December 2018 //
73.
www.kongres-magazine.eu
SPECIAL EDITION // Selection of top interviews in 2018
CONT RIBU TORS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF // GORAZD ČAD Editor of the magazine is a geographer and historian by profession. He united his professional education and love of discovering new lesser-known meetings destinations with love and passion for the meetings industry. In meetologues he shares his enthusiasm with the readers. NATALIJA BAH ČAD // MEETINGS AND EVENT MANAGER An unforgettable member in the editorial board of travelogues. She has insight into the soul of destinations based on many years of practical experience with the organisation of events. She is interested in everything from the history, geography and destination marketing to care for the tiny little things that make the big events. ASSISTANT EDITOR // AJDA BORAK Since she was a young girl, she was in love with stories. Constructing reality and creating stories with words is for Ajda a game that never gets boring. The beauty of her job at Kongres Magazine is in the endless amounts of stories she is diving in on a daily basis. JASMINA JERANT // EDITOR INTELLIGENT CONTENT A creative writer since childhood was brought into the meetings industry where she can release her passion for storytelling. She seeks for unusual, hidden, and charming facts that make a town or a building shine in a different way. She believes that places are like people. In each one of them you can find something amusing. GRAPHIC DESIGNER // BARBARA DIMEC Visual explorer, creative problem solver, graphic designer with interest in creating innovative digital and print design solutions. Curious and always in search for new inspiration and knowledge. She strives towards positive attitude in every challenging situation with goal to translate plain information to compelling visual messages.
PUBLISHER AND PRODUCTION Poslovni turizem Gorazd Čad s.p., Kamnica 6B, SI-1262 Dol pri Ljubljani T: +385 (0)1 430 51 03 E: gorazd.cad@go-mice.eu
MARKETING Toleranca Marketing d.o.o., Štihova 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana T: +385 (0)1 430 51 03 E: gorazd.cad@toleranca.eu
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KONGRES MAGAZINE
360° MICE ACTIVATION
ANALYTICS Marketing analytics
CONTENT Copywriting and Content marketing
SALES Personal sales
EXPERIENCE Sales events
VIDEO Video campaigns
DATABASE Big data targeting
360° MICE ACTIVATION
PRINT Image building
ONLINE Digital Campaigns
SOCIAL Social media campaigns
DIRECT E-mail marketing and Telemarketing
with TOLERANCA MARKETING
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
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"What it taught me was to be true to myself … always." - Jan Jaap In der Maur
WORD FROM THE EDITOR Selection of top interviews in 2018
"Hard work…..ambition but a soft ego." The editorial board of Kongres Magazine has walked an interesting path since 2006. This is already the 73rd issue of the magazine, meaning that in the past 12 years we have published six issues per year. This proves that our media is strong and that our readers and the industry obviously need it. We will not celebrate the 13th year of Kongres Magazine with Champagne but rather with a contemplation on how – on our path towards the 100th issue – further develop the content and vision in order to aid the industry. In doing so, each and every critical and encouraging response from our readers is very much appreciated. Thirteen years ago, we did not know exactly what media path we were taking. The stories we revealed were often unexpected, surprising and visionary. We believe that the relevant content we have distributed since then has been the reason for the constant increase in the number of readers. What impresses us the most, are the personal stories of individuals who are shaping the destinations and the industry. Kongres Magazine regularly captures these special stories and presents them through interviews, but this time, for the first time (!), we present them gathered in this special Interview edition. We selected among the 2018 interviews according to achieved readership and according to their importance for the meetings industry. The interviews have been collected in the following thematic sections: Newsmakers, Voices from The Top, Enfant Terrible, Young Talents and Kongres In Focus. You will find many exceptional individuals who are changing our industry. Let their stories inspire and motivate you for your future work and progress.
- Jorg Zupan
"Discovering new places, art and experiencing other cultures is making me better in my business and in event organization." - Boris Kovaček
"Art is the oxygen of life. Culture shows us who we are and where we come from." - Patrick Roubroeks
"We HAVE to trust each other and this is the only way we can succeed together!" - Bjorn Wigforss
Gorazd Čad Editor-in-Chief
"Content is the king. And relevant content spread to your target group on time is the queen." - Nina Erneker
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NEWSMAKERS
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"Interviews "Interview industry pro industry the stories o the storie
with meetings ws with meetings ofessionals who reveal professionals who reveal of their succes" es of their succes"
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NEWSMAKERS
WE HAD TO CHANGE IN ORDER TO STAY ALIVE
Interview with Boris Kovaček, Co-founder and Co-owner of Pepermint and Executive director of Weekend Media Festival JASMINA JERANT //
WEEKEND MEDIA FESTIVAL
Boris Kovaček is a co-founder and co-owner of Croatian event agency Pepermint. He is also the executive director and co-owner of the Weekend Media Festival as well as Project Manager at the World Handball Championship, the European Water Polo Championship, Terraneo Music Festival, Asian Beach Games 2010. Before Pepermint, he built his career at EPH, DA! and as DJ in Zagreb clubs. His last major project was launch of the first amusement park in this part of Europe. Fun Park Biograd was opened in 2017.
"The crisis hit us. Event business was hit hard, we lost 75% of our budgets."
Q: You have started in the event industry as a light technician in a disco club, if I am not mistaken. How has your path then developed to the place in which you are now? As any other young man, I had many part time jobs during my student days. Waiter, furniture delivery, help in the kitchen etc. But the first job that I really liked, was being the light technician in a club. It might sound stupid, but it really is a creative job where you get an insight into the club’s organisation and business models. Light equipment was really primitive and analogue at the time. During that period, I met Tomo Ricov who is now my partner in Pepermint. Actually, I met him on my first working day, or should I say ‘first working night’ and then I was promoting his club nights. After a few years, he offered me to use his music for DJ-ing. I was a part of Zagreb’s clubbing scene for ten years and I worked in famous clubs like Kulušić, GjuroII and Hard Rock Cafe Zagreb. I was cofounder of Subculture, the first magazine for clubbing culture and music in region. Fun times... My first ‘real’ job was in Europapress Holding (EPH), the most important publishing house at the time. My first job was Auto klub and Playboy promotion coordinator; probably a dream job for any 20-something-yearold. But most important role I had, was being a deputy of promotion director for Jutarnji list. I was involved in all big events as Jutarnji was the media partner for all of them: Motovun Film Festival, Ulysses Theatre,
NEWSMAKERS
Dajmo da Ä?uju humanitarian campaign, Simoa OK Supershow, bunch of music festivals and concerts ... My baggiest accomplishment at that time were promotional games for Jutarnji list where we doubled sales and made history in the industry. After EPH, I have joined my friend Tomo in event agency DA!, part of the Digitel Komunikaccije, the largest communication group at the region at the time. We moved to event organising business from clubs and we still think of events as club nights that have to have a mixture of people, a mixture of music, and an idea behind it. Main thing for us was to have a satisfied client, happy guests and to enjoy and have fun while doing our job.
"Discovering new places, art and experiencing other cultures is making me better in my business and in event organization."
Q: Through all these experiences, what or who has been your greatest inspiration and why? Urban, pop culture has always been an inspiration for me. If you want to learn about culture, you have to travel and learn. Discovering new places, art and experiencing other cultures is making me better in my business and event organization. It is also very important to understand how things work in order to use them in the right way. We have to understand technology. That is why curiosity is an important part of my professional path. Q: In 2008, you started the Weekend Media Festival, which now counts more than 5000 participants from 150 countries annually. How did you come up with the idea for such a festival? My partner Tomo was the head of TV Production Company and he was visiting many festivals (Cannes, Picnic...). We realised that wherever he went, people from the region were hanging out together trying to learn what was going on in their neighbouring countries. That was the idea ... to connect regional professionals from the media and creative industries in one place. In Weekend, we implemented our way of doing events and it was a success from day one. We detected the need on the market and created the idea to cover large portion of the market and different target groups. Media, marketing and creativity are parts of any industry. Another important thing are our partners Adris and the city of Rovinj. Rovinj is one of the most beautiful destinations on our coast. We grow together and introduce it as a congress destination. Q: How did the development of such a festival in this region went? Have you hit any obstacles? And where has the support come from? Thanks to our partners, sponsors and friends, we were growing for 2030% annually. I do not like to talk about obstacles, though, as they are just a part of life.
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Q: In 2010, you co-founded an event agency Pepermint. How has the event industry in Croatia changed since then? Or rather, what is the current state of the event and live marketing industry in Croatia? Pepermint was born with Weekend and very soon after that the crisis hit us. Event business was hit hard, we lost 75% of our budgets. We re-invented our company and changed it from event management to project management. We had to change in order to stay alive; and we succeeded. Since then, the Pepermint has managed projects like Asian Beach Games in Oman, European Water polo Championship, Terraneo Festival, BoŞićna bajka on Zagreb Advent and many others ... I think that the event industry is rising again, and I can see a great future for it, especially in the congress organising segment. Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges for your company inside the event industry in Croatia and in the region? Our biggest challenge is to stay fresh and to understand what clients need. Second one is to keep up with technology and use it to involve par-
ticipants in creating events.
Q: If you could change anything in the meetings and event industry, what would you change? I would build bigger facilities and halls on Croatian coast. This is key for longer season. Q: How will event planning, by your opinion, look like in the future? My brother is organising events for pharmaceutical industry named The Future is Now. I think that it is true. We have to change every day but still keep our standards and stay true to ourselves. Q: You mentioned in our s interview ahead of Conventa Crossover that creating Weekend Media Festival Hawaii should be THE thing that you would like to cross off from your bucket list by the end of 2018. Have you succeeded? Hehe, Weekend Media Festival Hawaii is a dream and every boy has a dream!
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HUMAN BEINGS WILL CRAVE FOR MORE REAL EXPERIENCES
Interview with Navneeth Mohan, Director & CEO of Laqshya Live Experiences, Best BEA World Event Agency 2018 JASMINA JERANT //
LAQSHYA LIVE EXPERIENCES
At the recent BEA World Festival, one event agency particularly shone. The Indian agency Laqshya Live Experiences took home an amazing set of awards, among them the title of the Best BEA World Event Agency 2018 and the BEA World Grand Prix for project Google Home Training. Kongres Magazine in an exclusive interview talked to the agency’s director and CEO, Navneeth Mohan, about the agency’s work, awards, about experiential marketing in India, about the industry in the future etc.
Navneeth Mohan started his career with Encompass and was there for almost 10 years to become the national event services head and Vice President for the western region. He then joined BIG Live, from the Reliance Broadcast stable, where he was the company’s national business head. His previous stint was with E18 – A Division of Network18 Media & Investments Limited where he spearheaded overall operations as the COO. He has been the director and chief executive offer of Laqshya Live Experiences since 2014.
BEST BEA WORLD EVENT AGENCY: Laqshya Live Experiences BEA WORLD GRAND PRIX 1st prize – Google Home Training, Laqshya Live Experiences 3rd prize – Equal Streets, Laqshya Live Experiences EDUCATIONAL/TRAINING EVENT 1st prize – Google Home Training, Laqshya Live Experiences NON PROFIT/SOCIAL SERVICE EVENT 1st prize – Equal Streets, Laqshya Live Experiences PUBLIC EVENT 2nd prize - Yoga by the bay, Laqshya Live Experiences SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION 1st prize - Zero Waste Management, Laqshya Live Experiences
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Q: Laqshya Live Experiences received an incredible collection of awards at the latest BEA World Festival. What has contributed to such a success? What is the company’s secret? We are a young company with an average age of team members being 24 years. We don’t feel the pressures of legacy since we are just 5 years old. This gives us the liberty to play with ideas, creatives and to really just keep re-inventing ourselves. We are not overwhelmed by technology. We look at the macro picture. Every execution is like a story that needs its characters to fall in place - the tech, artists, content, context, audience … all come together to create the desired impact!!! Viewing them in isolation doesn’t do justice to their potential to create an event. We are constantly trying to push the envelope of creativity and this is the culture we are trying to imbibe in everyone within. We now believe that we are a future-ready agency. We are hurtling towards becoming the #aagencyofthefuture not only in India but globally too ... soon. Q: Company’s website states the following Vision: »To be the most admired and awarded company in the Indian experiential marketing space.« Has the recent bouquet of accolades at BEA World Festival achieved the goal of this vision? The vision statement is for agency a moving direction. From day one we have kept our vision statement in mind while conducting ourseleves. As our vision statement we had specifically kept an open-ended statement, a non-measurable statement, so we keep evolving with time. Winning one year the recognition and accolades doesn’t yet mean we have achived the stated vision. IT IS ABOUT consistancy; in this ever changing world we need to be globally MOST ADMIRED AND AWARDED EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING Agency YEAR after YEAR. We define short term missions to annually accomplish that change, but our Vision will always stay the same. Q: Laqysha has since its inception organised more than 500 events. How many in 2018? 2018 has been, by far, the biggest year for Laqshya Live Experiences in terms of all parameters: revenue, growth, number of clients, number of events/projects, and, of course NUMBER of awards!!!! We have done close to 200 events/activations in 2018.
Q: You certainly must be a very sought for agency. What is that what convinces you that the event or the client is aligned with the Laqysha’s spirit and you take the business? We are a young agency still building brand equity amongst brands, but we beilve we have a long way to go since there are many legacy agencies in India which have been operational almost for 25-30 years; many of them are part of large networks now like WPP, Dentsu etc. We are an independent agency and that gives us a lot of flexibility to choose. One parameter we use regularly is whether the client wants a startegic long-term partner or whether they are just looking for a one-off event; we have been and are working with clients who see the value of long-term association. Secondly, we don’t want to be in the price market; pricing is important, but we usually avoid clients who are just working with agencies with the lowest price. Last but not the least, we look at the financial stability and history of the clients.
"Human beings, being the social animal, will crave for more and more REAL experiences"
Q: The awards came in categories like educational/training event, non profit/social service event, public event, and sustainable inovation. Is it a coincidence that the best events from your company came from these very related categories? I know a few of them are related, like Sustainable and Non Profit events, but the Training event was way different and so was the Public Event. If you look at the track record of our wins in India across the last 4 years, we have won accross all kinds of work – Conventions, Best Conference, Best Mall Activation, Best Youth Activation, Best MICE programme, Best Use of Digital Media, Best Exhibitions, Best Lifestyle event etc etc. We are most proud of this fact that we are not an unidimensional agency and our work cuts across client categories and types of project. We have always belived in the depth of the client relationships – the client should come to us for any kind of/scale of project and not go to another agency for a specific job. Even at the BEA almost 90% of the agencies entered one or 2 projects in multiple categories, we were amongst the few agencies that entereted 4 different entries in 4 different categories. Q: Which of the awards is your favourite one and why? This is like asking, amongst all your kids which is your favorite one. Each one had its own uniqueness and idea. So it’s extremely difficult to pick one. Of course the Grand Prix winners – Google Home Training and Equal Street – will always have a special place in our trophy cabinet. Q: How would you describe the current state of the event- and live marketing industry in India? India is placed in an advantageous global position as far as the experiential industry is concerned. For one, in terms of technology, we are at par with the most progressive global companies and ideas. Moreover, our diversity helps us to overlay content with context – a distinct advantage over western cultures that are monolingual. If we blend our ideas with
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global precision of processes and packaging, then India definitely has an edge. All industry reports say that the Indian events & experiential marketing industry is growing at 16-18% year after year, and clients’ expenditure percentage on experiential in the marketing mix is from about 10% all the way up to 22%; for certain categories this is exepcted to peak at almost 33% share by 2025.
Q: How competitive are the local event agencies? There is a lot of fragmentation in India, also a large part of the supply chain is unorganised. If you look at the part, for 10 years Indian agencies have been executing all across the world mostly for Indian clients. The skill set is available now, it is for each local agency to define their vision and work towards that. Q: By your opinion, what new knowledge, tools and mindset does the
future of experiential marketing need? Tech will for sure play a very important part in our industry. Like in all industries, AI and machine learning will come into play sooner than we expect. Digital events will grow, the tradItional approach will make way for data centric approach. But one thing that will stay, is ideas and creativity; that will be always the core of our industry. Agencies have to react faster to this hyper connected world so flexibility is the key. ‘UNLEARNING’ and RE-LEARING is a mind set all agencies should have when going into the future.
Q: What, do you think, is experiential marketing’s future development?
How do you see it? Some of the points I have mentioned above, but as the world gets more and more virtual and digital, human beings, being the social animal, will crave for more and more REAL experiences – real people, touch and feel,
"We are not overwhelmed by technology. We look at the macro picture."
connections. This will change biggest growth driver for experiential marketing, brands will start spending more and more in this space to give consumers/target audience the ‘real experience’!!!! Other mediums wil reach the consumers and experintial marketing with talk to the consumers to make them take the desired action.
Q: Which experiential marketing event of all that you have experienced so far has touched you the most? Again, there are many many such events – Equal streets is one of those for it is not just an event, it is now a movement. I have attended this event both as an organiser and as a father to my daughter, the very joy of drawing with the chalk on the roads of Mumbai moved me as a father. Some of the Social/Sustainable events still remain very close to my heart as these events have a larger objective, unlike many events that are directly or indirectly designed to impact sales. As an agency, Laqshya Live Experiences will focus on doing a lot more sustainable and social events in the future. Q: What is your dream event? An event that fullfills all the KPIs set and moves the people attending it is a dream event; so for me the scale is really not that defines it. But since you are asking, a dream event for me would be to do an event in Space or a Space Colony!!!!! I am sure SpaceX, Virgin Galectic etc. would make this a reality soon.
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WE ARE TRYING TO EMPHASISE ALL THE BRANDING EFFECTS THAT INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS GIVE TO A DESTINATION Interview with Igor Kovačević, SEO of Serbian Convention Bureau AJDA BORAK //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, PIXABAY
Successfully combining academic and business careers for over 11 years, Igor Kovacević has been part of the Serbia journey from “no destination” to the MICE leader in the region and TOP 50 in the world. In the last 10 years, he has been mainly focusing on working closely with international associations which resulted in establishing a proactive sales platform targeting international clients. In the last 3 years, Igor led the bidding process for over 71 bids in addition to 47 confirmed events. He has been implementing a very successful Congress Ambassador program, creating long-lasting relations with local distinguished members of the program. Igor is also Assistant Professor at the leading Faculty in the region.
"My attitude is that any Bureau that hides behind limited budgets only has an excuse for low results."
