Successful marketing of Ljubljana CVB in pandemic times

During the pandemic of the last sixteen months, the Ljubljana Convention Bureau, operating within the Ljubljana Tourism, hasn’t stopped with its activities despite the unavoidable consequences of Covid-19 times. Ljubljana Convention Bureau has been in fact very active and alive making sure that various activities would accelerate Slovenia’s capital’s visibility even in the unprecedented times for the meetings industry. In the past months, as well as in the months to come, there have been ongoing marketing projects to remind organisers of Ljubljana being a high-quality meetings destination. Ljubljana CVB has also been focusing on making sure they keep in touch and are strengthening collaboration with their local partners and stakeholders. Equally important for them has been to continue to closely monitor the global marketing trends.

In April, for example, the Ljubljana Convention Bureau attended two online business events to present Ljubljana’s  advantages to quality European meeting organizers. First was the virtual business event Feel Slovenia Business Date MICE where Ljubljana Convention Bureau presented to 25 European meeting organizers the city’s infrastructural novelties, possibilities for incentive trips, and plans business recovery in the post pandemic period. The other event in April was a business event for British clients organised by UK agency Moulden Marketing where 14 british clients participated. Both events have shown that there is a huge interest in UK market for Ljubljana with highlighted aspects of safety in running events. In this regard, as of spring 2020 the Slovenian Convention Bureau has launched a certification system in cooperation with the National Institute of Public Health. It is based on 65 different criteria that venues and event organisers must comply with in order to ensure maximum safety of event attendees.

Then, in May, Ljubljana Convention Bureau participated at the FITUR Madrid. The event held between 18 and 23 May 2021, was the first ‘live’ business trade show that Ljubljana Convention Bureau’s representative joined in more than a year. The focus was specifically on B2B meetings as there has been a continuously high interest of the Spanish market in Ljubljana. In the past year Ljubljana CVB has been also involved in several ICCA events, notably within the ICCA Associations Relations Programme which aims to strengthen the collaboration between international associations and meetings destinations.

Marketing activities, though, haven’t been only visible in the tradehosws, but also in other areas. Ljubljana, for example, has been active in the EU CVB Network, a collaborative network of convention bureaux, representing the cities of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Florence, Gothenburg, Lyon, Rotterdam, Salzburg and Valencia. The Networks, officially formed in 2020, enables organisers of international meetings with an opportunity to get in touch with seven cities at once. Since its first live event in March 2020, the Network has held five online meetings with representatives of the associations and PCOs, professional congress organisers. Through virtual events, the EU CVB Network has been introducing itself to the top players of the international meetings industry.

Another recent activity of Ljubljana Convention Bureau is the collaboration with Toleranca Marketing by launching Ljubljana Talks, an online chat on Clubhouse App with focus on talking about all MICE industry related topics in connection to Ljubljana and the world. Jan Oršič, head of Ljubljana CVB and Gorazd Čad, CEO of Toleranca Marketing and Editor-in-chief of Kongres Magazine, meet twice a month to discuss all the relevant matters related to (local) MICE industry, global (event) marketing trends, social media and creativity with various guests from all walks of business. Clubhouse is invite-only but the recording of each session is posted to Kongres Magazine YouTube Channel.

Future activities of Ljubljana CVB include a participation at the Conventa tradeshow, the focal point for meeting planners in the region of New Europe, which will take place in Ljubljana in late August. Then, in early November, the IMEX America will welcome Ljubljana Convention Bureua in Las Vegas, USA, while from 30 Nov to 2 Dec 2021, Ljubljana Convention Bureau will present Ljubljana’s business offer at the IBTM World in Barcelona, to name just a few. With recent and future activities, Ljubljana is stepping into the restart of the industry as Slovenia and the region have been added on the green list of EU countries. With further easing of restrictions, Slovenia has reopened for meetings in early June with events once again allowed under the condition that the number of attendees does not exceed 75% of the seating capacity. In the meantime Ljubljana has not seized on working on international bids involving the efforts of key partners within the destination.