Ljubljana Receives Meetings Star Award
22 Feb 2024
At the 16th Conventa business trade show, Ljubljana was awarded the Meetings Star Award in the destination category for venues accommodating up to 2,000 congress participants. According to the international jury, the Slovenian capital epitomizes a modern congress destination, offering a green, healthy, safe, and stress-free environment for event organizers. Its experiential diversity, compactness, and connection with nature distinguish it, enabling the organization of events that are environmentally and socially responsible, as emphasized in the assessment.
Konec pohoda na Jurčičevi domačiji na Muljavi © arhiv Železniški muzej
Konec pohoda na Jurčičevi domačiji na Muljavi © arhiv Železniški muzej
The Kongres Magazine and Conventa presented the Meetings Star Awards for the fourteenth time last night in the Linharjeva Dvorana Hall of Cankarjev Dom, recognizing the best congress destinations, hotels, congress centers, and influencers. These awards enjoy great prestige among event organizers, as they are awarded based on carefully crafted criteria and standards.
International assessors evaluate the quality of destinations based on the Meeting Experience Index matrix, which includes 75 evaluation criteria. This time, they assessed 129 destinations from 33 countries in four different categories based on the number of participants the destination can accommodate without logistical and organizational complications. Ljubljana achieved the highest score (4.5) among 31 destinations that can host up to 2,000 congress participants (Category L). Among other things, the jury noted in their assessment that the Slovenian capital has "everything more renowned meeting destinations do but offers all that in a boutique, enticing and professional package. The professional team of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau, operating under Ljubljana Tourism, has a clear vision and strategy." Tallinn also received the same rating as Ljubljana in Category L, while the winners in the remaining categories were Vienna (Category XL), Dubrovnik (Category M), and Goriška Brda (Category S). CEO of Ljubljana Tourism, M. Sc. Petra Stušek, was shortlisted for the best destination influencer.
The Conventa Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to retired long-time employee of Ljubljana Tourism, Tatjana Radovič, one of the most prominent figures in the Slovenian and European meetings industry. She made significant contributions to the establishment of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau and the Slovenian Convention Bureau, the establishment of Slovenian congress standards, IMEX Challenge Slovenia, and numerous promotional campaigns.
Conventa and Conventa Crossroads, the First Regional Forum of Meeting Industry Decision Makers
Conventa is the largest event in the meetings industry in New Europe, attracting numerous distinguished guests from around the world each year. Tourism Ljubljana, as one of the key partners of the organizer, Toleranca Marketing Agency, has been involved since the beginning. They also co-created the first regional forum of meeting industry decision-makers, held on the eve of Conventa, February 20th, at the Rog Center. It aimed to connect decision-makers and representatives of the meeting industry, particularly to highlight the economic and social impact of the business events industry on cities, regions, and countries. Petra Stušek, CEO of Ljubljana Tourism, presented Ljubljana as an example of good practice in the regenerative approach to event organization. According to her, these events act as drivers of change, which are no longer considered solely in terms of continuous growth and multiplicative effects, but circularly, in terms of broader effects or the common welfare they create. Ljubljana's vision is to become the creative capital of Europe for creative events, responsible to participants, the environment, and society.