Q: What would you highlight as the biggest achievement of the Serbia CVB in the past decade? Our Bureau is part of the NTO Serbia, and ten years is a really long period, so many things have happened. First, we managed, together with our industry, to reach huge growth in the number of international association meetings and for the last 7 years to maintain a presence among the top 50 destinations in the world. Second, I am proud that the meeting industry in Serbia shows great support for all joint sales and business development activities, and this partnership is a base for all further growth. And finally, I am proud of the activities implemented by the bureau that are based on fully recognised and accepted international standards. Q: What were the greatest challenges of the Convention Bureau in the past? The greatest challenges were simultaneously opportunities. Bureau was developed from scratch, with no previous systems and knowledge to apply. That made things harder to do, more time intensive, but it also gave my team and me the opportunity to increase our know-how and to think
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comprehensively, forward and outside the box. We managed to fully develop a bidding system, with over 50 confirmed international meetings in the last 3 years alone, but we are going a step further and highlight the increasing capacities of our local organisations. Another challenge was to develop activities in the corporate market, and although resources are limited, together with our hotels and DMC, we did this too.
Q: Belgrade is ranking higher every year among the European congress destinations. What more needs to be done to climb even higher in the rankings? Belgrade is one of the leading capitals in the entire region. Great hotel infrastructure has been developed and is still under development, and this increases the quality and service levels. We expect that our congress centre will undergo a period of reconstruction soon. We have great air connections with a brand-new airline. To increase our international ranking in the association and corporate market, we now need to focus more on joint business development tools, such as sales calls and workshops, in order to present new and different destination experiences to clients. Also, we will put more emphasis on the creation of new leads and congress ambassadors.
Q: What can Serbia offer congress delegates that no other destination can? At the end of the day, I am of attitude that all congress destinations can offer pretty much the same elements – hotels, venues, congress centres. But the difference is hidden behind two steps. The first step is all about destination experiences. This means that we need to identify WHY one destination is different from another destination. The second step is all about knowing how to sell it. I see in the marketing that this is the situation not just in Serbia but in the entire region and throughout Europe, whereby the biggest stakeholders (such as chain hotels or congress centres) use passive sales tactics. This gives new destinations and new service providers the opportunity to be different in sales activities.
"The key strengths of the meeting industry in Serbia is private-public cooperation."
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Q: How would you describe the cooperation between the public and the private sector in developing congress tourism in Serbia? The key strengths of the meeting industry in Serbia is private-public cooperation. On the one side, we tried to position the Bureau as an umbrella entity that gathers and unifies meeting industry stakeholders around the same goals and ambitions, and on the other side, the meeting industry is developing so fast and that represents the extra wind for the Bureau as well. In front of international clients, we stay together in order to provide the best possible event platforms. Of course, all Bureau activities are prepared and implemented according to previously made agreements, so everyone can see and feel the benefits.
"…I am proud that the meetings industry in Serbia shows great support"
Q: How has the development of congress tourism affected the perception of Serbia? We understood that meetings mean more than business and economic effects. Therefore, we are trying to emphasise all the branding effects that international meetings give to a destination. By hosting a European or world congress in a certain field, Serbia immediately becomes one of the top destinations in a given field, and this is something that brings benefits in a long-term and sustainable way.
Q: In your dissertation you stated that congress tourism is a “quick win” strategic product for Serbian tourism. Can you please explain that? A “quick win” status of congress tourism in Serbia resulted from the fact that certain congress infrastructure already existed and that hotel infrastructure is growing. And “the only” thing we need to do is to “wrap it up and sell it”. Of course, it is not that easy. Q: What is your marketing strategy and how important is marketing, in your opinion? My attitude is that any Bureau that hides behind limited budgets only has an excuse for low results. In the real-case scenario, the results of the Serbia Convention Bureau are reached through the level of knowhow and expertise, on meeting industry support and on local association strengths. Therefore, the marketing we do is 100% one-on-one marketing. On the other hand, in order to reach a more global visibility, one needs to invest in proper marketing and a brand campaign. As long those are based on adequate platforms, it’s all good. Q: And now about you personally… what are your biggest challenges in your position at the Convention Bureau and at the Faculty? I have the privilege to work doing what I like the most – being a professor at the University of Belgrade-Faculty of Economics, and being involved in the proactive selling of Serbia as a congress destination. I managed to combine theory and practice in order to give 200% to the students and clients. The challenge is that we work with people. People need energy. So, I need to balance positive energy for the people that deserve it (students always deserve it) and great clients and colleagues, but to be careful not to spare it on the ones that are not true professionals.
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BE OPEN, BUILD UP A GLOBAL NETWORK, DO NOT BE SHY ‌
Interview with Christian Mutschlechner, Director of the Vienna Convention Bureau, before leaving the office JASMINA JERANT //
CLEMENS G. SCHILDBERGER, VIENNA CONVENTION BUREAU
After 34 years of service at the Vienna Tourist Board (and 27 years as Director of the Vienna Convention Bureau, a department of the Vienna Tourist Board), Christian Mutschlechner will retire in February. He has experienced a lot of dramatic changes, adapting the strategy of the Vienna CVB to upcoming new technologies and to the changing marketplace. Excellent congress infrastructure, a high standard of conference support services and the cultural attractions of the city make Vienna one of the top destinations for international conferences worldwide and Christian has definitely helped position it there. For several consecutive years, he has been voted one of the most influential people in the meetings industry. Before Christian Mutschlechenr embarks on his well-deserved retirement, we talked to him about his career, about three decades of the meetings industry, about the new generation in MICE, etc.
"I think one of the big issues in our industry is still that convention bureaus are seen as tourism departments."
Q: What were your beginnings in the meetings industry? How did you start? I started back in 1977 as a volunteer working at conferences. And in 1978, I started as an employee in a Viennese PCO company, learning by doing the meetings industry, the way it was perceived and handled at that time. Q: How would you compare the meetings industry of those days to today’s? It is not comparable anymore. I started when meetings were perceived by the organisers as well as by industry outsiders as a thing of high class tourists spending little time in meeting rooms. This has disappeared completely; today, conferences are platforms for postgraduate education, networking, learning and personal face-to-face meetings in order to develop new partnerships in projects, etc.
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Q: In the last three decades, what have been the greatest challenges that you have faced in your work? The most interesting challenge was and still is to be a mediator between professional staff in head offices of associations and the volunteer leadership – there is still a gap between what could be achieved and how knowledge should be presented nowadays to make people’s participation a real experience.
"I started when meetings were perceived by the organisers as well as by industry outsiders as a thing of high class tourists spending little time in meeting rooms."
Q: Which of your achievements make you proudest? There are probably two I would mention. The first one is the establishing of the Vienna Meetings Industry Report that includes on the one hand statistics about all meetings (associations and corporate) taking place in Vienna, while on the other hand is an introduction of the economic evaluation of this business from the beginning. The second one is the creation of the AC Forum, a dedicated association of large associations in Europe. I felt that large associations needed a platform for exchange but also for learning and benchmarking, thus I founded the Forum in 1999. The AC Forum celebrates its 20th birthday in 2019 (in Vienna, of course) and it is still growing. Q: Do you regret anything? Or better, do you wish you had done anything differently? Not really, sometimes I have wanted to be even more active in various forums where people further develop our industry, but our days only have 24 hours so sometimes you have to say no. Q: Is there any story that you and your co-workers talk and laugh about over a glass of beer? We are quite often celebrating business victories in our team, and occasionally, during working hours, we feel the need to chat and also have some fun – this is key in order to manage stress, client requests, etc. And of course, a lot of funny stories happen among ourselves but also with clients, and that is always worth a smile or even a laugh. Q: What, do you think, are the trends that will shape the meetings industry of tomorrow? It will further develop in the direction of staging knowledge in a different way, bringing in experience from the theatre but it will also further focus on human psychology and behaviour – we are still at the beginning. And I strongly believe that meetings will look different in 5–10 years from now. Q: What would you recommend to young people (millennials and Generation Z) who would like to succeed in the meetings industry?
Be open, build up a global network, do not be shy to contact “senior” people in the industry and –definitely the most important – is to work and live your network. And never stop learning, be interested and try to understand the world of associations and corporations.
Q: Your legacy in the regional meetings industry is immeasurable. Will you still be connected to the industry in any way? Maybe as a hobby? I will definitely be around in the meetings industry in different roles, but as long as I am interested in what is going on and what is changing, I will be a part of it. Q: What is the first thing you will do in your retirement? I leave on 31 January, on 1 February I already have another meeting and a farewell party in the evening and my diary for that week is already full of appointments. Q: Is there anything else that you would like to add/share with us? I think one of the big issues in our industry is still that convention bureaus are seen as tourism departments and very often local politics plays a game, not understanding that our business is a real long-term business and the worst thing for clients is the ever-changing staff in bureaus, depending on changes in local politics. Thus, you can never build up a real relationship with clients that benefits the destination. I have seen so many young people motivated, interested, ready to start a bureau, but a few months later the politics changed, and these people disappeared from the industry. That’s something I do not understand, especially considering the investment that has been put into these people.
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THREE TIMES MORE PEOPLE THAN THE TOWN’S INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY Interview with Boban Milunović, Founder of Metaldays, Punk Rock Holiday, Motörcity, Winter Days of Metal and Overjam Reggae Festival JASMINA JERANT //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, WWW.ROCKNROLLDELUXE.COM / STIPE SURAC
Many people might know Boban Milunović as the owner and promoter of the biggest festival in Slovenia, MetalDays, where he is in charge of the entire management and booking of the festival; but he actually runs 4 other festivals too: Punk Rock Holiday, Winter Days of Metal, MotörCity and the Overjam Reggae Festival. Boban has 25 years of experience in the music business and 15 years of festival organisation. He has spent pretty much his whole life in the music industry, from playing in various bands and being a tour manager, to owning a recording and mastering studio, where he handled mastering and production. Boban is also member of a Slovenian blues rock band called Stray Train.
"We are a team of 11 people throughout the year, but at MetalDays itself we have 400 employees."
Q: How did you start with the first festival? In 2007, I was asked by one of the owners of Metalcamp to take the CEO position in the company that promoted the festival. The situation between the shareholders was complicated on a personal and professional level and the company was €400,000 in debt. It took me lot of effort to turn the page to the positive side, where we are now with MetalDays. The first step was to cut all the unnecessary costs and investments in order to bring the company to a financially positive level. Beside that, it was imperative to establish the goal of where we wanted to go with the project, as the shareholders had no idea and could not even say why they had come that far. Q: What were the biggest challenges? The most challenging thing was to find the right balance between 5 shareholders that were not able to talk to each other. From 2007 to 2012, I lost a lot of energy on it, and although the company was in a much better position than the one I had found it in, it was clear that the whole thing had no future. You can’t run a business where personal dif-
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ferences are more important than the business itself. Therefore, I left my position as CEO in the company that promoted Metalcamp and I started MetalDays as my own festival in 2013. In 2012, I was already the owner of the Punk Rock Holiday Festival, a project that had got off to a bad start in 2011. As it had lost a lot of money, it was offered to me and I loved the idea, so I took it over and turned it into our 2nd most successful festival, after MetalDays.
Q: How did the locals react to MetalDays? The locals were mostly positive about all the festivals in Tolmin. The first festival there was a local one that still exists in a really small setup. The first bigger festival was the reggae festival River Splash that had a few great years but went bankrupt. We thought that a reggae festival made sense in Tolmin and therefore we took over the Overjam International Reggae festival in 2017 as our third festival. Tolmin is a small place that during MetalDays becomes the 9th biggest city in Slovenia. We have even more visitors than Postojna has inhabitants. Having 3 times more people than the the town’s infrastructure is made for can be challenging, and this can be a problem for some of the Tolmin people. But the overall feeling is welcoming.
Q: You once said that for you event management is not a job, but rather a lifestyle. Do you actually plan to attract bands that you personally like? Do you ever take it as your personally curated concert? Not really. I may book a band or two for myself but this is nothing I would try to build on. A festival is about the balance between personal taste, the budget that you have to work within, the real position on the market of the bands that you would like to book, and the availability of those bands. Our Bluesland festival, that we hold at Ljubljana Castle, suits my musical taste best. I can say that I book artists for Bluesland that I personally like and would love to see performing at Bluesland. Q: How have the audience numbers grown over the years? And what countries are they coming from? MetalDays went from 6000 in 2013 to 12,000 in 2016 and this is our max ‌ we don’t sell more than 12,000 tickets. In 2018, we had visitors from 80 different countries. Q: Your events are known to be some of the most successful ones in Slovenia. But is there anything that still bothers you about your own events?
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Not really. I think we make best festivals given the possibilities and situation. We went really far when it comes to the ecological aspect of the festivals. We won an A Greener Festival award in 2017 and 2018 in most ecological festival category. I can say that we are pioneers in festival ecology and years ahead of all other European festivals.
"We are pioneers in festival ecology and years ahead of all other European festivals."
Q: This is a huge machine, it seems. How many people work on these projects? We are a team of 11 people throughout the year, but at MetalDays itself we have 400 employees. Q: What are you planning for the future? The plan for the future is to make our festivals even better. We do not want to expand. We will concentrate even more on ecology in order to try and make zero-waste festivals out of our events. Q: Is there a band that you haven’t yet managed to get, but you wish you could? There are lots of them … but unfortunately all our festivals are too small to accommodate the bands that I would like to see in Tolmin. Q: What has been, so far, your favourite moment at your festivals? Probably the Judas Priest show at MetalDays 2018, ‘cos this is the biggest band we can host in Tolmin, and knowing that you have reached your maximum is a great feeling. Q: If you had no budget restrictions, which band would you invite? AC/DC, without a doubt.
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TRAVELLING UNVEILS NEW DIMENSIONS OF THIS WORLD NOT KNOWN TO THE NAKED EYE Interview with Dušica Čarapić, Director of sales at Centreville Hotel AJDA BORAK //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, CENTREVILE HOTEL
Dušica Čarapić, a petite lady with a grande mission. The director of sales for the Centre Ville since the opening of the hotel. She took over a socalled tabula rasa, and made not just a popular hotel, but is creating a popular place – the Livingroom of Podgorica. The lobby of Centre Ville Hotel is not a typical hotel lobby, it is a place where locals and tourists feel like at home. Cozy atmosphere, great modern design, and almost daily program, that is conducted in the Living room, has built the reputation of this hotel as an urban trendsetter. Ms. Čarapić, with her colleagues, organized around 500 events in one year. When asked which was her favorite, and closest to her heart, she said that that is impossible to answer. But talking about how she took care after every pillow in the lobby when she organized a fashion show a humble smile of pride appeared on her face. Dušica is a perfectionist, a hard-working leader, that has both of contrasts inside of her. She is strict and cool, she understands the trends and knows exactly what it takes to realize them. She is a lady with a plan. And she is succeeding that plan like there exists nothing that stands in the way.
"Events are the main strategic tool for Centreville Hotel & Experiences."
Q: What are the Centre Ville hotel’s Congress capacities? Located at the luxurious Capital Plaza Complex in the Montenegrin capital city – Podgorica, the CentreVille hotel offers a world-class blend of warm hospitality, peaceful comfort, and unparalleled amenities. CentreVille is at the epicenter of Podgorica business and leisure district, therefore it is the perfect location for diverse meetings and events organizations. Hotel has 122 rooms and suites as well as 4 state-of-art fully equipped conference rooms which can accommodate up to 300 people.
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Q: What kind of MICE events and incentives does the hotel offer? Considering hotel capacities, we are focused on events or incentives with up to 100 participants. This makes CenteVille Hotel & Experiences stand out towards the high profile events. Our aim is to attract new European markets in order to promote hotel as well as Montenegro as a destination. Destination MICE branding is of high importance, considering that Montenegro is an upcoming destination, with a lot of potential towards further development. Q: How important are events as a strategic tool for you? While thinking about the travel industry in general, people tend to imagine leisure comes first. However, MICE industry became one of the major growth drivers in the past years. Fully understanding of what is attracting MICE travelers and how to catch their attention gives us a competitive advantage in Montenegrin market. Therefore, events are the main strategic tool for CentreVille Hotel & Experiences. This being said, I see Podgorica as a new MICE destination in the future period. Q: What are the key challenges for Podgorica’s event industry, in your opinion? Podgorica became very advanced and viable conference city. With new airline connections from all around the world, we see lots of potential for events industry development. We strongly aim towards the improvement and promotion of the original value of the town, as well as initiating, coordinating and organizing cultural, artistic, and economic, sports and other events that contribute to
the enrichment of the tourist product. Preservation of the tourist area, the environment, and cultural heritage are also challenging, however promising. Existing benefits of Podgorica as tourist sites are being used for better promotion of the tourist image of the city and directed to the formation of distinctive tourist product of the city.
Q: What is, in your opinion, a must-see for every visitor to Podgorica? Montenegro is a small country with good communications, modern infrastructure and diverse, stunning landscapes which make it just a perfect destination for conferences, business meetings and incentives of any size. Mild Mediterranean climate and favorable geographical location allow Montenegro to be all year round MICE destination. Plantaze Vineyard as the biggest in one piece in Europe, in my opinion, is a must-see venue in Podgorica. A diverse range of landscapes, food, and good vine amazes all the visitors. Q: How would you rate the cities offer of tourist infrastructure (bars, restaurants, nightlife, leisure activities, sports activities, cultural venues‌)? In the offer developing? Which venue would you recommend to a congress tourist as a must see? Podgorica is the upcoming center of Montenegro. As the capital city, it has many advantages. All the cultural activities, sports fields, restaurants, bars are vivid throughout the year. As the perfect congress tourist venue, I would suggest luxurious complex The Capital Plaza, as the most contemporary one in Montenegro. Q: How important is congress tourism for Montenegro?
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Congress tourism, as part of the general one, is very important. Montenegro is a diverse country. This being said, all the tourism types are equally important and significant. As a land of diversity and huge potential, Montenegro is ideal congress destination. Amazing hotels, great auditoriums, recognized food, respectable culture – easily approachable.
"Montenegro has a status of safe and no risk destination."
Q: If you had a magic stick, what would you instantly change to increase the development of Congress tourism in Podgorica? I’d build a contemporary congress center. Q: What is your hotel’s marketing strategy for the congress activities? We use all the potential of social networks, as we reach a big amount of people in that way. We aim to create creative adverts, engage wide range audience, listen to their needs, and implement their feedback into our strategies. Social Media also plays an important part in promoting MICE business as it increases awareness, improves and maintains a high level of customer servic while communicating directly with target audiences. Besides social networks, we are present in highly appreciated publications, we organize sales calls etc. Q: How many events did you host in the past year at Centre Ville? Considering the fact that hotel is opened in October 2016, which means we are operating for almost 2 years, we succeeded in organizing more than 500 different seminars, meetings, and events. . Q: What was the number of congress guests in the previous year?
