The 8th Annual Meeting of the ETC Market Intelligence Group (MIG) and Marketing Group (MKG) took place from 15 to 17 February 2023 in Zagreb, at the Sheraton Hotel. Sixty marketing experts and professionals in the field of market research participated in the meeting.
Participants were mainly from ETC member countries such as Latvia, Poland, Croatia, Portugal, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Denmark, Czech Republic, Malta, France, Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Estonia, Monaco, Luxembourg, Serbia, Greece, Spain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, San Marino and Montenegro.
Representatives of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the European Tourism Association (ETOA), but also representatives of associate ETC member companies such as Crowdriff and Sojern, participated in expert group meetings.
Croatian National Tourist Board and the Zagreb Tourist Board hosted the conference. Kristjan Staničić, the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board and the vice-president of the ETC, welcomed all the gathered experts with a ceremonial speech.
The two-day program consisted of parallel morning sessions intended for marketing group members and members of the working group in the field of market research. The afternoon program was reserved for workshops and the presentation of best examples from practice. Some of the inspiring examples were: quality destination management, encouraging digitalization, moving towards sustainable models, and, as part of it, promoting rail transport.
Inspiring examples from practice on how to promote sustainability in tourism
As an example of good practice in Croatia, Mrs. Zrinka Marušić from the Institute for Tourism gave a presentation on the topic “Measuring the sustainability of tourism in Croatia”. Examples of good practices were also presented by representatives of tourist organizations such as Visit Flanders from Belgium, Portugal and Slovakia.
The working part titled “Navigating travel and tourism trends” included Luca Romozzi from the Sojern company, who held a workshop “Travel Research and Advertising in Cookieless World”, in which he shared the latest data processing strategies with the ETC members and presented innovative solutions for the promotion of destinations in the future. Milena Nikolova from BehaviourSMART held an intriguing workshop on the application of behavioural economics in tourism titled “The Right Travellers – How to make sustainability choices effortless and non-negotiable”. The workshop addressed the questions of who the real travellers actually are and how the European destinations can attract them, and the final thoughts were that it is of great importance to change the context so that sustainable choices can become simple and attractive and thus, the only right choice.
Apart from working meetings and workshops, during their stay in Zagreb, the participants of the ETC meeting had the opportunity to take part in the social program, explore the destination, and enjoy a technical visit to Rimac Automobili.
Source: Zagreb Convention Bureau
