Impressions from IMEX Frankfurt 2023
1 Jun 2023
IMEX Frankfurt is one of the most important events on the international meetings industry annual calendar. This year it was held between May, 22-24th. More than 2,000 exhibitors and over 3,500 hosted buyers and business visitors participated, with over 12,000 attendees in total.
© Arhiv Namizno-teniške zveze Slovenije
The three-day event, considered one of the key trade shows for meetings, incentive, conferences and events market, was attended also by the representatives of Ljubljana Convention bureau. Their main goal was to meet potential new clients, and to strengthen the business ties within the association membership framework activities of ICCA and City DNA.
New episodes of 'Ljubljana talks'
At the event 16 new episodes of Ljubljana Talks were filmed - the awarded online chat series featuring experts from various areas of the events industry are created by Jan Oršič, Head of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau, and Gorazd Čad, Director of Toleranca marketing and Editor-in-chief of Kongres magazine. One episode stands out in particular - it is a conversation between two brilliant female leaders - Petra Stušek, Managing Director of Ljubljana Tourism and President of the board of City DNA, and Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group. In the conversation, Ms. Stušek stressed the importance of Ljubljana's commitment to regenerative tourism, which aims not only to reduce the impact on the environment but to restore or create for locals the conditions as they were before the arrival of tourists. Ms. Bauer emphasized some crucial measures needed to increase the sustainability of big events such as IMEX Frankfurt.
Rich educational programme
An important part of the trade show is also its educational offer which featured over 300 events this year (from round tables to lectures, panels and workshops) on several topics, including technology, innovation, research, trends, business practices, experience design and event marketing. The role of the meetings industry in the future was also discussed as well as the ideas revolving around the concept of sustainability, which was a recurring theme or fil rouge of the entire programme.
International ICCA statistics for 2022: excellent results for Ljubljana
One of the most highy anticipated publications in the business is the annual ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) Statistics Report. With 40 events, this year Ljubljana holds the 40th place in the world, and is 32nd in Europe. With 59 events, Slovenia reached 40th place in the world rankings, and is placed 23rd in Europe.
The results are excellent also in the light of an increasingly competitive business environment within the global meetings industry, and will help strengthen the image of Ljubljana as a high-quality destination for meetings of international scientific and professional associations in the future.