70% of total number of guests are business travelers which give us a number of approximately 25000 congress travelers during the year.
Q: Who is the typical guest of CentreVille? CentreVille’s typical guest is contemporary men/woman, strong, powerful, confident. Ready to lead, meet, mingle and explore whilst being opened towards new knowledge. . Q: What is your management strategy? We serve as we would like to be served. We feel like home. We take care of our guest’s needs. Q: How do you compete with other congress hotels in the city? What is your hotel’s priority? Quality of service is our priority. CentreVille as a brand is urban, contemporary and eclectic. Atmosphere and approach are what makes us different us from the competition. As stated above – we feel like home. Q: What was your “five minutes of fame” moment and your favorite project with which you would praise yourself? Being as busy as we are, I can say that each and every day has it’s few minutes of fame. Therefore, I wouldn’t give the priority to a particular moment. Q: Can you please describe the most spectacular event that happened at the Centre Ville? Since the opening, we had lots of interesting events. However, you always have those that will never be forgotten. One of them is a spectacular fashion show by the famous Serbian fashion designer Igor Todorovic, happened in “The Living Room” which acts hotel’s lobby. It’s an eclectic and vivid space, easily transformable into a chic stage. Besides various fashion shows, our rooftop terrace is one of the preferred wedding ceremony areas in the city. We aim to create memories through special moments. As per the feedback we are getting – we are on top of the task. Q: If you didn’t have to work for money….what would you be doing? I would be traveling and exploring. I’d be an eternal tourist.
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IF I HAD A MAGIC STICK I WOULD BUILD AN EXHIBITION AND CONGRESS CENTRE Interview with Tatjana Popović, the director of Tourist organization in Podgorica AJDA BORAK //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, TOURIST ORGANISATION PODGORICA
“Verde” with 285 m2 conference area. Also, the Hard Rock Caffe – as the first of its kind in the Adriatic region located inside the Capital Plaza Center and new tourism products are being developed to meet the demands of visitors. We have to point out that in 2017 the Tourism organization of Podgorica become a member of NECSTour – Network of European Region for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism. At the moment We are in Membership Application Processes for ECM – European Cities Marketing which is specialized for improving the competitiveness and performance of the leading cities of Europe. ECM provides a platform for Leisure, Meetings Industry, and City marketing.
Q: What is the main factor that distinguishes Montenegro as a MICE tourism destination? Montenegro is located in the heart of Mediterranean region, characterized by diverse culture, gorgeous landscape and Adriatic coastline with diverse and segmented touristic offer. The country is tourism-oriented with focus on MICE industry and is hosting numerous international events during the year. Famous congress capacities are located in the Podgorica, Budva, and Bar. Tatjana Popović, the director of Tourism Organization in Podgorica, which was established in 2005, is the lady running the project of making Podgorica a worldwide known MICE destination. Ms. Popović has a big mission – creating a world known destination in this city that is successfully meeting the needs of the tourist market. She took over the tourist organization, with a tabula-rasa worksheet and now plays an active role in making it an all year round destination. This hidden and unspoiled jewel, with divine and pure natural scenery, is a land of opportunities for touristic development. This small city of many untold stories, pure rivers, and beautiful contrasts seems like it is keeping its rich historic soul but transforming its body to a modern world destination.
Q: We had a talk with you for the Kongres Magazine almost two years ago. Can you please highlight some of the main new features in Podgorica as a congress destination, that was developed in this two years? Looking back over the last two years the tourist infrastructure is being upgraded opening new brands and congress capacities, such as hotels: Hilton – synonymous with first class hospitality around the world, CentreVille– perfectly located to host a business meeting and conference,
"Podgorica is a meeting point of many cultures. Diverse offer is characterized by a rich cultural heritage and multiconfessional and embracing citizens."
Q: How does Podgorica compete with the south and north of Montenegro, that still has the highest number of visitors? What is it in the offer of the capital that should be particularly focused on and could make the offer competitive in relation to the other two regions? Podgorica as the Capital City has special status according to the other cities in Montenegro and is increasing as an attractive destination with a segmented tourist offer. It is a home to a number of foreign embassies, business, and university centers and it is a place with fascinating exhibitions, festivals, and events during the year.
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Q: How would you describe the people of Podgorica? Hospitable, friendly and open for visitors, committed to showcasing Podgorica as a charming and enjoyable place ready for new visitors to discover.
"Montenegro has a status of safe and no risk destination."
Q: Can you please tell us more about the Incentive programs? What kind of incentives is Podgorica offering? What would you suggest as an incentive? Podgorica has diverse attractions and tourist like to enjoy in the green areas and pure nature, rich cultural heritage, as well as surrounding area which is excellent for outdoor activities, with panoramic roads and trail for hiking and biking. Always recommendable as a segment of incentives are our divine cuisine, attractive vine cellar, and popular shopping. The city is the site of various cultural and sports events throughout the year, a program of events in the city consists of rich theatre, concerts and cinemas repertoire, gallery exhibitions, and there is a great offer of clubs and discos for lovers of nightlife. Q: What is the plan for the Podgorica’s tourism and recognition in the future?
We will be working on active cooperation with tourist agency on creating new attractive and inspiring incentive programmes for visitors and we are active with promo activities to make Podgorica more attractive as MICE destination. Numerous culture and touristic events will continue to be organized with a focus on the promotion of our culture and local customs.
Q: Are there any big and important renovations planned for the city in the near future? We will do for the first time Strategic document for tourism development of the city. That will be crucial activity in EU cross-border project where is LTO Podgorica one of the partners. Q: In 2016 you already explained the situation about opening the Convention Bureau in Podgorica. What is new regarding that? There is no Convention bureau in Podgorica yet, but in Tourism Board of Podgorica We are doing activities and have an excellent connection with hotels industry for MICE and agencies with Incentive programmes. Q: How is Podgorica developed in terms of the General Infrastructure? Podgorica is regional airport hub and transit location for seaside tourists and final business destination with a great number of arrivals of regional and international guests. In recent years, Montenegro became a more accessible airport destination thanks to the growing number of low-cost carriers on two airports in Podgorica and Tivat. Low-cost companies that are present in Montenegro are WizzAir (connection to Budapest, Munich, Berlin, Milan, Warsaw), Ryanair (Connection to Brussels, London), EasyJet (Connection to Geneva, London, Manchester). There will also be a new connection with LOT from Podgorica to Warsaw from 1st June of 2018. Montenegro Airlines has two new connections to Leipzig and Munich.
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There are current activities for the improvement of public transport services, safety, and security quality in accordance with Action Plan of the Government of Montenegro for the coming tourist summer season 2018.
Q: Is there any specific strategy, when it comes to congress tourism? According to the Masterplan crucial document for Montenegrin tourism development, Montenegro is recognized as MICE destination. Due to that our primary goal is to develop Podgorica to become recognized as leading MICE destination in the Region. . Q: What is the dominant profile of the visitors in the city? Podgorica doesn’t have a seasonal character, it is equally visited during the whole year. The dominant profile of the visitors are business and the average visit lasts around three days. In addition to tourists from the countries of the Region and Russia, which are traditionally the most numerous and at the destination level, a growing number of tourists coming from Western, Scandinavia and the Benelux countries, but also from more distant areas of Israel, America, China and Australia. Q: If you had a magic stick, what would you instantly change in order to make Podgorica even more attractive for congress tourists? I would build Exhibition Congress center in Podgorica, which was previously discussed, and make Podgorica regional center for Event Industry.
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WE WANT TO CHANGE THE PERCEPTION OF RUSSIA ABROAD Interview with Alexey Kalachev, Director of Russian Convention Bureau AJDA BORAK //
RUSSIAN CONVENTION BUREAU
Aleksei Kalachev’s professional achievements are not only in organization of event projects, communication, PR etc but in the strategic promotion of Russia’s event potential at the international markets and building up the standards of industry inside the country as well. He has also been the CEO of the first Convention Bureau of Russia founded in November 2017. After the first year of his work, the Russia CVB has already noticed considerable results and Russia is achieving great interest as an event destination among the international buyers and organizers.
"On the whole, Russia is in line with international trends"
Q: Which are Russias top factors influencing meeting location for business travel by European buyers? An event can become an element in the strategy of the territory’s global development. Choosing the right location for an event, otherwise known as destination, is crucial for the success of the event and touches upon the issues of strategic cooperation between countries, towns and events themselves. The main factors behind Russia’s attractiveness as an event destination include simplified visa requirements, competitive pricing, high service quality and availability of modern specialized infrastructure, rich cultural heritage and safety. Of special significance is the visa issue, especially for Europeans. Passengers arriving in Russia by cruise ships may enter Russia without a visa and stay in this country for 72 hours. Also, during major international events, organizers, operators or participants of such events enjoy a simplified entry visa regime. For example, such measures were adopted during the 22nd Winter Olympic Games and the 11th Paralympic Games’2014 in Sochi, and the FIFA Confederation Cup’2017 and FIFA World Cup’2018. The Russian Convention Bureau has been working actively on the project of express issue of visas to foreign citizens traveling on business. Q: How do you see Russia’s meetings industry scene? Right now Russia ranks 41st in the world rating of ICCA congress destinations. In 2017 Russia held a total of 87 ICCA events. Russia currently
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ranks 21st among European countries. According to our calculations, the share of Russia on the international event market currently stands at less than 1%. Over the past decade Russia hosted 835 rotating congress-type events. The annual volume of business meetings of every format stands approximately at 12,000-13,000 events. Most of these events are small-scale: seminars, workshops, master classes, roundtable discussions, meetings, etc. Moscow takes up more than half of this market; the share of St. Petersburg on the Russian event market is between 20 and 30%, while other regions and cities of Russia take up the remaining 20%. More than 7,000 Russian companies participate in the work of the event industry of this country. According to the data provided by R&C Research and Exhibition Center (c) 2018
Q: What kind of trends do you think we will see in meetings industry and events in Russia in the upcoming year? On the whole, Russia is in line with international trends. Business events are becoming increasingly more interactive; the share of “hybrid” type events is growing, organizers have been paying considerable attention to developing mobile apps. The events are becoming shorter and smaller in scale. It also now takes less time to set up and hold an event. In conditions of abundant information, the role of high-quality content has been increasing. Yet another specific feature of the Russian market is the generation mix of delegates at each event. This has an impact on the structure of content and approaches to planning.
"One of our top priorities is to change the current perception of this country abroad."
Q: Through which channels can you market your MICE products on the European market? The RCB first introduced “Russia Open to the World” national exhibit in November 2017 in Barcelona as part of that year’s IBTM World 2017 International Exhibition. We believe that taking part in large-scale specialized international exhibitions is an effective tool that allows to meet face to face with our international target audience and showcase the infrastructure potential of Russian regions in the event industry. Besides, the RCB provides information on event capabilities of Russia to all interested industry professionals, and organizes fam trips to introduce visitors to opportunities presenting themselves across Russia. The RCB is getting ready to launch its own specialized web portal presenting the current capabilities in our industry available in Russia..
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Q: MICE industry is developing fast in Russia in the past years. What more can we expect to happen in the future? In five years, the efforts of the RCB will help increase Russia’s share on the world event market to 1.5%. We expect that as Russia becomes a more popular event destination, the number of events held annually in Russia will also increase. For example, in 2023 there will be some 120 rotating congress events taking place in Russia. Q: What are your personal biggest challenges at the director’s position at CB Russia? From the start, the RCB worked to bring together all major participants of the Russian event industry, and to establish cooperation with bodies of authority. Until very recently, there had been no centralized statistical data accumulated by the industry, so it was quite difficult to assess the market volume. Additionally, at this time the RCB is working on preparing regional event industry passports, which will make attracting international events to Russia much easier. As of today, Russia does not have a common international certification system for event industry professionals. The RCB also seeks to introduce event industry educational programs as well as in-service training programs in this field. Q: How successful is Russian Congress bureau in creating a strong and recognisable brand of Russia? Which are the main challenges? As we continue working on attracting new international events to Russia, one of our top priority goals is to change the current perception of this country abroad. To do this, we must combine the efforts of Russian state and private enterprises as they work to promote Russia as an event destination among target groups abroad. The role of the RCB lies in coordinating the activities of these entities and shaping a common, coherent brand..
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IT IS EASY TO ASSOCIATE SINGAPORE WITH MARINA BAY SANDS Interview with Mike Lee, Vice President of Sales for Marina Bay Sands Singapore GORAZD ČAD //
MARINA BAY SANDS SINGAPORE
Mike Lee has over 35 years of hotel marketing, sales and developmental experience behind him. For the last two decades, he has held senior management roles, working in many hotels and resorts such as Americana Hotels, Resorts International and Wyndham Hotels. Lee was also the President of his own Franchising and Hotel development companies. In 2010, he joined Marina Bay Sands where he is the Vice President of Sales. His role is focused on enhancing aspects of the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Expositions (MICE), Business and Leisure Tourism segments at Marina Bay Sands, with a primary focus on revenue responsibility.
"We work hand in hand with the STB to promote Singapore and Marina Bay Sands as the ideal destination for hosting events in this region."
Q: Can you please share with our readers what the overall development and design vision for Marina Bay Sands is? The original concept of the Marina Bay Sands is to enable Singapore’s growth as a destination and be an international hub. Singapore has placed itself on the map within Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific as a significant player in the MICE industry. What we have been able to do is to help propel Singapore into one of the world’s leading venues and our vision/intention was to be able to play to an international market and to bring in more international visitors. And we wanted to host as many of the blue-chip type of meetings and trade shows as we could. We deal in multiple market segments. The MICE portion of our business was the single most important piece of the jigsaw in getting this hotel open. That is what Singapore needed and that’s exactly what makes the MICE facilities that you have been to different here—it is what brings new business to Singapore, it is what event organisers are after. Q: You opened this building 8 years ago. Do you like the design, which is iconic and really special, or do you see any problems with it? I like it because it has become an icon so it’s easy for people to associate Singapore with Marina Bay Sands. But more importantly, from a commercial point of view, it is very functional. For meeting planners, this is a
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very functional facility; everything is under one roof, you can have events with food and beverages prepared by our banqueting team or have the option of ordering catering from our celebrity chef restaurants on site. It is all available within a single location. That is the main reason why I love the building.
rope, Asia, North America, Europe, Asia, with Southeast Asia being a key component in that; so we have contributed to the change in the rotation cycles of these events. Since we opened in 2010, we have built a long list of success stories and managed to set record attendance for numerous events that have been held at Marina Bay Sands.
"What we have been able to do is to help propel Singapore into one of the world’s leading venues."
Q: And what is the cooperation with the destination like? What is the role of the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, and how do you cooperate with it? The government of Singapore is very pro-business and pro-hospitality. This is something the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is responsible for developing. I have never seen any entity like the STB; they are hands down the most efficient body I have ever worked with.
Q: And how do you see the meeting industry of Southeast Asia? What are the trends, what is going on? When I first got here, many people would say “Of course I know Singapore, I am very familiar with Singapore. What part of China was it in again?” It has changed since then. Partly because of Marina Bay Sands and partly because of how Southeast Asia has grown as a region as well, and people have become familiar with it. We used to bid on tenders, we would book out three, four, five years, and organisers would tell us “Well, our rotation is North America, Europe, North America, Europe, we are considering maybe doing the event in Asia, but we are not sure.” But then we saw a change. Event organisers are now going North America, Eu-
Q: So all the promotion is really efficient? Yes, very efficient. They are knowledgeable, they work hard on things and they are cooperative with meeting planners—both in the prospective stage and right up to the execution stage. As a venue operator, we work hand in hand with the STB to promote Singapore and Marina Bay Sands as the ideal destination for hosting events in this region. Q: What do you think the hotels should or could be doing better to improve customer experience? That must be quite a strange question for you, because I have to confirm that customer experience is really, really good, but I am asking anyway, what can be done to improve it? The younger generation is coming, millennials and so on. We are very familiar with that. I have two answers. One is the customer that has never been here and the other would be repeat customers.
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For us it is a little easier to promote to the people who have not been here before because we are able to put together specially curated programmes; we are able to do things that are very different from what they are used to. The repeat customers, on the other hand, are a little more fun because we have done everything that’s new and unique for them; now they come back and ask “What’s next? What are you going to do next?” We are constantly innovating and orchestrating unforgettable experiences for our clients through leveraging on the ever-changing products and services available at our property. It is about creating new experiences. The meetings portion is important and we are very good at that on a technical basis, but honestly, all the good places in the world overall are very, very good at that. What we do best at Marina Bay Sands is providing a new type of experience and making a difference by offering something unique they have never experienced before.
Q: What is, in general, the secret of a successful MICE destination? I think you have to understand what the objectives are, you have to then tailor your product to achieve those objectives on a lot of levels, not just within the hotel, but you need the destination to work. This is a small country and you have, for example, international meetings for which 99 per cent of the attendees are coming from outside of the country—that means most of them are coming by air. There is a lot of coordination, a lot of logistics, you have to have a very deep understanding of what an individual customer’s needs are and you can’t get that unless you sit down very seriously with their operating folks and say “OK, where are they coming from?”; and if they are coming from India, then they might arrive at two in the morning, if they are coming from England they might
arrive at nine in the morning … you have to orchestrate those rooms. It is not easy, but if you do your homework, you can do it.
Q: Is the price connected to the sense of quality? We are most likely higher priced than the other hotels, but we also deliver a much higher level of product and within our product we have everything, it’s all there. If you are negotiating at this level of the blue-chip business, there is always that element of negotiating within the price. We used to have a problem with people perceiving us as pricy until they experienced the product. When they experience the delivery, they see all the different things that we can do, then that becomes more than acceptable for them, and it is not unusual for them to repeat their business with us. Q: Yesterday I met a lot of professionals (chefs, etc.) with really high, positive energy; it was not fake, in my opinion, you can really feel it. As a professional I can feel it. How do you maintain this energy? What are you doing with them? It is a good question and not easy to answer. It is real. How do we get it? These people love what they are doing. The HR policies are good, we have 9,700 employees. This property and this government spend more time than I have ever seen trying to make sure that the work environment is safe and all those other things, but also productive. Q: Privately, what is your favourite place in Singapore outside of Marina Bay Sands? Honestly, my favourite two places in Singapore are CUT and Spago (editor’s note: both restaurants by Wolfgang Puck and located in Marina Bay Sands).
