A quick look at 2016 and an overview on congress Ljubljana in 2017

Although 2016 is not over yet, it can be definitely considered a positive year with regard to the business volume growth in the meetings industry sector and tourism overall. Although there was no congress going beyond 800 delegates, a considerable number of mid-sized ones attracted from 300 to 600 delegates. The largest event organized this year by regional, European or international association at CD – Cankarjev dom Congress Centre Ljubljana was WINFOCUS World 2016 - the 12th World Congress on Ultrasound in Emergency & Critical Care Medicine, with 780 attendees, followed by the EU Robotics Forum, with 500 delegates. At the GR – Ljubljana Exhibition & Convention Centre, instead, 6th European Congress on Geosynthetics - EuroGeo 6, NMDPD 2016 (on Parkinson disease) and the 17th World Lace Congress of OIDFA attracted 600 delegates each. The Grand Hotel Union was the venue for the 21st EUMASS Congress of Insurance Medicine and Social Security (600 delegates) and 15th Congress of the European Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society - EVECC 2016 (400 delegates) and the 11th European Quality Assurance Forum (400 delegates). Among the academic venues, the largest event, CEEISA-ISA 2016 Joint International Conference, »Politics for International Relations«, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, attracted 700 delegates.

Among the congress highlights in 2017, similar in terms of size to the larger congresses this year, are:

In February

• 2017 EFMD Conference for Deans & Directors General
  Faculty of Economics / University of Ljubljana, 350 delegates
• T. Harv Eker's Millionaire Mind Intensive Event
  GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, 1.000 delegates

In April:

• 10th International Congress of the Vascular Access Society – VAS 2017
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 600 delegates
• 2nd South Eastern European Joint Meeting of Thoracic Anaesthesiologists and Surgeons
  Grand Hotel Union, 200 delegates

In May:

• 36th EBC Congress - European Brewery Convention 2017
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 600 delegates
• 4th World Landslide Forum
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 500 delegates

In June:

• 16th World Congress of Fetal Medicine
  GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, 1.800 delegates

In July:

• 10th Liquid Matter Conference
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 800 delegates

In September:

• Open Educational Resources – OER
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 500 delegates
• European JAZZ Conference and EJN General Assembly
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 250 delegates
• 29th Congress of EFSUMB – Euroson 2017
  GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, 700 delegates
  This venue has three more potential projects from 500 to 1,800 delegates in negotiation process at the moment.

In October:

• European Academy of Paediatrics Congress and Mastercourse - EAP2017
  CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, 600 delegates
• Europa Donna Pan-European Conference 2017
  Grand Hotel Union, 300 delegates
• 13th European Lighting Conference - Lux Europa 2017
  Grand Hotel Union, 280 delegates
  The largest convention hotel in Ljubljana is between January and July also hosting five meetings of the Forum Train Europe – FTE on the harmonisation of freight and passanger traffic on railways (150 participants each), which have been returning to the same venue for years.

Confirmed congress bookings are in place for as far as the year 2021, and it is already clear now that 2018 will be a record congress year for Ljubljana! Destination partners focusing primarily on the corporate / incentive markets, both hotels and DMC's, are also reporting a positive business outlook in 2017, following a well busy year 2016. Check out the congress calendar for the updated list of major association events in Ljubljana.