Croatia has become the 25th member of the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe, which is a result of the work and commitment of the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Croatian Association of Congress Tourism Professionals whose representatives lobbied successfully for our country’s membership in this valuable association. The last round of talks took place during the last meeting of the Alliance held in Riga in April of this year, and the fact we were admitted to the association represents a great recognition for Croatia. The importance of this membership was also underlined by the Director of the CNTB Head Office, Mr. Ratomir Ivičić.
“Congress or MICE tourism is frequently mentioned in Croatia as an important tourism product which can considerably affect the extension of the tourist season, therefore it was included in the project “Croatia 365”. This product also has its place in the Tourism Development Strategy where it is defined as one of the ten key products according to which the strategic development of Croatian tourism is forecast. In addition, the National Program for the Development of the Congress Offer was created, and it represents the common framework for the operations of various relevant stakeholders in the development of this tourism product. It is certain that this membership will further raise the overall activities to a higher level. Croatia is a destination which can offer something new in this segment because we are a relatively undiscovered destination in terms of MICE tourism, and this is our main advantage that we can and must exploit”, said the Director Ivičić, and added that there are destinations in Croatia that have created the strong image of a congress destination, such as Zagreb, Opatija, Split, and Dubrovnik.
It is an association that was created with the aim of strengthening the exchange of knowledge and partnership cooperation among member countries, which also discuss numerous projects and research related to the trends of the congress offer. According to the 2014 ICCS Statistics Report, Europe is the leading destination for congress tourism, and one of the main goals of the association is to maintain this position in the future. With Croatia as a new member, the following countries are included in the association: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Latvia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. It is expected that Croatia as a full member will participate at the next meeting of the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe, which will be held on 26 and 27 January 2017 in Florence.