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THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS THE “TEAM MELBOURNE” APPROACH Interview with Karen Bollinger, Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne Convention Bureau AJDA BORAK //
MELBURNE CONVENTION BUREAU, PIXABAY
Ms Bolinger has more than 20 years’ industry experience. She has a strong background in branded sales and marketing across a diverse range of sectors, and has developed robust relationships within the business events industry. Prior to commencing her role at MCB, Ms Bolinger was the General Manager of Strategy and Marketing at the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) and in addition, she has also held various roles at: Staging Connections Group Limited (SCVB); the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau; Sheraton on the Park, Sydney; and Renaissance Sydney Hotel. Ms Bolinger is Chair of the BestCities Global Alliance and ICCA Australia. She is the President of the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) and the Victorian Advisory Board for the Starlight Foundation. She joined MCB as Chief Executive Officer in November, 2011.
"Melbourne is recognised as Australia’s knowledge capital and innovation hub, attracting some of the world’s largest and most prestigious conferences in the world."
Q: Melbourne has been ranked the number one sustainable city in the Asia-Pacific region for business events in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) for the second consecutive year. Can you briefly describe how you achieved that? We focussed on a set of unique strategies towards achieving a successful GDS-Index outcome. • We worked collaboratively with partners and stakeholders including Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) and City of Melbourne in a working group focussed on delivering set goals relevant to achieving the sustainability success. Sustainability is a priority for City of Melbourne, hence the city is focussed on delivering results in the sector. • We recently launched a fully revamped website and the team leveraged its use to creatively communicate MCB and the industry’s efforts in the sustainability sector.
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• Collaborating with industry partners via our partnership model allowed a two-way communication to share relevant tools including but not limited to; case studies, newsletters and social media campaigns. • Working with City of Sydney towards a unified message targeted at Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) encouraging them to have sustainability policies and third-party certifications in place. Given that a high number of PCOs are based in both cities, an opportunity was identified to educate and support them to improve sustainability results. • GDS is an improvement tool; taking constructive feedback from last year allowed us to ensure activities were relevant and targeted.
Q: In terms of sustainability what are the future projects Melbourne will be engaged to in the next years? MCB’s future projects in the sustainability sector include: • Engage and collaborate with a sustainability certification provider to offer our industry partners the opportunity to achieve a third-party certification which is recognised by the GDS Index. We will focus on encouraging partners to achieve a certification by offering regular education sessions. • We will continue to develop communication tools focussed on the sustainability efforts of the business events industry in Melbourne. • The team will work with City of Melbourne to develop a toolkit for event planners in Melbourne to provide them with resources to host a sustainable event. • Continue to identify opportunities within our digital tools to allow viewers to conveniently find businesses in the industry with sustainability policies and certifications in place. • Use our existing events to further educate the industry about sustainability.
Q: It seems like Melbourne really has it all to be a MICE destination. But what are your key goals to achieve now? • In 2019 we are focussing on increasing collaboration with our strategic partners and members to continue to maximise the return to their businesses and to the wider industry. • We want to demonstrate the deep impact business events have in the wider community, therefore we have identified opportunities to diversify our partnerships outside of the industry to help us showcase this impact. • Melbourne is a knowledge capital and our relationship with local academics, universities and associations is key for being successful in our bids for international conferences. We plan to deepen these relationships to encourage more and effective local partnerships aligning with Victoria’s priority sectors. • Our bid strategy depends on what the association’s objectives are for delegates attending international conferences. We will aim for deeper and more comprehensive analysis of delegates to help inform our ongoing bid strategy and understand the wider reaching effects of hosting business events. • Reinforce our thought leadership strategy by continuing the Melbourne Edge Event Series to engage, educate and stimulate partners, sponsors and the broader industry through presentations, forums, conversations and interactive activities throughout the year. • Melbourne’s key success is attributed to our Team Melbourne approach. We will continue to apply this approach in everything we do.
Q: Melbourne is renowned as Australia’s knowledge capital and innovation hub. What does that mean in terms of MICE? Melbourne is recognised as Australia’s knowledge capital and innovation hub, attracting some of the world’s largest and most prestigious conferences in the world. The city is a leader in sectors such as health, science,
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engineering and technology and it continues to attract great minds to collaborate, innovate and deliver real impact to the wider community. Our city is home to 10 world-class universities, 13 worlds-class research institutes, 10 major teaching hospitals and a wide net of thinkers, creators, innovators and producers. Melbourne offers associations access to its world-leading research institutes and connections to academics to facilitate strong education programs, powerful knowledge sharing and fostering world-leading innovations. When associations select Melbourne as their destination for an international conference, they tap to into the reputation and resources, giving their delegates the opportunity to think differently, develop new solutions and deliver real change.
"Melbourne’s key success is attributed to our Team Melbourne approach. We will continue to apply this approach in everything we do."
Q: Can you please in briefly explain to our readers Melbourne’s bidding strategy? Our bidding team works collaboratively to secure and deliver successful events that drive tangible outcomes and long-lasting legacies. We
achieve this by working with associations, corporate organisations and event planners from around the world, along with our key stakeholders and local partners. The bidding journey involves several steps and ways in which we can support on each step. We always tailor the bidding process according to the client’s requirements. We identify conferences that reinforce Melbourne’s global reputation as the smart capital and that are aligned with the states’ priorities and future industry sectors. We also focus in attracting events that will have an impact on the community by delivering legacy outcomes and contribution that goes beyond the dollars.
Q: What would you say is the secret of MCB’s success? Our ‘Team Melbourne’ approach allows us to win major international conferences and incentive programs. By working together with major stakeholders, local and state government and over 250 industry partners we ensure we bring the city together to work towards the same goals. Our infrastructure paves the way for highly successful conferences and events, with world-leading conference facilities and venues, a 24/7 international airport, excellent connectivity, quality accommodation and an extensive transport system. We offer the highest concentration of conference facilities in Australia. Melbourne offers a wide range of immersive experiences which delegates are looking for. Our city is renowned as a vibrant and multicultural with an exciting dining scene to match. Melbourne is Australia’s major events capital, with an ever-growing yearround calendar of events. With over 350 annual events to choose from, delegates can experience world-class sporting, cultural, art, history, fashion and dining events all year round.
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A LAND OF ENDLESS INCENTIVES, UNIQUE VENUES AND AUTHENTIC CULTURE
Interview with Kim Baeho, acting Executive Director of Korea MICE Bureau, on the development of Korea as a MICE destination. AJDA BORAK //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, KOREAN TURIST ORGANISATION
His entire career, 29 years of experience is focused on enriching and promoting South Korea tourism. Prior to his current position, he was dispatched as a Senior Officer to UNWTO Market Trends Programme, where his main projects include organising the Asia-Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and Strategy and contributing to several reports such as “New Platform Tourism Services 2017 (Sharing Economy).” He also served as a Director of KTO’s overseas office in Dubai and as Deputy Director in KTO Los Angeles.
"We are constantly innovating and orchestrating unforgettable experiences."
Q: Which are Koreas top factors influencing meeting location for business travel by European buyers? Korea has over 30 years of experience in organizing events, from small ones to global events like the 1988 Summer Olympics, 2002 World Cup and 2010 G20 summit. In February 2018, Korea welcomed more than 3,000 athletes and national team officials during the successfully held Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. Korea offers excellent manpower. Korea is easily accessible from many countries in Europe and has one of the best airports in the world: Incheon International Airport. Furthermore, participants from numerous countries can entry visa-free for up to 90 days. Korea is an industrial country with several industries ranking number1 in global competitiveness. A few examples are a semiconductor, display, ICT, auto parts, chemicals and steel industries. With almost 900+accommodations, unique venues and several support programs it is an ideal place for different kinds of meetings. Q: How do you see Korea’s meetings industry scene? Korea ranked top 1 on the UIA International Meetings Associations. Based on the UIA Statistics, Korea’s meeting count has grown from 891
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in 2015 to 997 in 2016, reflecting an 11.89% increase over the previous year. On the other hand, Korea has maintained its rank in the 13th place on the latest ICCA Country rankings, with 279 meetings hosted in 2017 – surpassing other advanced countries such as Switzerland and Norway. More so, the meetings industry in Korea is expected to flourish, especially after the success of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the inter-Korean summit, and the growing (phenomenal) interest in Hallyu, Korean Wave. In addition, the Korean government continues to support strongly the MICE sector, thereby increasing budget allocation to improve infrastructure and develop programs that would enhance the experience of MICE delegates. With almost 900+accommodations, unique venues and several support programs it is an ideal place for different kinds of meetings.
"Korea has over 30 years of experience in organizing events, from small ones to global events ..."
Q: What kind of trends do you think we will see in the meetings industry
and events in Korea in the upcoming year? Event professionals are slowly moving away from convention centers and hotel ballrooms for their gala receptions and are considering unconventional meeting spaces instead. As a result, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) launched the Korea Unique Venue, a new brand composed of selected venues recognized for their special characteristics, usability, and willingness to host international business events Experience programs are on the rise. MICE delegates seek activities that allow them to engage with local residents, contribute to the community, and at the same time, enjoy the authentic Korean culture. The phenomenal rise of Hallyu (Korean Wave) across the world has led to the creation of new programs for MICE groups. K-pop and Korean drama have a big influence on choosing a destination as well. New Hallyu experience centers such as the Running Man Thematic Center are being established as well. In response to the increasing demand for Hallyu contents, we’ve updated our Incentive Travel and Corporate meetings support program by offering exclusive K-pop concerts or invitation of K-Stars to programs. Korea is one of the world’s most advanced countries in terms of technology. In fact, according to the latest Bloomberg Innovative Index, Korea is the most innovative country for the 5thconsecutive year since 2014. Hybrid meetings and the use and introduction of new devices (ex. VR/ AR/etc) are prevalent in the local meetings industry. Through these technologies, delegates who are physically absent from the convention are enabled to participate in the event. Korea’s quick internet connection (which is already using 5G) makes it very easy to utilize these new technologies. In addition, these meeting technologies are also being used to
offer a richer and more unique learning experience, increasing attendees’ engagement.
Q: How is the value for money for European planners? Korea offers government support programs for MICE planners. For incentive tours and company meetings, groups of ten or more people can benefit from Korean souvenirs for all participants, from a set of chopsticks to a traditional Korean fan to various bags. For groups of between 50 and 499 participants, the KMB will sponsor either a cultural performance, entry to a tourist attraction, cultural activities, and experiences, or a welcome ceremony at the airport. With more than 500 participants, two of these offers are available. Depending on the number of participants, support for international congresses will also take place in four stages: For events arranged by international organizations, support will be available for groups of 50 or more. From a number of participants of more than 100 persons and a travel time of at least three days, international groups can generally apply for support. In both levels, support can also be provided at banquets, cultural programs, tours, and performances. Premium support is available from a group size of more than 1,000 participants. Services include a concierge desk at Incheon International Airport, as well as pre and post tours. Both incentives and congresses include a free pre-arranged sightseeing tour with the appropriate qualification. Tailor-made support is also available for all MICE events from 3,000 guests. This includes an exclusive entry desk at the airport. Q: Like in leisure tourism, in the coming years experiences are becoming increasingly important in the MICE industry. MICE travellers demand more added value from their MICE events. How is Korea enriching experiences and activities? Korea has a wide range of activities available for meeting delegates. In the case of International Conventions, through our subvention program, eligible groups can avail cultural programs and tours, cultural performances (i.e. during reception or assembly), special souvenirs, and a Korea Tourism & Cultural Booth on the event site to assist meeting delegates with their travel needs. Apart from this, KTO has also started providing a subsidy for ‘Participants & Accompanying Persons Tour Program’, enabling a MICE delegate’s partner/companion to join a free tour program. Meanwhile, our Incentive Travel and Corporate meetings support program offer MICE delegates free admission to the regular cultural performance, top tourists attractions, and popular group activities. We have also added new support programs including exclusive K-pop concerts in response to the high popularity of Hallyu. Q: What could you say about the future of the meetings industry in your region? The future of meetings and incentives for Korea looks extremely promising. First, the recent government-level negotiations between North and South Koreas are having a positive impact on the perception of South Korea. Second, South Korea remains a leading economy in North East Asia and a major hub for corporate meetings and association conventions. Seoul is definitely a major business hub in Asia. On the incentive side, planners are usually pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the landscape from the unexpected beach destination like Busan, the pristine lush greenery of Jeju Island, or the high mountains of Gangwon, that offer great winter sports. Not to mention that the Winter
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Olympics has certainly opened doors in this sector. Planners begin to think of Korea as a possible destination for their incentive programs. The outlook for South Korea is quite positive as planners learn more about the country, its political stability, its strong economy, its sophisticated infrastructure, and its unique culture.
"The future of meetings and incentives for Korea looks extremely promising."
Q: Can you tell us more about any future investments in tourism in Korea? Korea is a fast-developing destination for business events and the Korean government is very eager to push its capacity a notch higher every year, delivering best practices in the MICE industry and improving its meeting infrastructure and support programs. An example is the development of more MICE-specialized cities and construction of new hotels and convention centers such as the Suwon Convention Centre, which is expected to be completed in 2019.
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IT IS A PLEASURE TO OPEN A HOTEL IN SERBIA
Interview with Nicolaas Houwert, General Manager at Hilton Belgrade JASMINA JERANT //
SANDER BAKS, HILTON BELGRADE
Serbia’s capital recently welcomed a new upscale addition to its old town. Hilton Belgrade, a new-build seven-storey 242 room hotel, offers travellers world-renowned Hilton hospitality in a prime location in Belgrade and in close proximity to major sights. Hilton Belgrade, the first new-build hotel in Belgrade for several decades, also offers 656 square metres of meeting space, including a ballroom for up to 500 guests. In an exclusive interview, we talked to the hotel’s general manager, Nicolaas Houwert, about Hilton Belgrade, its business offer, its contribution to Belgrade’s meetings industry, as well as about Belgrade’s hospitality, lifestyle and scene that make it an increasingly popular leisure and business destination.
Q: Before coming to Belgrade, you used to manage the Hilton Paris Orly Airport which was opened in 1965 and was one of the first international hotels in Europe. Now you are managing a hotel that has just been opened. How would you compare these two experiences? The best thing about working for Hilton in different countries is that you have to mold yourself each time to fit the needs of each unique property. Working in a completely new hotel is quite a rewarding experience. Hilton Belgrade is a stunning design hotel and finished with the latest technology. Small details in the room will make the guest experience even more personalized, from special USB chargers for international devices to bluetooth compatible radios to play music directly from your phone. Also, in a new environment the procedures need to be adapted in order to be specific to the hotel and market - a sort of pioneering which requires an entrepreneurial approach.
"Opening a hotel is all about recruiting talented professionals."
Q: What are the greatest challenges in regards to that? Opening a hotel is all about recruiting talented professionals, not so much on the basis of experience – but more on individual personalities. I have to compliment the team we work with in Belgrade, as I found candidates to be willing to work, dedicated and enthusiastic to learn new things. It is therefore a pleasure to open a hotel in Serbia.
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Q: How were you involved in the process of the hotel’s development? I was the first to arrive from Hilton and all recruitment of the operational team started with one laptop, a mobile phone and a small office space. The construction of the hotel was managed by the onsite project team of the investment company, supported by project managers from Hilton. My involvement was focused on setting up the office, start the recruitment and making the hotel ready for the grand opening. Q: Hilton Belgrade is the first newly-opened hotel in Belgrade in decades. How will it contribute to Belgrade’s position as a destination? Belgrade has great potential for business tourism. When we consider the Nikola Tesla Airport, which has an increasing number of passengers every year, and I do not want to be modest, I am sure that Hilton Belgrade will bring new business tourists to the city because there is a shortage of accommodation capacities in Belgrade. I think that when Hilton opens its doors, there will be space for developing some other segments of business and economic change, so I am really optimistic when it comes to all this. Q: There will be 242 rooms and suites, rooftop bar & dining overlooking Old Town, spa treatment rooms, sauna and fitness centre, and even executive lounge. The level of offered luxury seems to be perfectly fitting the demands of business guests. Was that the aim? Certainly, because Hilton Belgrade offers many advantages to both business and leisure travelers. Due to our excellent location in the heart of
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Belgrade, in proximity of the National Assembly, numerous embassies and international organizations, we anticipate to welcome both individuals and group travelers. The hotel offers various facilities to accommodate the needs and interests of all types of guests.
Q: The hotel will also have 656 sq.m. of meeting space including a ballroom for up to 500 guests. What are your predictions or expectations in regards to the meetings industry in relation to hotel? Hilton Belgrade has big expectations when it comes to the congress niche. We cater to our business guests by offering 11 meeting rooms, with natural daylight and can welcome up to 500 delegates. One special feature is Oasis, our urban garden in the heart of the hotel. This secluded area is adjacent to the Tsar Dusan ballroom, and will be the perfect venue for open-air coffee breaks, lunches, cocktails and private events. We have seen a big interest for wedding ceremonies as the setup is unique for Belgrade. Q: The hotel is located in the Old Town and its location within historical surroundings makes it a prime location in Belgrade. How, do you think, will that contribute to the congress offer? I am convinced the location of the hotel is perfect for congresses. Our hotel will fulfill the Hilton standard, but the design and interior of the hotel will exceed expectations. Not only is the city center in walking distance, also the accessibility and ease of parking in the underground parking will play an important role. Having meeting rooms with high ceilings and natural daylight, will make convening even more more enjoyable.
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THE RATIO BETWEEN ART AND CONGRESSES WILL STAY
Interview with Uršula Cetinski, Director General of Cankarjev dom Cultural and Congress Centre Ljubljana JASMINA JERANT //
ARCHIVE OF CANKARJEV DOM, BOR SAVA
Uršula Cetinski has been the Director General of Cankarjev dom - Cultural and Congress Centre (CD) since 2014. Her professional (and educational) background is very much connected to arts and culture. She took the professional path through various positions: journalist for arts and culture, selector in theatre and dance festivals, dramaturg, manager of theatre programmes, theatre’s managing director, and even as a playwright. Her rich and diverse experience in arts and culture brought her to one of the most important positions among Slovenian culture and congress institutions. CD, the largest culture and congress centre in Slovenia, is annually visited by half a million people (for comparison: Slovenian country has a population of 2 million, while its capital Ljubljana, where CD is located, less than 300 thousand).
"Diverse meetings, ranging from business to scientific, are doubtlessly all the more inspirational in a venue that hosts a rich programme of artistic events."
