Bratislava, Belgrade and Villach are the fastest growing incentive cities in the region, with among the smaller towns places near the Savinja Valley, Soča Valley and Tivat in Montenegro are experiencing the fastest development.

Many of the Kongres magazine readers have recently asked us about the interesting incentive destinations in the region, those that in the future will be the leaders in the field of incentive travel. We have found that there is no clearly defined criteria of what an emerging destination is. Therefore, we have developed a special assessment matrix and with its help assessed over 40 cities and smaller towns, which in their offer also have incentive programmes.

  • The criteria were divided into three groups:

A. GENERAL

1.1. Climate & Weather
1.2. Accessibility
1.3. Attractiveness for tourism
1.4. Economic stability and local prosperity
1.5. Visa requirements
1.6. Professionalism of local meetings industry
1.7. Safety and security
1.8. Ground transportation & Public transport
1.9. Effective DMO (Destination Marketing Organisation)
1.10. Value for money

B. NEW MARKET READY

2.1. New Hotels 4**** and 5*****
2.2. New DMCs
2.3. New Teambuilding agencies
2.4. New International airline connections
2.5. New Special venues
2.6. New Adventure activities
2.7. New lifestyle offerings (cooking, wine tasting)
2.8. New CSR programs
2.9. New culinary products
2.10. New references – corpo incentives

C. CONTENT

3.1. Destination Brand perception
3.2. Interesting history – image and richness
3.3. Interesting culture – image and richness
3.4. Variety of experiences
3.5. Local incentive brands
3.6. Restaurant lifestyle
3.7. Night lifestyle
3.8. Sport lifestyle
3.9. Authenticity
3.10. Tolerance

Following evaluation by the event organisers an interesting rating was generated, which was then divided into larger cities and smaller geographic and tourist rounded wholes. Here are the results, together with an expert estimation of which are the already-developed incentive destinations against the individual categories.

Bratislava cycling routes

A. INCENTIVE CITIES
Cities with more than 150.000 inhabitants/ regional capitals

TOP 10 EMERGING INCENTIVE CITIES 2016:

1. BRATISLAVA, SlovakiaIncentive index: 4.24MTLG 2015: 4.28
2. BELGRADE, SerbiaIncentive index: 4.18MTLG 2015: 4.45
3. VILLACH, AustriaIncentive index: 4.03MTLG 2015 : 4.11
4. SPLIT, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.80MTLG 2015: 3.88
5. MARIBOR, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.76MTLG 2015: 3.84
6. PULA, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.71MTLG 2015: 3.79
7. ZADAR, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.69MTLG 2015: 3.77
8. ŠIBENIK, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.67MTLG 2015: 3.74
9. SARAJEVO, BiHIncentive index: 3.41MTLG 2015: 3.48
10. PODGORICA, MontenegroIncentive index: 3.16MTLG 2015: 3.22

TOP 10 DEVELOPED INCENTIVE CITIES 2016:

1. VIENNA, AustriaIncentive index: 4.73MTLG 2015: 4.93
2. ISTANBUL, TurkeyIncentive index: 4. 43MTLG 2015: 4.61
3. PRAGUE, Czech RepublicIncentive index: 4.42MTLG 2015 : 4.60
4. DUBROVNIK, CroatiaIncentive index: 4.26MTLG 2015: 4.44
5. BUDAPEST, HungaryIncentive index: 4.23MTLG 2015: 4.41
6. SALZBURG, AustriaIncentive index: 4.13MTLG 2015: 4.39
7. ZAGREB, CroatiaIncentive index: 4.12MTLG 2015: 4.38
8. LJUBLJANA, SloveniaIncentive index: 4.10MTLG 2015: 4.36
9. VENICE, ItalyIncentive index: 4,06MTLG 2015: 4,32
10. GRAZ, AustriaIncentive index: 3.99MTLG 2015: 4.24

B. INCENTIVE LOCATIONS
Smaller tourist destinations that have developed their incentive product

TOP 10 EMERGING INCENTIVE LOCATIONS 2016:

1. SAVINJA VALLEY, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.92MTLG 2015: 3.96
2. SOČA VALLEY, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.91MTLG 2015: 3.95
3. TIVAT, MontenegroIncentive index: 3.89MTLG 2015 : 3.93
4. BANSKO, BulgariaIncentive index: 3.88MTLG 2015: 3.92
5. ROGAŠKA SLATINA, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.76MTLG 2015: 3.83
6. POREČ , CroatiaIncentive index: 3.75MTLG 2015: 3.79
7. LOŠINJ AND CRES, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.71MTLG 2015: 3.75
8. UMAG, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.70MTLG 2015: 3.74
9. BOHINJ, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.64MTLG 2015: 3.68
10. BALATHON LAKE, HungaryIncentive index: 3.58MTLG 2015: 3.62

TOP 10 DEVELOPED INCENTIVE LOCATIONS 2016:

1. SCHLADMING, AustriaIncentive index: 4.26MTLG 2015: 4.47
2. KLAGENFURT, AustriaIncentive index: 4.25MTLG 2015: 4.47
3. BLED, SloveniaIncentive index: 4.09MTLG 2015 : 4.13
4. OPATIJA, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.97MTLG 2015: 4.01
5. PORTOROŽ, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.95MTLG 2015: 3.99
6. ROVINJ, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.94MTLG 2015: 3.98
7. HVAR ISLAND, CroatiaIncentive index: 3.93MTLG 2015: 3.97
8. KRANJSKA GORA, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.90MTLG 2015: 3.94
9. BUDVA, MontenegroIncentive index: 3.67MTLG 2015: 3.71
10. BRDA/COLIO, SloveniaIncentive index: 3.61MTLG 2015: 3.65

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