ratings of the following aspects of Conventa
The hosted buyers rated all the aspects of the trade show as good. The quality of the exhibitors and networking opportunities stand out on the positive side. On the negative side we find the education programme, one that is slowly developing at Conventa but still can’t be compared with larger trade shows. The organisers of the trade show don’t focus so strongly on this aspect of the trade show, as the exhibitors and hosted buyers consider it of lesser importance. Only 7 % of exhibitors feel this is one of the most important reasons to visit Conventa.
| Overall reputation | 4.4 |
| Quality of companies exhibiting | 4.5 |
| Quality of educational and events programme | 4.2 |
| Networking opportunities | 4.5 |
| Conventa sustainable measures | 4.3 |
Exhibitors Answers
Main reasons for exhibiting at Conventa
Here the biggest stand out are the ‘one to one meetings’, the anticipated response, as it is the main goal of the trade show. We have also noticed that the exhibitors increasingly recognise Conventa as a regional trade show.
| Presentation of the offer in one place | 27.3% |
| One to one meetings between exhibitors and buyers | 45.5% |
| Networking | 20.0% |
| Education opportunities | 7.3% |
Conventa itself being a ‘must attend event’ for the meeting industry of Southeast Europe
96 % of the exhibitors perceive Conventa as a ‘must attend event’. This leads us to believe that Conventa is growing in the right direction.
| Agree completely | 258% |
| Agree strongly | 516% |
| Agree to some extent | 194% |
| Disagree to some extent | 32% |
| Disagree strongly | 0% |
The level of exhibitors satisfaction
Friendliness and effectiveness of show organisers and registration procedure stand out in this section. In general we can conclude the exhibitors are very happy with the work of the organisers.
| Effectiveness and timeliness in communication | 4.4 |
| Friendliness and effectiveness of the show organiser | 4.7 |
| Registration procedure at the show | 4.7 |
| Quality of trade show layout and booth location | 4.6 |
| Overall satisfaction with the show | 4.4 |
Ratings of each following aspect of Conventa
| Overall reputation | 4.4 |
| Relevance of visitors to your business | 4.0 |
| Quality of visitors | 4.0 |
| Quantity of other companies exhibiting | 4.2 |
| Quality of educational and events programme | 4.2 |
| Networking opportunities | 4.4 |
| Conventa sustainable measures | 4.4 |
The exhibitors rated most highly the networking and sustainable measures of Conventa, with lowest ratings going to the quality and adequacy of the hosted buyers. These results can be explained in exhibitors being difficult to please in the area of hosted buyer quality. We can also point out that compared to Conventa 2011, the satisfaction with hosted buyers jumped from 3.7 to 4.0, indicating that the organisers spent a lot of time on inviting the right hosted buyers.