Q: In the last four years, since you have been appointed to the CD’s Director General, how have you been combining your previous experience with such an extended service of the CD which is not just one of the main Slovenian cultural institutions, but also the biggest Slovenian congress centre at the same time? In attending to my professional tasks of the Director General of Cankarjev dom I greatly rely on all my prior work experience – from working in journalism and the arts to managerial posts –, a career that spans over thirty years, and traces its beginnings to my student days. I gained my first experience working as a journalist and editor for Radio Študent while pursuing my studies of Comparative Literature and German. However, I believe that two things have proven instrumental in tackling new challenges successfully: my postgraduate degree at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, an education that focused on subjects highly relevant in my pursuit, and the fact that I had previously worked at Cankarjev dom for an eight-year period, as Director of Theatre and Dance.
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Compared to other Slovenian cultural institutions Cankarjev dom is an exception. It covers all areas of art, and dedicates 20-25% of its programme to congress management and commercial events. Another thing that distinguished CD from comparable cultural institutions is the fact that the income it generates is the highest in terms of percentage and total sum, amounting to circa 45% of the 9.5 million budget. This ratio is not easy to achieve; however, this goal provides our organisation – although having a history of over forty years – with youthful vigour and ‘fitness’; it keeps it immune to the idleness of the heavily subsidised institutions. Still, we are also quite vulnerable: if the balance of social situation were disrupted, on a local or global scale, this could quickly jeopardise the high ratio of our self-generated income. That is why prior knowledge of the functioning and specifics of Cankarjev dom provides me with considerable advantage.
"I was shaped by the punk subculture …"
Q: How would you describe the relation between arts/culture and meetings industry? How do these two work together? Diverse meetings, ranging from business to scientific, are doubtlessly all the more inspirational in a venue that hosts a rich programme of artistic events. Ultimately, what also counts is the architecture of the buildings that serve as the venue for meetings. It’s quite another matter if the gathering takes place in an exhibition centre and a hotel, or at Cankarjev dom – an arts and convention centre with a distinguished artistic tradition. The New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) is currently hosting the exhibition Towards a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980. Dedicated to foremost Yugoslav architects, the show also features Edvard Ravnikar, the architect who designed Cankarjev dom. The atmosphere that pervades Cankarjev dom is one of modern yet first-rate architecture – architecture that furthermore benefits from its diversified interior design, different in each auditorium, and invariably original light installations, all of which creates an impression of something new, fresh, unexpected. This is undoubtedly one of our strongest assets; visitors of cultural events and partners working with our Congress and Event Management department greatly appreciate the outstanding architecture of our venue as well as the countless options of its use. In late August, the Congress and Event Management department will organise an important international conference DOCOMOMO – an organisation dedicated to preserving the Modern Movement architecture of the 20th century, which will include leading international experts addressing the architectural legacies of Plečnik, Fabiani and Ravnikar. Q: CD has been hosting huge international events. In 2018, CD is supposed to have a record year in the number of big events and in the number of participants. Is there a particular plan that attracts the congress guests, for example, to check also on the cultural offer of the CD? CD’s congress delegates always like to take some time off work to attend
our cultural events. They are astounded by the excellency of our international artistic programme. Our centre presents the greatest artists of our time, selecting the finest from all areas of art, from serious music and jazz to theatre, dance, visual arts and film. They consider it a privilege, and an exciting experience, to be able to attend a convention in one of our auditoriums and then slip away into another one, just several steps away, where, for example, a concert by the divine pianist Sokolov is taking place.
Q: Does CD offer to the meeting planners a particular execution of event that combines an art performance as well? Our teams have great expertise in planning events that include artistic experiences. In keeping with the wishes of our clients, our staff design the set, lighting and sound design of an event. Although social gatherings, these events can be given artistic flavour. What’s more, equipped with invaluable experience they have acquired throughout the decades by implementing CD’s culture & arts programme, our teams use these skills to enthral and astound also clients of the Congress and Event Management department. Especially those open to new and different experiences. Q: When CD hosts an event with 2000 participants, is the cultural programme frozen? Or does the cultural programme still work in parallel with the huge meeting? There are two options; concurrent implementation of both programmes, the congress and commercial as well as artistic one, or, alternatively, all of CD premises can be booked by a meeting organiser. Q: CD has been hosting 2200 events per year, approximately half of these are congress events. In a May 2017 interview for Slovenian newspaper Dnevnik you said that the CD wants to keep this proportion. But the meetings industry’s trend in Slovenia and its capital has been growing. How far is CD planning to extend its offer? The ratio between art and congresses will stay within its current framework. For the time being, this is the best recipe for the success of the central Slovenian cultural and congress centre that’s annually visited by half a million people. Q: This year the CD Cultural and Congress Centres is marking the centenary of the death of the greatest Slovenian writer Ivan Cankar with a special all-year-round cultural programme dedicated to his work, and this way also celebrating the giant whose name Cankarjev dom is proudly wearing. Since a lot of events that you host are international, do you plan to introduce to foreign attendees also this aspect of your programme? Definitely. Between June 2018 and February 2019 an exhibition titled Ivan Cankar and Europe. From Shakespeare to Kafka will be on show. The exhibition will be presented bilingually, also featuring English texts. The concept has been devised by academician Prof. Dr. Janko Kos, alongside Prof. Dr. France Bernik the greatest connoisseur of Cankar and his work. The exhibition will seek to show Cankar as an important Central European author whose works echo the most relevant tendencies of his time. His works will be compared to those by the leading European writers, playwrights and poets, and Cankar’s literary and philosophical influences examined. On the day marking Cankar’s death, 11 December, we will organise an international symposium in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts. I am confident that the Slovenian as well as international public will gain insight into meaningful interpretations that will serve to re-evaluate
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Cankar’s work and his international relevance. It will be also foreign attendees who will doubtlessly enjoy this intellectual gem – an exhibition that is complemented by another show dedicated to Cankar at the Ljubljana City Museum.
Q: Is there a particular event (congress, exhibition, conference, etc.) that
you would like for CD to host? Something that would be close to your heart? The Congress of the International Society for Performing Arts ISPA would be highly desirable. It would undoubtedly defy the cultural stereotypes and prejudice of economically more prosperous countries against Slovenia.
Q: You started working as a journalist for one of the oldest independent alternative radio stations in Europe (Radio Študent, founded in 1969) and now you are in one of the most important positions in Slovenia when it comes to culture and congress institutions. Radio Študent is known to be critical in its programme. How do you use the critical and independent thought that you have come across there in your current position? Are there any correlations? Recently, a friend of mine said that it still shows that I was shaped by the punk subculture. “How can you tell?” I asked. “Because you are one of the few people who call things by their proper names,” he replied. Perhaps it
is because of my formative influences that I keep up less pretence out of courtesy, although when one occupies a top position this is sometimes unavoidable.
Q: You also worked for The City of Women, one of the biggest and oldest (since 1995) international festivals for the promotion of women in culture that every year hosts 40-60 international artists and theoreticians. You are the first female general director of CD and at the same time one of the few women who have had such a high position among Slovenian institutions of a similar kind. As a woman, what would you recommend to other women when trying to make it in this very competitive (and often a priori reserved for men) field? I’d primarily like to recommend Mileva Einstein. Theory of Sadness, a brilliant novel by Slavenka Drakulić. In view of the fact that women confront greater challenges when pursuing their careers than men, our knowledge, also our formal education, is something that nobody can take away from us. No matter what, our knowledge is our protection. Greatly hindered in her scientific career by her female sex and burdened by a limp which at the time was considered a severe disability, Mileva Marić Einstein had a promising future as the only female studying at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute in her day. Regretfully, she ended up a humiliated and forcibly divorced former wife of the illustrious physicist. While important for everyone, education is one of the most crucial ways of empowering women.
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I GREW UP IN A HOTEL
Interview with Florian Weitzer, owner and managing director of Weitzer Hotels Betriebsgesmbh JASMINA JERANT //
WEITZER HOTELS
In 2003, Florian Weitzer took over his family’s business – the Weitzer Hotels. The 100 years of legacy fell into his creative and innovative hands. Since then, he has developed one of the most interesting hotel stories in the region. The hotels were renovated, some of them completely. They boast an incredibly subtle harmony between tradition and modern trends. Nothing is left to the imagination, be it for leisure or for business, Weitzer Hotels stun with their unusual character intertwined with contemporary boldness and historical charm. We talked to Mr Weitzer about the history of the family business, about the hotels, about the enchanting touch he has given to the new design, and, believe it or not, about the “roof challenges.”
"In my hotels I break away from the norms of the hospitality industry."
Q: Your family has been in the hotel business for over 100 years. Can you tell us more about the history of the family business? I am the fourth generation of our family to manage the Weitzer Hotels. My great grandfather bought ‘Hotel Florian’ in 1910 and in doing so laid the cornerstone of Weitzer Hotels. In 1963 my father took on the hotel “Das Weitzer” and turned it into the city’s largest hotel over the course of the next 40 years. In the seventies, “Hotel Daniel Graz” at the central railway station was bought, and in 1999 “Grand Hotel Wiesler” joined the Weitzer hotel group portfolio. Then the time was ripe to go to Austria’s capital, where we opened “Hotel Daniel Vienna” in 2011, followed by the “Grand Ferdinand” on the Viennese Ringstraße in 2015. Q: Have you always been involved in the family business? I grew up in the hotel—our family always lived in the hotel and my time there shaped me. But I chose to study economics instead of taking the classic route of a qualification in tourism. In 2003, my father decided to trust me fully and handed down the management of Weitzer Hotels. That was the year in which Graz was named “European Capital of Culture”, which was an added challenge. I don’t like to describe myself as a hotelier but rather as an entrepreneur because at my hotels I break away from the norms of the hospitality industry.
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Q: What is it that you most like about it? My father focused on running the hotels according to “international standards,” while I have to try to work out those differences towards “international standards.” Instead of relying on mellow concepts and “copy & paste”, I have chosen the approach of creating completely autonomous and internally consistent hotel environments for each establishment. Q: In 2003, you took over a renovation of the three hotels in Graz. The renovation got a lot of attention due to a completely new, trendy, and very bold design. Where did your inspiration come from? Our work is developed by personal feeling and doesn’t just follow the rules of the industry. I love change and seek constant challenges. There are countless sources of inspiration: nature, out on walks, on my little farm, markets, flea markets and sometimes other cultures – far away from home, where no hotelier would expect to find buried treasure. Q: A lot of the special details in the renovations were your idea. So you are not just an owner and manager of your hotels, but also their designer? How did the process go? I love to create by myself and don’t implement overall concepts from architects or interior architects. For me a good design means that everything is related to each other in order to create a vibrant atmosphere. An inspiring hotel world should be a harmonious overall composition combining furniture, light, contemporary cuisine, the staff and individual and surprising details. And I love to travel and experience locations from the customer’s point of view. It then helps me to think outside the box and
arrange our hotels in accordance with our guests’ wishes.
Q: What have been the main challenges and how did you overcome them? Yes, there have been quite some challenges over the years with creating surprising and inspiring details. Let me point out two in Graz: In 2014, we created a new “landmark” in Graz by installing a LoftCube (by German designer Weiner Aisslinger) on the roof of “Hotel Daniel Graz”. It’s an exclusive suite, 24 metres above the ground, with a 360-degree panorama over Graz. What the public probably doesn’t know is that for years we had been working our way through administrative procedures until permits and planning permissions were obtained. By coincidence, the latest real challenge is, again, an installation on a roof top: From the brand-new sauna installed on the roof of the hotel “Das Weitzer” in summer 2018, our guests have a breath-taking view of the Schlossberg with the clock tower. Q: What are the main features and what is the main distinctiveness between the four hotels that you would point out? Hotel Daniel Graz and Hotel Daniel Vienna offer “Smart Luxury”. They offer exceptional levels of comfort where and whenever sensible and simply do away with superfluous pomp. But we knew that the Grand Ferdinand that we opened on the Viennese Ringstraße in 2015, wouldn’t be another “Daniel” or a “Daniel de luxe”. We decided to focus on something else. The Grand Ferdinand is a building which was listed as historic and stands on the world-famous Viennese
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boulevard the “Ringstraße”. And, of course, this is what we wanted to communicate to our guests: the characteristically Austrian atmosphere, the sense of beauty, a love of life. The Grand Ferdinand wants to combine Viennese elegance and the beauty of times past with the finest amenities available now.
"An inspiring hotel world should be a harmonious overall composition."
Q: Which of the hotels is your favourite? It’s always the latest one. So it’s the Grand Ferdinand that opened in 2015. I had long desired to add a glamorous hotel to the Vienna scene: My four other hotels had already proven that they were able to combine a historical foundation with good ideas and the Ringstraße has been always home to illustrious names in the hotel business. But still today, the Grand Ferdinand by Weitzer Hotels is the only Austrian-run hotel directly on the Ringstraße. Q: Before the renovations, was there any idea that you very much wished to be realised but it turned out it couldn’t be done?
We have realised quite a lot of “special ideas” so far. But for the years to come – there is always a lot to do, because we’re constantly “breathing new life” in our existing hotels.
Q: The dining experience is also one of the hotels’ “wow” factors. And the hotels are also famous for their bars and restaurants which are becoming a hub for vibrant urban meetings not just for guests but also for locals. How do the menus get created? While the Weitzer sub-brands “Der Steirer” and the “Speisesaal” have become an established part of the gastronomic scene in Graz, the “Bakery” and “Meissl & Schadn” are shaking up Vienna. Our restaurants are not a “necessary evil” as is so often the case at many other comparable establishments, but instead, they are open to hotel guests and outside visitors and are one of the most important cornerstones in our hotels. New menus are created in cooperation with our chefs, we are always open to change if necessary. Q: What is that X factor that attracts so many guests to the hotels’ restaurants and bars? The X factor is probably the fact that the philosophy of each location is reflected in the choice of food and drinks it offers: from succulent Styrian and delightfully Austrian to colourful international delicacies! Q: What are you planning for the future? There are no concrete plans for the future yet, but the next opening will definitely take place in an international metropolis – that’s what we aim to achieve!
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OUR FIRST REACTION WAS “WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING?!”
Interview with Jean-Paul Dantil, Vice President Ops Almanac Hotels and opening GM Almanac Vienna JASMINA JERANT //
ALMANAC HOTELS
With 25 years’ experience in the luxury hotel industry, Jean-Paul Dantil recently (in June 2018) became the Vice President Ops Almanac Hotels and opening GM at Almanac Vienna. Before that, he was General Manager of The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Bahrain and prior to that was General Manager of their Vienna property. Almanac announced its aggressive growth plan for the next five years and Mr Dantil will oversee the opening or rebranding of several properties including Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Zagreb. We talked to Mr Dantil, who once also opened a private resort on a Caribbean island, about Almanac Hotels, about his experiences, and about the funniest and worst moments that have happened to him during his inspiring career.
"The best way to get incorporated into the city is to win the hearts of the locals."
Q: Almanac Hotels announced an aggressive growth plan for the next five years. Can you explain what is meant by an aggressive growth plan? What are its components? Aggressive plans can be relative. For a new group like ours, it certainly is. This year, we opened our hotel in Barcelona. In the next two years we plan to open new hotels in Vienna and Prague, while at the same time renovating another property in Prague. Next year we also plan to start work on a new hotel in Budapest and the renovation of the Esplanade in Zagreb. Q: You will oversee the opening or rebranding of several properties. Herbert Haselbacher, President and CEO of Almanac Hotels said that you have “an extraordinary depth and breadth of understanding in this business”. How are you envisaging the implementation of the whole plan? It is all about having a great team that is able to implement the vision of Herbert Haselbacher of which I happen to be the conductor. Without this, we would not be successful. I am fortunate to have opened two hotels as an operator and to have experience in both larger chains and smaller independent hotels, which is a big help. It is also a question of being or-
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ganised and setting the right priorities.
Q: What are you the most excited about? What I am currently doing—launching a new hospitality group—is really one of the most exciting projects I could ask for. Q: What are you most scared of? Or rather, what do you see as the greatest challenges? Our biggest challenge is probably finding the right talent. Having the right people is what makes the difference. With so many new hotels in the pipeline, it is important to create a team in each location that can ensure consistency in our services and transmit the brand promise. Q: How will the buildings be created/designed? Is there a special plan for each of them? Each Almanac Hotel will be created with a timeless design that respects the history and architecture of the buildings, while incorporating the city and the now into each property. We want to make sure that each hotel has its own personality, while following a common thread of comfort and technology that is part of Almanac. We are fortunate to have an in-house architecture team ensuring that individuality and consistency are both delivered in equal measures.
Q: The hotels will be located in the heart of these cities. How will they get incorporated into the existing city lifestyle? The best way to get incorporated into the city is to win the hearts of the locals. This is usually done through F&B and by ensuring that the locals are proud of the hotel. Partnering up with local providers, be it through entertainment or partnerships, also helps. Also ensuring that events are created that are for the locals. Q: How many meeting facilities will be provided? Meetings are an important part of our hotels as we want to be able to attract both leisure and business travellers who seek a hotel that caters to their business needs, and at the same time allows them to feel the local pulse and have a good time. The number of meeting facilities really depends on the building. In Barcelona, due to size, we have smaller meeting spaces. In our upcoming property in Prague, we have one of the largest and most impressive ballrooms in the city. Q: Almanac Barcelona was completely renovated. The redevelopment of the fundamental architecture and exterior conceived two buildings from different eras into one seamless property. What does Barcelona offer to the MICE industry? We are a boutique hotel. It is therefore an ideal location for smaller MICE groups that want to customise their event and offer a special, luxurious and bespoke experience, t be that a private cocktail on our rooftop bar or exclusively hiring our restaurant for an event. We also have a larger meeting space for up to 100 guests in the basement. Q: Almanac Vienna is currently undergoing a total renovation and is supposed to be open in 2019/2020. What will its character be? It will be very unique in Vienna in terms of design and what it offers. I don’t want to reveal too much as we want to keep it a surprise. But the elements of Imperial Vienna combined with modern design and facilities will make it quite special. Q: In Prague, Almanac is developing a ‘Vital Centrum’ – a combined wellness and medical centre dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle. There will also be a meeting and event location included. Can you tell us more about that? In Prague, we wanted to offer a new and holistic approach to hospitality. We believe that the distinction between a traveller for business or events and leisure has blurred. Travellers look for hotels that can cater to all their needs while travelling, where they can work, be entertained and relaxed. With that in mind, we have created a property that offers one of the largest ballrooms in the city, a beautiful spa and medical centre along with the distinct luxury boutique personality and service which is part of our DNA. Q: Almanac Budapest will open in 2019/20. Considering the proverbial love of meeting planners for Budapest due to the richness of what it offers in the MICE sector, how will Almanac Hotels present what it offers in order to compete with other MICE providers for attention of meeting planners? The Budapest property will be ideally located, locally inspired, technologically advanced and modern, while respecting the history of the building in which it is situated. This authentic experience, in combination with a MICE infrastructure and the highest level of service will definitely provide
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MICE planners with something new and unique in the Budapest MICE segment.
