The Croatian National Tourist Board participates in the congress fair IBTM World, which takes place from November 28 to 30 in Barcelona. It is one of the most important fairs in Europe and the world, where HTZ has traditionally presented the Croatian congress and incentive offers.
"IBTM represents one of the central gathering places of international supply and demand in MICE tourism, and it is important to promote Croatia in such renowned company. Our country has strong foundations for even greater development of MICE tourism, which contributes to the development of Croatia as a year-round destination. The high level of satisfaction of the business clientele that visits us, as well as the increasingly frequent organization of business meetings throughout Croatia, proves that we use the potential of MICE tourism well", said Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, adding that during 2023 we witnessed the recovery of the business travel industry. "In fact, according to the International Congress and Convention Association, an association that collects data on held international business meetings, this year Croatia is in a high 33rd place in the world", concluded Staničić.
On the first day of the fair, many enquiries and interested subjects were recorded for Croatia as an ideal and safe destination for holding congress events. The most significant interest was from partners who organize small and medium-sized business gatherings and travel incentives.
When we talk about Croatian destinations, the most significant interest in Croatian destinations is related to our airports, which have the most number of international airlines in the pre-season and post-season. While Zagreb is an exciting option above all for professional conferences, more and more partners are asking about Split or Hvar as incentive destinations, and Dubrovnik, as the most famous Croatian destination, interests partners for all kinds of business meetings, just like Šibenik, which is the only destination with a congress center. On the other hand, Istria, Kvarner, Zadar, and continental destinations are interesting to neighboring countries mainly because of their proximity.
In addition to the Croatian Tourist Board, 19 local co-exhibitors are participating at the fair, including the tourist boards of the cities of Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Šibenik, and Opatija, as well as various hotel companies and travel agencies. This year, CNTB noted the record interest of Croatian co-exhibitors in IBTM.
In addition to individual meetings of domestic and foreign partners and special presentations of destinations for different groups of customers, the Croatian stand, in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, offers tastings of top-quality domestic wines and autochthonous gastronomic specialties and a prize draw is planned, in which participants have the opportunity win a trip to Croatia.
Let's add that more than 3,000 destinations and providers are presented in Barcelona, who have the opportunity to meet over 15,000 professionals from the business travel industry. The critical trends discussed during the IBTM congress are related to sustainability, demography, inclusiveness, and the Virtual Experience economy.
