Home NEWS Annual MEETEX returns to Zagreb in 2024

Annual MEETEX returns to Zagreb in 2024

The largest Croatian B2B trade show returns to the Croatian capital

Mar 12, 2024

Sixth edition of MEETEX

Zagreb is once again the gathering place of the business events industry. MEETEX 2024, the largest B2B international gathering of tourism professionals in Croatia, began today.

The sixth edition of MEETEX will gather over 200 participants from 12 to 14 March at the Hilton Zagreb Conference & Event Center. The organisers announced numerous 1-on-1 meetings, a lot of networking and socialising, and pre-and post-study trips for visiting customers from Europe, America and Asia. They were fully booked in advance and included Zagreb and the region, Kvarner and Dalmatia.

“MEETEX is still in the top 10 events of its kind in Europe, and this year’s edition will be even bigger than last year’s, which seemed impossible to us at the end of last year. However, it is obvious that Croatia is really positioning itself better and better in this competitive but lucrative market. The buyers we bring to Zagreb have budgets of over 25 million EUR per year for organising events, and it is up to us to convince them to spend that budget in Croatia.”

“We expect that the number of meetings held between exclusively Croatian stakeholders of the business events industry and hosted buyers will exceed 2,000 this year,” said Adem Braco Suljić, co-founder and director of MEETEX. This year, the partners of the fair are the Croatian Tourist Board and the Zagreb Tourist Board.

MEETEX OnTour Toronto 2024

MEETEX also brings a number of novelties. During the event, the program for the first MEETEX OnTour Toronto 2024 will be announced. MEETEX thus becomes the only event of its kind in the world that organises a B2B networking event for promoting the MICE industry of only one country – Croatia – on both sides of the pond.

“By organising MEETEX OnTour and connecting Croatian business tourism industry experts outside of Croatia with Canadian buyers, we are opening the door to a truly huge market. The interest in participation is also great from our stakeholders in the business events industry, and I am sure that we will remember 2024 as the year of the opening of a large and important chapter in the history of putting Croatia even more firmly on the MICE map of the world. The importance of the MICE industry is huge because it is a niche industry that brings guests with 3-5 times higher expenditure than tourists,” added Adem Braco Suljić.

Focus on sustainability

Since 2022, the event has been supporting the UN SDG6 FrauBlau initiative for the protection of wetlands. Plastic water bottles are not used during the event. Each participant receives their own reusable glass bottle that they use throughout the event. In addition, no paper is wasted because all the material is in applications and online platforms.

Use of AI in the meetings industry

Interesting lectures await the participants again this year. Lecturers from the Zagreb School of Economics and Management will hold a lecture and workshop on the use of AI and ChatGPT in the MICE industry. Rob Davidson, author of 8 books on the business events industry and one of the ten most influential global educators in the world of business events, will hold a lecture on the importance of Emotional Intelligence.

Learn more about MEETEX here.