Q: At one point in your career you even opened a private island resort in the Caribbean. How would you compare the experience of the launch of a private island resort with the work that awaits you in next five years on the Almanac Hotels rebranding? The opening of Parrot Cay was my first real experience of working and executing the vision of an owner, which is different from working for a chain hotel. It was also my first introduction to luxury boutique hotels and creating a brand from scratch. Both require certain skill sets that I learned and will help me navigate through the next 5 years. Q: You have lived in many places around the world (London, Geneva, Berlin, Palma de Mallorca, Bahrain, the Caribbean, Dubai, Saipan, Vienna). Which is your favourite place and why? It is hard to say as each place offered a different and wonderful experience and with age our tastes change. I do have to say, though, Berlin is a city I really enjoyed, due to its dynamism, history, what it has to offer. London is also a unique city with great energy. Now I am very pleased to be living in Vienna which, in a way, is a mix of Berlin and London, just a little quieter. Q: Considering in how many different cities you worked and lived … what was the funniest thing that had happened to you in regard to the hotel work? On Parrot Cay, in the Turks and Caicos, we had left the hotel with the
management team to have a quick boat tour to visit one side of the island. When we came back there were no employees around and we all got very worried. We were looking everywhere and found them all at the poolside having some cocktails. Our first reaction was to question what on earth was happening, but we were quick to realize that one of our regular guests, a very famous actor, had decided to invite them all for drinks as he was so happy with their service: What could we do but join the party. Luckily the hotel was not too busy at that time. Funnily enough, the same actor loved the hotel so much he decided to extend his stay. As we were fully booked, we had to organize a tent for him on the island for him to stay in for a few nights until his villa was free.
"Our biggest challenge is probably finding the right talent."
Q: And the worst one? And how did you handle it? Unfortunately, there have been several, from a fire that broke out, natural disasters such as hurricanes, to some serious accidents or even suicides. This is the nature of our business. I always say “prepare for the worst, expect the best”. It is always important to stay calm and non-judgemental in any situation.
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WE NOW HAVE MORE “BLEISURE” VISITORS
Interview with Martina Bienenfeld, director of the Zagreb Tourist Board & Convention Bureau GORAZD ČAD //
ZAGREB TOURIST BOARD AND CONVENTION BUREAU
Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, is a modern city whose recognition on the international map of the meetings industry is growing rapidly due to the city’s promising mixture of business and leisure opportunities. We talked to Martina Bienenfeld, director of the Zagreb Tourist Board & Convention Bureau, about the city’s characteristics, meetings industry scene, future investments in tourism, MTLG ranking, and about the millennials.
"Millennials are looking for the genuinity and authenticity that Zagreb offers."
Q: Which 3 words would best describe Zagreb? Charming, vibrant and compact. Q: How do you see Zagreb’s meeting industry scene in 2018? The meeting industry scene is becoming more and more dynamic every year. International associations and corporate clients are looking for the new destinations, and Zagreb is definitely one of them. Zagreb was mostly perceived as a meeting and conference destination, but lately Zagreb has also been attracting incentives and other corporate events not just from Europe, but from overseas and faraway markets too. Thanks to various events that take place all year round, Zagreb has much better visibility on the international map. On the other hand, Zagreb’s meeting industry stakeholders are dedicated to executing events in a highly professional manner with a touch of heart and soul. Q: How would you convince new meeting planners and “millennials” to come to Zagreb? What is the key to attract them to your destination? According to statistics, millennials represent almost 30% of the global population and a significant part of the workforce. This generation use social media as their main communication and contact tool. On the other hand, the meetings industry is based on face to face contacts. Motivation for attending a conference or a meeting is gaining education and the opportunity to network with their peers, but it is also an opportunity for something more. Millenials love to travel and experience new destinations, and due changes in behaviour and the work environment, more young people are com-
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bining travel for business and leisure at the same time. We now have more “bleisure” visitors. Zagreb is attractive to millennials, but also to all other visitors, because it is still not one of those touristy, overcrowded places. Millennials are looking for the genuinity and authenticity that Zagreb offers to visitors through carefully planned events and outstanding gastronomy. In addition Zagreb is attractive as a city whose surrounding area hosts one of the world’s most exciting technology companies “Rimac automobili” that makes the fastest known electrical cars. So, innovations and technology combined with culture and history are a winning combination.
Q: Can you tell us more about the future investments in tourism in Zagreb? Regarding investments, new exciting hotels have been announced. Canopy by Hilton, a lifestyle hotel is going to be opened this year in Zagreb city centre. It will be a first Canopy in continental Europe. Hilton has announced a new Garden Inn to be opened during 2019 in the Zagreb business district. Amadria Park Hotel Capital is scheduled for opening this autumn. It will be an upscaled “Heritage” hotel located in the very heart of the city. The city government is constantly working on infrastructure throughout the city that improve citizens’ and visitors’ experience. It means streets, parking, bike trails, parks, sports facilities and many others. The Zagreb Tourist Board will continue to invest into new events as well
as to improve and upgrade the well-established events that make Zagreb recognisable on the world map.
Q: How are meetings and events contributing to your city when it comes to legacy? It is our aim not just to have an event that lasts for a fixed time and entertains locals and visitors. Our events contribute to the preservation of the heritage of Zagreb, improving the environment and trying to impose a sustainable lifestyle.
"It makes us extremely happy that MTLG ranked Zagreb in first place among such strong competition."
Q: How important is the MTLG ranking for Zagreb? It makes us extremely happy that MTLG has ranked Zagreb in first place among such strong competition. The special value is that all the rankings were done completely impartially, recognising our work and efforts, giving an incentive to continue the good work in the future.
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DREAMS DON’T COME TRUE IF YOU SAY THEM OUT LOUD
Interview with the newly appointed General manager of Hit Alpinea Kranjska Gora, Milan Sajovic JASMINA JERANT //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, SLOVENIAN TOURIST BOARD
Hit Alpinea, the internationally recognised Slovenian company for hotel management and tourism with a long tradition in the Zgornjesavska Valley, recently appointed a new general manager, Milan Sajovic, who previously managed Grand Hotel Union & Grand Hotel Union Business, and Hotel Lev in Ljubljana. We talked to Mr Sajovic about his plans for Hit Alpinea, about the Kranjska Gora seasons, and about the further development of the MICE sector.
Q: You have recently become the General Manager of the largest Kranjska Gora tourism company, Hit Alpinea. Congratulations! First of all, in what condition was the company handed over to you? Thank you. Hit Alpinea is not only the largest tourism company in Kranjska Gora, but one of the biggest in the region and it, together with its mother company Hit d.d., it forms a very important part of Slovenia’s tourism suppliers. Today, Hit Alpinea is a stable company with big growth potential. Q: What is your plan, your strategy for the future? In future years, the main focus will be to transform the company into a much more guest-focused and profitability-oriented hotel and F&B provider with new, interesting and differentiated products. We wish to become not only a “receiver” of incoming guests but, together with other stakeholders in the destination, also a driver of development. In this area, we have great potential, but especially internally it has to go hand in hand with setting up a proper internal organisation and effective processes. Q: Hit Alpinea’s hotels Ramada Resort and Kompas Hotel have a long tradition of congress and business tourism. Their seasons have so far been run to October. What is your goal in this regard? Kranjska Gora is the only destination in Slovenia that has two strong seasons—winter and summer. However, it is also very weather dependent and it has much lower occupancies in spring and autumn months, and on weekdays. In my opinion, these months and weekdays are still underutilised, especially taking into account the relatively well-developed local events infrastructure. I believe that with common efforts we can improve the internal MICE product as well as improve the destination’s presence in the MICE arena. Q: After landing the GM position, you mentioned that you will work on further development of incentive programmes. Where do you see the opportunities?
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Incentive programmes are dependent on the destination’s products and a quality hotel product. The latter is our internal and the owner’s responsibility, while Kranjska Gora has, as a destination, been already very much aligned with green, nature-connected, healthy and active lifestyle. And most importantly—the destination is not crowded yet, and it has good public infrastructure. The opportunities lie in further development of the “green” product and in connecting with neighbouring local (e.g. Bovec, Bled) and regional (Italy, Austria) destinations.
Q: Will you offer your own (Hit Alpinea) products or will you only connect with the local incentive providers? We need to do both, in close cooperation with our sister hotels Korona and Špik too.
"With rising global temperatures and shortening of winter seasons (lack of natural snow), meetings and incentives are an interesting and appealing option to strengthen."
Q: Ramada Resort proudly owns the latest congress centre in Kranjska Gora and is at the same time recipient of the award for the Best Ski Hotel in Slovenia. How can congress tourism connect with the winter time? How do meeting planners respond to this option? For congresses in the winter season, this is something that needs to be investigated further, since the winter season is already well occupied by skiers, families … But with rising global temperatures and shortening of winter seasons (lack of natural snow), meetings and incentives are an interesting and appealing option to strengthen. However, in our industry we need to be very careful to structure the segments properly by hotel and season and this needs to be supported by good planning and internal coordination. We cannot offer the same product in the same hotel at the same time to a skiing family on the one hand and to a MICE guest on the other. The leisure and MICE segments are very much different in their
needs and expectations. Therefore, the right strategy and product (hotel) differentiation is a must. And this is something that we need to do in the months and years ahead.
Q: The Kompas Hotel’s largest hall accommodates up to 360 people, while its, cool-sounding, presidential meeting suite only 10. What is the advantage of the presidential meeting suite considering that it can only seat 10? At the moment, it is used mainly for board meetings and organisers’ internal offices at big sports events. Q: How are you planning to promote your congress services on the international market? By product diversification, as mentioned earlier, investments and by strengthening our presence at different MICE-oriented tradeshows, sales calls etc., supported by active sales. An interesting factor is that many still perceive Kranjska Gora just as a winter destination, not knowing that it has a lot to offer in other seasons and product segments as well. It will take time to change this. Q: What would be your recommendation for a perfect business gift from Kranjska gora? We have started developing a great gift, that is seeds of “Ajdovska deklica”. Many know the image of a girl that nature carved into the northern wall of the local Prisank mountain. This legend talks about a girl— a fortune teller—who helped travellers every day to get across the dangerous mountains and passes over to the Trenta valley. She also visited young mothers and read their children’s fortune. In its essence “Ajdovska deklica” is a symbol of a positive, good-hearted girl who helped other people and travellers. We wish our hotels to become symbols of this genuine kindness that is spread around just like the actual seeds of “Ajdovska deklica” out of which an edelweiss grows. The story also communicates a green and healthy lifestyle, as well as the destination our hotels are in. Q: What is your wildest dream in regard to your new position? Is there anything particular that you wish you could do but it might be difficult to achieve? Dreams don’t come true if you say them out loud ;).
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SALZBURG OFFERS ME THE FREEDOM TO LIVE AND WORK FOR WHAT I BELIEVE IN Interview with Gernot Marx, Managing Director of Salzburg Convention Bureau GORAZD ČAD //
SALZBURG CONVENTION BUREAU
Having been in the MICE industry for approximately 15 years, Gernot Marx has gained extensive experience of developing destinations and key products, opening hotels, PR and strategic management. In the future he wants to continue to focus on meetings while the Salzburg CVB wants to anchor Salzburg even more firmly as an ideal venue for scientific congresses and corporate events. At the moment, Salzburg is already the most popular meetings destination in Austria after Vienna.
"Nobody would build a conference venue, if associations and corporates didn’t understand the importance of meeting people in person."
Q: Can you describe your start in the Meeting Industry? After my traineeship in my early twenties, I was transferred to London by Starwood Hotels & Resorts to work in the groups and events department. So, my very first job was in the Meeting Industry. And I got adopted by so many great people there that I didn’t even think of leisure tourism at that time. I still remember those years as the most exciting and formative time in my life. Q: What attracted you to Salzburg? It was the level of quality the destination represents. I never wanted to work for an employer who’s not aiming to be the best in its class. I don’t mind if it sounds snobbish, but I don’t think you should compromise on the level of service you give a guest or client. And in terms of quality, I have also worked for some of the best hotels in the world. In this way, Salzburg offers me the freedom to live and work for what I believe in. Q: What do you think is the perception of Salzburg among meeting planners in Europe? When people think of Salzburg, they think of the city of Salzburg. But Salzburg is one of the nine Austrian states and its capital city Salzburg has the same name. So this is somehow confusing, but you find regions like Zell am See-Kaprun, Saalfelden-Leogang and others in the Salzburger
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Land, too. Many people don’t know that we offer such large capacities. When we speak to people or welcome them to product experience weekends on site, they know that we can do the large, but also the exclusive stuff as well. We are the unrivalled number two in the Austrian Meeting Industry after Vienna. We have a market share of approximately 20 per cent. Vienna has more than 40. The other 40% is shared among the 7 other states of Austria. This makes us proud and confident to tell people why Salzburg is a fit for their events.
Q: Who are your main competitors in Austria and Europe? It depends on the kind of events and regions in our state you want to compare. However, we compete with large XL destinations as well as the small hideaways. We are in competition with large metropolises, trendy up-and-coming destinations and the Mediterranean. If you market a destination like Salzburg, with so many world-renowned assets and alpine resorts, it will be hard to drop names to compare with as there are many. The more important question we ask ourselves is: Does the client know which destination to choose to make their event a success? And we aim to help them find the answer. Even if it sometimes is not in our favour.
"Nine out of ten tourism businesses in Salzburg are family run."
Q: What is your vision and what hopes do you have for the future of Salzburg? We are marketers with an opportunity to form the industry. So “hope� is not a factor to rely on. Having said that, we believe in Salzburg as a stage with preset backdrops of stories told by architecture, culture, nature and its population. More hotels will come and venues will be built, but this is not our core vision. Nine out of ten tourism businesses in Salzburg are family run. They are forming a broad economic foundation and a specific appeal, continuously investing in their products. The vision is organic growth in all fields and keeping that personal touch.
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Q: Can you tell us about the variety of special venues that Salzburg offers? Again, this depends on the event and the client you talk to. For some the high-end, luxury venues are just good or special enough. But others consider a chalet in the middle of nowhere a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So what I want to say first is that special does not always mean luxury, XXL venues or the maximum amount of AV equipment you can put into a location. In Salzburg you can stand on a venue’s terrace at 3,029 metres, meet at lakeside event resorts, or experience products in dedicated automotive event spaces. We are also the only destination in Europe with airport hangars purpose built for events. But we have the large congress venues for thousands of delegates and international chain hotels with hundreds of bedrooms in Salzburg, too. Q: Where would you take someone to “feel” the vibe of Salzburg and what is your best incentive idea in Salzburg? If you really want to feel a destination, you have to go where the locals go. Salzburg is a social micro-cosmos so it would be a few stops. We would start at the historical city centre of Salzburg at Café Tomaselli, which is the oldest coffee house in Austria. Dinner at one of the many rooftop restaurants. Or we go up into the mountains to Mama Thresl, a quirky hotel, with an Ibiza-like mountain club called “Hendlfischerei” at 1,800 metres. Again, the best incentive idea depends on the region you select, the delegates’ backgrounds and how brave the planner is. Q: Is there a certain formula for a good meeting destination? Personality, Passion, Know-How. We unite those things with the very strong and individual personality of the locals driving our values, a great passion for their destination, but also sending young people to our world-leading tourism schools to become the best serving the best.
"Salzburg offers me the freedom to live and work for what I believe in."
Q: How is the meeting industry encouraging greater diversity and inclusivity? I admire London for their idea on the #LondonIsOpen campaign and was positively surprised that equality of women became a subject at last year’s ICCA congress and this year’s IMEX. However, the industry is good at talking diversity, but very slow to execute it. One year we make a pilgrimage over bridges to a congress, another year we go to destinations where those claims and values are totally neglected. I miss a little honesty in the discussion of social responsibility. Let’s say it like it is: With the financial capacities and economic dependencies of some in the industry, it will remain difficult to call more forecefully for diversity. Q: How do you view the state of the modern meeting industry? My vision is a meeting industry that is impact driven. An industry that gives itself a bigger meaning by understanding the source of its business. It does not exist because of infrastructure. Nobody would build a conference venue, if associations and corporates didn’t understand the importance of meeting people in person. So the supplier side has to understand why people want to connect, learn and speak to each other face to face. It is our job to empower people to communicate in the best possible way and deliver what’s necessary.
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MAKING A PROFIT IS NOT OUR BASIC AND ONLY AIM
Interview with Špela Terpin, Strategic Marketing Director at GR – Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre JASMINA JERANT //
GR - LJUBLJANA EXHIBITION CENTRE, BLAŽ ZUPANČIČ
Špela Terpin has been a part of the MICE team at the GR - Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (GR) since its beginnings. She has a great knowledge of the industry and decades of direct insight into GR’s meetings operations and marketing. She began her professional career working as an engineer in agronomy at the Ministry of Agriculture where she learned about the necessary strategies to reach agreements in the international arena, which equipped her with the skills needed for her future work at GR. Her experience, skills and knowledge have contributed immeasurably to GR’s decades of success, particularly in the last few years when the centre has widened its scope to include world-renowned exhibitions. Thanks to her work, GR remains one of the biggest and most important convention centres in Slovenia that annually hosts half a million visitors.
"A prerequisite for successfully marketing GR is the placement of Slovenia, and in particular Ljubljana, as a destination on the map of desirable congress destinations."
Q: You have been working in the MICE part of the GR - Ljubljana Exhibition and Congress Centre since the beginning. In that time, you have seen GR grow into one of the two most important congress centres in Slovenia. Could you describe the development of GR, or rather the steps that your team had to take to bring it to the top? Things begin and end with people. It began in such a way that we decided that part of the GR team would leave the trade fair team. To begin with we offered just a limited range of services on the domestic market, mostly halls. Then we gradually enhanced what we could offer, we installed additional equipment, began to work with a network of quality partners so that, in line with our motto ‘Everything is possible’, we are able to offer our clients practically everything. By establishing the mixed company Dekon.si last year, together with our partner Dekon, we can now offer professional conference organiser (PCO) and destination management company (DMC) services. We are increasingly searching abroad for clients, especially in the associations market and the corporate segment.
