On the 12th of December, the 12th Croatian Meeting Industry Forum took place in Zagreb, marking the traditional annual gathering organized by the Croatian Meeting Professionals Association (CMPA). The event was attended by Romana Vlašić, Head of the Convention Bureau of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board and a member of this professional association. Many other members from Dubrovnik participated in the forum, including representatives from hotel establishments and specialized PCO agencies.
The meeting of Croatian meeting industry experts took place at the popular, newly renovated Zonar Hotel in Zagreb – formerly known as the Panorama Hotel. The event brought together the largest number of participants to date, demonstrating significant interest in the association's work, which has experienced a substantial increase in membership this year. All of these are additional confirmations that business tourism and the meetings industry are returning in full swing, bringing numerous new events to Croatia.
Work, Plans, and Main Projects of the Association
Ranko Filipović, President of CMPA, emphasized this, presenting completed and planned activities of the association. He highlighted that workshops held throughout the country in 2023, including the one in Dubrovnik, where around thirty colleagues from the Dubrovnik region gathered, played a crucial role in the association's growing membership.
Adem Braco Suljić, Director of the Croatian Meeting Experience Summit MEETEX, highlighted the success of last year and announced the new edition of MEETEX, scheduled to take place from the 12th to the 14th of March, 2024, at the Hilton Zagreb Conference & Event Centre. He pointed out that MEETEX remains a national trade B2B event based solely on the Croatian MICE offer. However, as it needs to evolve over time, instead of expanding to other countries, MEETEX introduces a new interesting edition in 2024 – MEETEX on Tour! This second annual MEETEX event involves exhibitors traveling to their buyers' countries. The first edition will be held in the fall of 2024 in Toronto. Nicole Šimunac, MEETEX representative for North America, provided more information to the attendees and will also host MEETEX in Toronto.
Mirjana Resner, Head of the Convention Bureau at the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), presented plans for the coming year. Debora Petrović and Aleksandra Uhernik Đurđek, program coordinators of the Croatian Congress Ambassadors, spoke about how this program, initiated by CMPA and CNTB, can help attract more business events to Croatia.
Promotion of the Croatian Scientific Book 'Event Management'
The second part of the forum featured the presentation of the scientific book "Event Management - From the Perspective of Tourism and Microeconomics with the Application of Communication-Information Technologies." The authors, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andreja Rudančić, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sandra Šokčević, and Dr. Edvard Badurina, from the University of Libertas in Zagreb, introduced the book. The book has a multidisciplinary approach, combining the MICE industry, tourism, microeconomics, and CRM models. The promotion was attended by the rector of the University, prof. Ph.D. Ivo Andrijanić, professor emeritus, who addressed the audience with a few words about the contribution of professors Rudančić and Šokčević to the publication of this book, which has a multidisciplinary approach in combining the MICE industry, tourism, microeconomics and the CRM model.
During the forum, annual awards were also presented. Prof. Dr. Zvonko Orehovec and Dr. Slavko Bokan received the award for the best event organizer in the category of congresses with more than 150 participants for the 2023 CSCM World Congress, held in Dubrovnik from the 23rd to the 27th of October, 2023.
From Event Design Thinking to Event Design Doing using the #EventCanvas
This year's Forum welcomed an inspiring, interesting, and interactive lecture by Ruud Janssen, a Swiss entrepreneur and event designer. He explained to the audience how to change the approach to event design, view it from all perspectives using the #EventCanvas tool as a foundation for developing key ideas. He motivated the audience to activate their frontal lobes, embrace new ways of thinking, and adopt innovative approaches to event organization. Additionally, he announced and invited attendees to register for a workshop where they can gain more concrete knowledge and a certificate - EDC Level 1 training for the Event Design Certificate. This workshop is scheduled to take place in Croatia ahead of MEETEX on March 12, 2024.
The final and most significant part of the event followed - networking with colleagues, exchanging new knowledge, experiences, plans, and creating new partnerships for organizing even more exciting events, both in Croatia and specifically in Dubrovnik.