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Q: 2018 is a record year for GR in terms of hosting large international meetings – there will be 12. How do you attract organisers to choose GR? What strategy do you use to convince them? A prerequisite for successfully marketing GR is the placement of Slovenia, and in particular Ljubljana, as a destination on the map of desirable congress destinations. In convincing clients, the most important element is trust – those who are in contact with potential clients must be competent. Positive references also play a large role in this business.
"International exhibitions are one of the areas of our work we are very proud of, since by hosting such exhibitions we offer both Slovenians and tourists interesting content."
Q: GR organises and hosts different types of events. For association meetings it takes 3–4 years between the negotiations and the opening day of the event. How many (and which) events have already been booked to take place at GR in the next few years, and how far ahead do the current bookings go – to what year? Often the first candidacy is not successful and lengthy delays can result before venue selection. However, sometimes, due to a web of various circumstances, we can be chosen as a venue for an event practically overnight. Currently we are up to about 2023 with offers that we have provisionally made for bookings. Q: When an organiser chooses to host an event at GR, what is it that convinces them? Is it just what GR offers or are they also attracted by Slovenia itself and what Ljubljana has to offer? Of course, the entire destination is important, its accessibility, safety, availability of hotel capacity, the price/performance of the everything it has to offer. Any limitation is always the weakest link, whether this is too few airline connections, or not enough available rooms. It is true that agreements usually begin with the venue – the congress centres – and if
our offer is accepted, expectations begin to spiral ahead.
Q: According to your observations, what are the current trends in organising large business meetings? Is there anything particular that makes clients ready to commit regardless of the cost? I’m not able to point out any particular content, especially not one thing that clients want regardless of the price. Everything must function according to expectations. These days everyone expects efficient internet, a technical team that knows how to react in demanding situations, good quality catering that includes local specialities, support for congress exhibitors prior to and during the event. Q: What are the advantages of Slovenia, and in particular Ljubljana, for the meetings industry, and what are the shortfalls? Slovenia, and its capital Ljubljana, represent a safe, well-organised and efficient destination which is something fresh in the congress world. The two very different congress centres mean we are able to attract and cater for congress events for just over 2,000 attendees. Slovenia is also attractive for tourism, which can be an additional stimulation for congress guests to take part in a congress event in Ljubljana. Increasing the range of hotel accommodation is in the pipeline as is, we believe, the number of air links, which would make the destination even more attractive. Q: For a few years now GR has been hosting huge exhibitions. For example, among many others, in 2013 it hosted the exhibition ‘Da Vinci – The Genius’, the biggest travelling exhibition in the world about Leonardo Da Vinci. How does GR manage to attract such exhibitions? International exhibitions are one of the areas of our work we are very proud of, since by hosting such exhibitions we offer both Slovenians and tourists interesting content. We are currently preparing a big new exhibition titled ‘BODY WORLDS VITAL’, which we will open on 20 October this year. Through plastic replicas of original human bodies, the exhibition will show the various effects of lifestyle on the body and its organs, shown in various states of wellness and ill health. We encounter a problem with such global exhibitions, because the extent of the potential number of visitors in a country with a population of 2 million means it is difficult to cover all the costs of the exhibition. Therefore, we must really carefully choose the content, and it must be particularly interesting in order to attract enough visitors.
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Q: How, if at all, does GR’s strategy vary in terms of attracting such exhibitions compared to that for attracting congresses? And when negotiating such exhibitions, are you in competition with Ljubljana’s museums? The battle to win visitors begins with the acquisition of exhibitions. In acquiring congresses, therefore, we are mainly concerned with ensuring the highest quality of execution. We are not in competition with museums and galleries, however, we can complement what they offer.
"Currently we are up to about 2023 with offers that we have provisionally made for bookings."
Q: According to data, GR does not really profit from such exhibitions, so why does it seek to attract them? The Ljubljana Exhibition and Congress Centre is majority owned by the local community, and so making a profit is not our basic and only aim. We want to offer the local community content which enriches them, whether it is in the fields of business (fairs), culture (exhibitions, concerts...), or science (congress events). Q: GR hosted the 13th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the OSCE and the 15th session of the ACP-EU. These are completely different
sorts of events compared to usual business meetings. Why was GR chosen as the venue? What strategy did you use? What are the challenges for GR in the future? You mentioned two larger events, and we are also currently preparing for the European Commission event ‘TEN-T Days. In the autumn we hosted the Eurocities conference of major European cities. In terms of content, these are very different events perhaps, though they have some parallels. For us as executors, they are very similar to other congresses – communication with the client and fulfilling their expectations, wishes etc. The acquisition process is also similar to other events, networking and searching for contacts, and then, when you get the RFP (Request for Proposal) and prepare the first offer, things start flowing.
Q: What is your vision for GR’s future? Of course, continued development, which will be key if we are to succeed in acquiring an even more diverse range of events. I hope we will succeed in getting an additional, new, modern hall, achieve growth in the newly established mixed company Dekon.si, as an international PCO, and thus be able to offer these services too. Q: What has been your favourite project so far? Perhaps it would have to be the aforementioned Da Vinci – The Genius exhibition, as well as last year’s Auto Salon, whilst in terms of congress, those where Slovenian researchers have taken part who I also know personally. Q: What most motivates you in your work? Satisfied customers, happy colleagues, and positive feedback from events held in our halls are probably the most important elements that motivate me.
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THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A LONGDISTANCE RUN Interview with Jan Oršič, Head of Ljubljana Convention Bureau GORAZD ČAD //
LJUBLJANA TOURISM
Q: In your opinion what role do convention bureaus play in the development of congress destinations? Convention bureaus have a very important role, since their aim is to connect players in destinations, helping them to develop new products and activities in general. An additional aspect is promotion and marketing of entire destinations, particularly in the international business environment. I would point out the importance of co-operation between local and national bureaus, which, I believe, is already working synergetically in Slovenia. I would add that leading congress destinations also have the most developed convention bureaus that have already been operating on the market for a long time.
"I am inspired by the fact that congresses and other events are in some way the drivingforce of economic, professional and scientific development."
Q: 2018 promises to be an exceptional year for congress tourism in Slovenia, which is certainly the result of good work in the past. What is the marketing strategy for maintaining such results in the future? The meetings industry can be desribed as a long-distance run. The events calendar of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau, which we are constantly updating, already has events published for 2019. We are now working on events that will take place in Ljubljana post-2021. The marketing strategy is long-term, however, of course, we are constantly adapting to new factors and rapid changes, and strive for even greater connectivity in the destination. Q: What can Ljubljana offer event organisers that other destinations cannot? I think that the residents of Ljubljana and Slovenia are ever more aware of how special the places are in which we live. This is also confirmed by prestigious awards and titles such as ‘European Green Capital 2016’, a
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triple ranking among the 100 top sustainable tourist destinations, and others. I would say that Ljubljana is very strongly positioned compared to numerous other European destinations in terms of its friendliness, personal and professional approach of providers, safety and quality of the entire attendee experience. The compactness of the city with its short distances between key venues and extensive pedestrian areas is also greatly appreciated. The icing on the cake is the excellent cuisine.
"We must ask ourselves how our destination will be influenced by the building of the congress centre in Zagreb, particularly after the completion of its entirely new airport."
Q: How can the Ljubljana Convention Bureau encourage Slovenian experts and scientists to try to bring even more international congresses to Ljubljana? At the Ljubljana Convention Bureau we are continually trying our best to help Slovenian experts and scientists in acquiring international congresses. We support all organisers who connect with us in various forms depending on each case (preparation of candidacies, promotion of congresses, promotional and marking materials, co-operating in organising sightseeing tours, etc.). In the future we are planning to introduce a support model, which can be offered to organisers of major international events from the acquisition phase onwards.
Q: Is the quality of the congress offer in Ljubljana at a suitable level? It is a gratifying fact that everyone in Ljubljana is aware of the strong competition, and this encourages us to make constant improvements and investments. It is essential to look into the future, and then, when new building and renovations are announced and realised, when new air and rail links open, and the awareness about the meetings industry for the destination is enhanced, we can say that things are developing in the right direction, which will speed up the acquisition of events in the future.
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Q: You are from a DMC agency; in your opinion what is the role of DMC and PCO agencies in comparison to other stakeholders on the market? Both are complementary and represent an important link in destinations’ offer in the meetings industry. Like any other providers in the chain, they have their own role and are able to offer specific services. If PCOs actively market and promote destinations especially in the field of associations, DMCs can target corporate clients. Therefore, I believe that through close co-operation with the convention bureau, they can achieve the better results for which they strive.
I can say that I know the meetings industry very well. Over four years I gained experience at the Ljubljana Convention Bureau where I became familiar with the players in the destination, destination marketing and the international business environment. Then, for over four years I was a member of the Intours DMC team, where I had the opportunity to be part of the company’s development, and where I worked on various events both in Slovenia and abroad, especially in Croatia and Montenegro. There, among other things, I headed a car launch for the Jaguar F-Pace, which was the biggest event of its type so far in Montenegro.
Q: In your opinion what will the regional congress industry be like in the next few years? We can certainly say that the entire region has been placed on the congress map. In this area Ljubljana’s story is a very good one in terms of the number and size of the events that have taken place in the past and which are confirmed for the forthcoming period. Of course, it is also necessary to maintain our position and standards and ensure we don’t get left behind. The development of airports, the number of air links, and building of new hotels in neighbouring countries must be taken seriously. We must ask ourselves how our destination will be influenced by the building of the congress centre in Zagreb, particularly after the completion of its entirely new airport.
Q: In your opinion, which of the region’s congress stories are those of success? If we consider the great steps and changes that have happened in the last five years, how the region has developed, and how many excellent events have taken place, I think that the entire region is a success story. I would add that this is also thanks to the Conventa show, which will take place this year for the tenth time in Ljubljana; this, for me, is a story of success.
Q: To what do you attribute the reasons for your appointment as Head of the Ljubljana Convention Bureau?
Q: What personally inspires you in the congress industry? I am inspired by the fact that congresses and other meetings are in some way the driving-force of economic, professional and scientific development. I am inspired by the thought that I live in a city where congresses and other meetings have taken place, where friendships have been made, important decisions have been taken and outstanding discoveries have been made.
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OMG! IT’S CONVENTA!
11th CONVENTA EXPERIENCE NEW EUROPE EXHIBITION FOR MEETINGS, EVENTS & INCENTIVE TRAVEL 23 - 24 January 2019, Ljubljana, Slovenia
www.conventa.si
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THE REVOLUTIONARY CHEF
Interview with Jorg Zupan who transformed a traditional hotel restaurant into a modern restaurant offering world-class cuisine. AJDA BORAK //
UNION HOTELS, MARKO DEBELLO OCEPEK
Two years ago, the talented young chef Jorg Zupan took over Atelje – a traditional restaurant in Grand Hotel Union – one of Ljubljana’s oldest hotels. With a wealth of experience in the industry, which is reflected in his philosophy of fusion from Ireland, Australia, Norway, London and Ljubljana, this young Slovenian chef has stepped into a new mission. Zupan, shaped in prominent restaurants under the eyes of some of the world’s best chefs, rose to the challenge of turning a renowned and conservative hotel restaurant with regular guests and a traditional menu into a modern, trendy, affordable, and sophisticated restaurant with world-class cuisine. Jorg Zupan has created a time-machine-like revolution through combining world cuisine with a traditional approach. His magic tattooed hands create superb dishes that are mind-blowing but unpretentious combinations of world-class cuisine. In contrast to his almost regal food creations, the atmosphere in Atelje is unexpectedly relaxed and homely.
"Take a holiday and go backpacking in a far and distant land for at least a year."
Q: It’s been two years since you became head chef at the Atelje restaurant. How has this experience changed you? It has given me a lot of new knowledge, be it managerial, social and also in terms of new cooking ideas. I have surrounded myself with great people, I have a great team and we are learning from each other every day, which I think is most important. Q: Is there a secret for a successful restaurant? Hard work… ambition but a soft ego! Q: What has been your greatest achievement and your greatest nightmare to date? My greatest achievement would be 16 points in the Gault&Millau guide. I don’t have nightmares… I have a brand-new mattress! Q: Can you tell us more about your Rezidenca project?
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The Rezidenca project is a series of events that will take place in Atelje in the form of hosting different chefs. The theme is different every time and there is no fixed schedule. We will announce it as we go along and on dates that suit our tempo of work. Two events have already unfolded; the first with Luka Košir from Gostišče Grič – a very good friend of mine – and the second with Igor Jagodic from the Strelec restaurant – also a very good friend and my mentor. The next event will be with David Skoko from Batelina in Pula, Croatia – a cool and crazy guy that I met when he was interviewing me for Story Gourmet magazine. We clicked immediately and, considering the fact that he is an awesome chef that specializes in head-to-tail fish preparation, I thought it would be a great idea to host him. After David, the next chef in line is Bine Volčič, my first mentor and also a good friend – you can see the pattern here, it’s basically about hosting chefs and friends and having a jolly good time.
"Hard work…..ambition but a soft ego."
Q: Who are the most memorable people you have cooked for? All of the ones I mentioned above and definitely my family… I love cooking for my family. Q: What advice should you have given yourself five years ago? Take a holiday and go backpacking in a far and distant land for at least a year… there is a lifetime of work ahead of you, anyway!
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NEVER BLAME THE AGENCY IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
We had a talk with Bjorn Wigforss, who reveals the naked truth behind agency - client relationship GORAZD ČAD //
RAWPIXEL.COM / FREEPIK
Q: By your opinion, what defines a good agency-client relationship? ONE TEAM. I have a habit of “tearing up all business cards” at the beginning of a project, I do not care who pays the team members’ salaries, I care about the competence each person brings to the table and the ability to collaborate as one effective functional team.
"We HAVE to trust each other and this is the only way we can succeed together!"
Q: What is the first sign of deeper problems in this relationship? I have experienced situations when there is a lack of proper interaction between different participants in the project, and that sometimes can lead to a lack of trust or other conflicts. In most cases, the reason turns out to be uncertainty about roles and responsibilities. Usually, these issues can be resolved if reacted upon quickly. Q: Share with us your typical case showing the mistrust between the agency and the client. Agency to client: • Budget: Sometimes I think that the agency assumes that there is more budget available, that we are “holding back” money. This is not the case, we have very specific budgets. If we can prove that the impact of the event will improve through higher spend (or that lower spend will severely reduce the impact) then we could potentially adjust the budgets. It however almost never happens. The biggest problem is when cost increases come unexpectedly – so planning accuracy is everything. • Bad briefs: When the client clearly does not understand what he wants it creates uncertainty and mistrust. In those instances it is better to write the brief together — and for the client to make a direct selection of partner rather than going through a selection or RFP process. Client to agency: • Way of working: Sometimes the agencies do not understand how I and my team prefer to work – I call it “co-creation mode” – so I might be surprised to see work happening that is not agreed beforehand. This, of course, can lead to trust issues.
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• Disrespect: Another thing that I have experienced as an agency (I am a senior advisor and partner of an event agency, Creative Pro Group (http:// creativepro.agency) in addition to my corporate job) is how clients treat agencies like “dirt” – meaning that they clearly enjoy bossing the agency around. You know what, when clients behave that way it affects motivation and performance and thus the quality of the execution. • Zero margin survival: Some agencies are at times forced to use shady methods to survive. This is often because clients enforce so low margins that it is not possible to maintain a healthy business without creating the margin by other means. There are many ways for agencies to make their margins when they are being squeezed too hard on agency fees or staff hours by their clients. This creates an unhealthy business environment that we as an industry have to combat! I am all for transparency and ethical behaviour.
Q: What do clients want to say to their agencies? Do your best work with us, be totally transparent. (Also, let’s have fun together because life is too short.)
"clients treat agencies like “dirt” – meaning that they clearly enjoy bossing the agency around"
Q: Do you trust your agency in a process of event creation and execution? Yes, and do you know what? I never blame the agency if something goes wrong. Ultimately I and my team are responsible for the execution. It does happen that our partners make mistakes or miss something it is never one person’s or one agency partner’s fault, usually the root cause is due to a lack of communication and unclear accountability. What’s more, we always co-create so we are in the same boat. We HAVE to trust each other and this is the only way we can succeed together!
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WE WILL SEE A LOT MORE MULTI-HYBRID MEETINGS Interview with Elling Hamso, Managing Partner of Event ROI Institute JASMINA JERANT //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, SNOWING / FREEPIK
Elling Hamso, one of the greatest experts on measuring the ROI of meetings and events, in 2005 started Event ROI Institute. He is a member of the jury of European Best Event Awards (EuBEA), Middle East Best Event Awards, Eventex Awards and national event awards in several European countries. He has received numerous awards and recognitions; in 2015, for example, he was awarded the Event designer of the Year by Meeting Design Institute.
"Events are potentially strategic tools if we understand the wider context in which they contribute to value."
Q: What is the ROI Methodology about? It is about meeting design, mainly the beginning and the end of the process, setting detailed and measurable objectives (at six levels) and proving the value by measuring the results. But to set good and relevant objectives, you also need to understand experience design, how people learn and change behaviour. It is a theory, or model, as well as a practical toolkit for improving event ROI to stakeholders. Q: Which are the new concepts for creating unforgettable events? There isn’t much new under the sun, but we are slowly learning from the cognitive and social sciences how important it is for learning that events are in fact unforgettable. How the feel-good dopamine improves long term memory, for example. How participant involvement and excitement is almost a prerequisite for learning. I see fewer deaths by bullet points these days, but many congresses and conferences are still crime scenes. Q: How important, as a strategic tool, are events? What does it mean to be ‘strategic’? Playing a role in something bigger perhaps. Few events create much value in a vacuum. I see leading companies positioning events more as a component in a bigger campaign, than just one-night-stands. Events are potentially strategic tools if we understand the wider context in which they contribute to value. Q: How would you define the added value of events?
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The added value is very much in the context of a bigger strategy or campaign. But we need to be clear on value, before we talk about added value. Value for whom? It is rarely the objective of an event to create an unforgettable experience for its participants. That’s a means to an end, not the end. Who are the stakeholders, who pays, who is looking for value in return to improve profits or succeed in fulfilling the organisation’s mission? There is never value to participants or other stakeholders unless the event experience leads to a change in participant behaviour. Participants may have had an unforgettable time, but if they go back to their offices and do nothing different, there is no value to anybody, except the enjoyment in the moment. Then the event becomes an item for consumption, not stakeholder investment.
Q: How to measure the added value of events? Measurement is easy. The hard part is setting relevant and detailed measurable objectives. When you have those, magic happens, because now you are able to design the event to meet those specific objectives. You need to check that you have the right people in the room, those who can potentially change their behaviour to provide stakeholder value. You need to measure the quality of the physical and emotional learning environment, your instructional design, did it work, did participants learn and
remember your information, did you change their attitudes, did they do what you needed them to do in order to provide business value to stakeholders.
"You need to measure the quality of the physical and emotional learning environment, your instructional design."
Q: Where do you see changes coming in the event industry? I think we will see a lot more multi-hub hybrid meetings. We have the technology, it’s cheap and reliable and as the Fresh 2018 conference in Copenhagen, Basel, London and Johannesburg demonstrated a few weeks ago, we are getting close to understanding how to apply the technology. It is not the same as a single venue meeting, it is not the best option for every meeting, but for some it is even better.
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EVERY TIME I GO OFF STAGE, I DOUBT MY OWN TALENT
Interview with Jan Jaap In der Maur, Master of moderation, on meetings, events, engaging the audience and unicorns AJDA BORAK //
KONGRES MAGAZINE / MATJAŽ TAVČAR
Q: When and how did you realise that being a professional moderator would be your career? I’m not sure whether I even have. Every time I go off stage, I doubt my own talent. Yet, every time I go back on stage again. I did my first moderation18 years ago, by pure coincidence. About five years later, I knew I wanted to keep on doing this. And I knew that I needed to constantly grow, to keep loving it. So since then, I have forced myself to raise the bar every time. So, is it a career? Probably Am I a professional? That’s not for me to say.
"What it taught me was to be true to myself … always."
Q: Why is it important to hire a professional meeting moderator? Meetings change: they become more interactive and engaging. That makes it harder to moderate, so you need a professional. If you are only looking for someone to announce the speakers, do it yourself. If you need real engagement, modern formats and real interaction: get a pro. I mean: you invest a lot of money in meeting design, production etc. Then why lose that investment by allowing an amateur to f*** up your event? It’s like building a Formula 1 car and then asking your 89-year-old mother (who has no licence) to drive it. Q: You claim that a professional moderator will bring a clear added value. What does the added value consist of? Actually reaching the objective. Knowing what your event needs, in the design phase and on stage. Maximum result in execution and maximum flexiblility, when needed. Honestly, when an event is designed perfectly, there’s no real human interaction involved and nothing goes wrong, then you don’t need a moderator. But when you need someone who understands group dynamics, who ‘feels the vibe’ and who knows how to save the day invest in a moderator!
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Q: Can you please explain a bit more about your engaging approach of ‘objective-based moderation that has made you famous worldwide? There are a few elements to this. One: we at Masters in Moderation make a real connection with everyone in the room. Two: we design interaction formats that help get to the targets of the event. We never use any formats just for the sake of having fun. There always is a direct link to the objectives. Three: we have a very specific view on the role of the moderator: opening people’s minds, helping them to digest what they learning, making sure things change, bringing energy and connecting people. Four: we never take the easy route and, in many cases, do the exact opposite of what feels natural. And the funny thing is, in most cases that way of acting turns out to feel even more natural.
And no, I’ve never run out of questions. Sorry again. My inspiration is in people: no two are the same. And even an individual changes over time. So, everything is new, every minute of the day.
Q: What is the most annoying thing that has ever happened to you while you were moderating an event? That everything went according to plan and that no participant did anything unexpected.
Q: What has been your biggest failure and how did it change you? Once, I took on an event that I knew deep down was not ‘meant for me’. So, once on stage, there was no way of changing. I could hardly run off, could I? What it taught me was to be true to myself … always.
Q: If you could moderate any event in the world, which one would it be? Any traditional gathering of ancient tribes: Inuït, Maori, Aboriginals, Sioux … you name it. Q: A moderator is the mood maker of an event. He needs to engage the audience. He creates the mood with awkward, interesting, stimulating questions… Have you ever simply run out of questions? Where do you find the inspiration and the motivation to moderate each and every event as something unique? The moderator is not the mood maker, sorry. The participants are. The moderator is there to help them find the right mood.
"It’s like building a Formula 1 car and then asking your 89-year-old mother (who has no licence) to drive it."
Q: What’s something you’ve been meaning to try but just haven’t got around to? Dying of old age. Moderating a full day without talking. Sailing around the world. Becoming the Prime Minister of Holland. Q: What is the “holy grail” of your life? There is no holy grail. You just have to love the little things. Q: Do you believe in unicorns? Stupid question: I have two at home.
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AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A DIRECT PUNCH IN THE FACE
Interview with Julien Le Bas, Executive Creative Director and SVP for Jack Morton Worldwide Germany JASMINA JERANT //
JACK MORTON WORLDWIDE
Julien is an award-winning creative director and architect, with more than 15 years of international experience in the experiential marketing industry. First based in France, then Australia, the U.S. and now Germany, he has worked with clients that include Nike, Intel, Novartis, BMW, HERE, GM, and other major companies across most industries. His expertise and strategic thinking in experience design, brand architecture, interactive media, and scenography have fuelled many significant corporate events and consumer experiences.
"The ever-changing landscape is a fantastic opportunity to re-invent our creative and delivery process."
Q: What do you love about your job the most? The opportunity it gives me to meet brilliant minds, from all horizons. Musicians, artist, designers, but also great business leaders. It is inspiring, challenging and, clearly, never boring. Q: Into your work, as an Executive Creative Director for Jack Morton Worldwide, you bring lots of experience from your architectural background. How does this skill aid you in experiential marketing? Architecture is a complex craft, overlapping multiple skills, from psychology to design and technical knowledge. But before all, architects are creative problem solvers. They create experiences with space, light, materials and technology. These various dimensions transpose more or less directly into the Experiential Marketing world. Q: Which of the events, that you prepared so far, is your favourite? The BMW 7 Series international press launch in Munich remains one of my favourites. This was an extensive project with no compromises. From the storytelling, the design, the music, down to the unique technologies used. It was also the chance to meet and work with extraordinary people. Finally, the simple idea behind the event carried through from conception to execution, getting amplified along the way.
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Q: And which of the events that others prepared, you wish they were your creation? Deep Web is a great example of a fabulous piece of experiential work mixing art, sound, light, space and technology. Origin, from UVA is equally inspiring. Although these installations are more art than marketing, they truly inspire me and so do the people who made them. Q: What would be your dream event? It involves a great story, musicians and a composer, fantastic visual artists, programmers, and an extremely challenging technical setup. It would put in the same room very talented and skilled artists, technologists and producers, and allow me to orchestrate and shape the final experience. My dream event is a bold, innovative and powerful moment.
"Various dimensions of architecture transpose into the Experiential Marketing world."
Q: What has been your most difficult challenge so far? What was that major thing that made your heart race and your blood freeze? And how did you overcome it? It really depends on the advancement of the project: First, the challenge is to establish trust with the client and within the team. The best and most amazing projects are driven by a positive and collaborative dynamic. Mistrust often leads to more compromises and watering down of the concept. Leadership is critical. Then, the development of the idea and its unboxing into a real-world solution requires creativity and trusted internal and external partners that can be challenged, in order to arrive at the optimum execution of the idea. Finally, the last stage before going live is equally critical as suddenly tens and sometimes hundreds of people get together to execute their part of the grand plan. I have seen last minute major problems being solved very creatively by teams or individuals in the most creative and elegant way and becoming completely transparent to the audience. This is only possible with the right people and a huge amount of trust. Unpreparedness makes me nervous. I believe that the most amazing shows, event and experiences are the result of hard work and preparation, no matter how spontaneous and fluid they look. Anyone walking in thinking that they already know the solution can quickly become part of the problem. Q: JMW says: »Great brands aren’t B2C or B2B – they’re B2E (brand to everyone)«. How do you incorporate this mission into your creations? Experiences are universal. When successful, they play on the emotional and lower conscience level. People have not waited to have experiential agencies around to create experiences. In that regards, the message may vary and be sharpened for a specific audience, but the principles guiding a great experience transcend the B or the C. Then it becomes a matter of creating the best experience for the most relevant channels.
Q: In your opinion, what is the experiential marketing’s best advantage? An opportunity for a direct punch in the face. Experiential marketing provides the chance to directly connect brands and their audience, in an authentic and extraordinary way. Q: When do experiential marketing events work best? When there is focus and a challenge to solve. Experiential is most effective with a clear message and solid objectives. The creative and strategy team can then develop extraordinary ideas that are simple, moving and original, the essence of excellent experiential marketing. Q: Jack Morton Worldwide says on its website: »Happy humans are the world’s best advertisers«. Could you elaborate, please? What people remember are what moved them, in a simple and original way. They will also potentially share their memories and insights within their circle of influence. In that regard, making humans happy is the ultimate goal of experiential marketing. Q: How do you see the future development of the experiential marketing? The fast emergence of potentially disruptive technologies keeps changing the way people interact with each other and with the space and brands around them. This ever-changing landscape is a fantastic opportunity to re-invent our creative and delivery process. It is basically our sandbox. The future of Experiential Marketing is bright and will call for all sort of the brilliant minds, from all horizons.
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EVERTYHING HAS JUST STARTED ...
Interview with Patrick Roubroeks, Founding Director of XSAGA JASMINA JERANT //
XSAGA
Patrick Roubroeks has a curious and creative look to the world around him. He sees and grabs opportunities where someone else wouldn’t see them. He combines and switches effortless between the world of events and the world of marketing communication. Roubroeks is an advisor in the world of ‘art and culture’ and frequently gives readings titled ‘Inspiration 2.0’. He also writes monthly columns for professional journals like FZ, EventBranche, High Profile and Greater Venues. For the last two years, Roubroeks has been a chairman of ‘De Grote Prijs van Nederland’, chairman of the board of the ‘Amsterdam Poëziefestival’, and a board member of the ADCN (Art Directors Club Nederland).
"Art is the oxygen of life. Culture shows us who we are and where we come from."
Q: Before coming to live communication industry, you worked as a journalist. How has the path from journalism led you to the events industry? Are there any similarities between them? Curiosity is a great sources of inspiration. Curiosity and a blank surface. Curiosity inspires me. Looking and curiosity are the basis of all forms of creativity. It helps me to think of the question behind the question. Daring to question yourself. What do I see? And what does it tell me? What can I do with it? What do I want with it? It is the fuel for journalists, as well as for our profession in the live communication industry. Q: You are also a passionate art lover, particularly of poetry. How do you combine the love of art with your work in experiential marketing? Art is the oxygen of life. Culture shows us who we are and where we come from. It asks questions and holds us a mirror. Q: In your speech at Conventa Crossover you said that the fun part in event design starts with four words: momentum, impact, context, content. Could you, please, elaborate for our readers? In my opinion these four elements are essential for a good concept. Many of the things we do and create can be summed up with these words. We embrace the momentum, celebrate this with impact (reach), create shareable content and place the festivity in an appropriate strategic context.
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are only really happy when we present our customers with an appropriate story that has been thought through down to the smallest details on the basis of ‘thé big idea’.
Q: At Conventa Crossover you quoted Jim Jarmusch »Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination,« who had quoted Jean-Luc Godard »It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.« To imply that stealing ideas is ok, is a very bold statement. Could you explain to our readers its background? You should see this statement metaphorically. It is like many creatives act, such as Picasso, Einstein and Hans van Maanen. Steal from the best, learn from them and act to it. In everything we do, we are a product of our past. We always do it on the shoulders of people who have gone before us. It is not copying, but creating. Q: Where do you see the future of live marketing? How is it going to develop? As described earlier, I see the development in online communication as a huge opportunity in the near future for our industry, the industry of living communication. An inspiring and hopeful era, where we are seen. Where we will get opportunities and use them.
Q: And you said that inspiration, curiosity and imagination are the source of all creativity. I would not have been able to describe it better myself. In Dutch there is a famous statement, “Als je doet wat je deed, krijg je wat je kreeg”, which means “if you do what you did, you get what you got.” With this I want to say that we have to dare to renew, enrich, take on the challenge.
"It starts with a big idea, then the big names follow automatically."
Q: You founded XSAGA, one of the most influential and most awarded live communication agencies in Europe, in 2001. How has the industry changed in the last 17 years? The traditional “above the line” agencies are swallowed up or seek the connection with online communication agencies. A good example is Sir Martin Sorrell who bought Dutch online media agency, MediaMonks, for 300 million euros. This turn to the left, which is made in the direction of online marketing, offers a huge opportunity for our industry. With “living communication” we can bridge the gap on the right side. Q: Among others, you have worked with U2, Coldplay, etc. How challenging is to prepare an event with such huge stars? As Monty Python once said: “You are all individuals”. It never starts with a big name, but with a big idea. Then the names follow automatically. We
Q: And for the end: who is your favourite poet and why? That can change every week. Currently the work of Ida Gerhardt inspires me. Especially the piece: “Alles is pas aangevangen. Ongemeten zijn de kansen: Orpheus liet de stenen dansen” meaning “Everything has just started. Unmeasured are the chances: Orpheus let the stones dance.” This says a lot in general and a lot about our profession.
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A TV OR FILM SHOOTING IS NOT THAT FAR FROM EVENT PRODUCTION …
Interview with Melinda Rebrek, CEO and owner of Pirana Productions and Managing Director at Zvereene Institute, and Ljubljana Fashion Week’s Executive Producer JASMINA JERANT //
MIMI ANTOLOVIĆ, PERSONAL ARCHIVE
Melinda Rebrek is Ljubljana’s so called all-rounder. She has a wide variety of expertise, knowledge, and experience. Ljubljana is also becoming more recognised on the world’s events map because of her role in Ljubljana Fashion Week and pop-up events, like the pop-up Secret Dinner. This year, the readers of Kongres Magazine chose her as the top influencer among the event agencies of New Europe’s meetings industry. For all of these reasons and many others besides, talked to her about her work, about fashion, about Ljubljana and about Slovenia.
"Conventions are not as stiff as they used to be, although I would recommend to everybody to brush up a bit but still stay themselves and be comfortable. Presenting yourself is a tough business and wearing clothes that you don't feel comfortable in is a no-no."
Q: The list of your past work and experiences is inspiring ¬– besides casting management, event management, project management, and a list that goes on and on, you have also worked in TV, movie and video production. And now you are one of the most recognizable personalities in Slovenian event production. How has that transition happened? If you look at it closely, a TV or film shooting is not that far from an event production ... you need to organize the locations with all permits within requests of a client/director/producer, people need to eat and drink, you need light, sound and some entertainers/actors, but it all has to be just a bit prettier and language a bit more sophisticated. In a way, it’s all the same thing, but just a bit different. Q: You are an executive producer of Ljubljana Fashion Week, amongst several other roles. How long does it take to prepare such an event and how foreign interest is there in it?
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That particular job never ends. Before we finish the current one, we are already planning the next edition; we travel all the time, visit other fashion weeks and we network a lot. It’s a lifestyle, of a kind. Over the years we have developed a solid base of contacts and international colaborations that is already showing results home as well as abroad. Regional collaborations have also resulted in Fashion Scout South East Europe Showcase (Fashion Scout SEE), a great new project that opens doors in London and elsewhere, getting invitations to participate in many competitions and showcases in the region and helping sell names and collections. Finding sponsors is not as hard as it used to be, as we are renowned for a great quality event with a lot of immediate results. International buyers have also started to contact us, since we gather a rather interesting bunch of designers from the entire region.
"We all have the same goal – make Slovenian fashion recognisable in the region and beyond ... it is not only possible, but has been already showing results"
Q: With regards to fashion, what would you recommend to convention participants/delegates to wear, as in what is the proper attire for someone participating in a congress? What do you think of jeans in this context? Conventions are not as stiff as they used to be, although I would recommend to everybody to brush up a bit but still stay themselves and be comfortable. Presenting yourself is a tough business and wearing clothes that you don’t feel comfortable in is a no-no. It reflects in your energy and body language, and the message is distorted. Jeans comes in so many different styles and variations that it is very hard for me to say ‘yay or nay’, but in a way I prefer ‘yay’. By all means it needs to be appropriate, however, and to fit the occasion. I always say: when in doubt, put on a smile and hit it – sincerity helps in all situations. Q: Your Zveerene Institute is a non-profit organisation supporting and shaping different parts of the Slovenian creative industry. Could you please explain more about your Institute? The founding members of the Zvereene Institute are 5 individuals, all excelling in our professions and putting together a great team with a variety of expertise to accomplish the goal of putting Slovenian fashion on the map. The good thing is that we make a decent living, so fashion can be our hobby (meaning that we are not getting paid to do the Fashion Weeks, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t approach it professionally). Unfortunately, fashion in Slovenia is still not recognised as a lucrative and profitable business, so rather than having big budgets we have to be very resourceful to fill the financial gaps and make the events look and feel professionally done. Luckily Zvereene consists of a video/graphic designer, a PR/marketing/protocol officer, a fashion photographer, a technical director and myself/a producer/event manager, as well as our loyal co-workers in the form of stylists, curators, PR and social media
experts, production assistants ... so it is all possible. We all have the same goal – make Slovenian fashion recognisable in the region and beyond, and with a team like that it is not only possible, but has been already showing results.
Q: You also organise pop-up Secret Dinners. Can you describe the steps of the preparation for it? It is also one of those ongoing projects ... At first we brainstorm about locations and chefs, check the availability on preferred dates and we get a match. Then we release the date and start brainstorming about menues and drinks selections, as well as all the other details regarding location’s infrastructure, mood, service etc, trying to avoid unnecessary surprises as much as possible. One of the steps (the least preferred, but necessary) is also budgeting, since we depend on number of sold menues. At first we planned to make dinners for more than 50 people, but in the process we decided to keep it more intimate, as it is a group of people big enough so that they don’t know each other and at the same time small enough to somehow still keep it more under control, easier to network and also cater and meet their needs. After we establish the boundaries and theme of the event, we agree on the menu and start working on the printed version of it. From the start we decided to design it as a prop that guests will take home and read, or keep as a souvenir if they want to, and it must contain all information necessary to explain what the evening is all about. We also have to keep in mind forming the location notice email, getting it out on time (3 hours before event), invoicing, decoration, bathrooms, electricity, road signs if necessary, and last but not least promoting the event in order to sell it and troubleshoot everything that comes along. It is by all means a very complex project that needs to be carefully prepared and is a 24/7 job from the moment the date is released. Then finally D-day arrives and we can only hope we have thought of as many situations to cover as possible. The day after we usually gather the impressions, read the comments and try to make the best of it in planning the next one to come. Q: What are the outcomes and the future plans? We plan to organise them monthly with various themes, chefs, locations and food; we want to break the rules and make people understand it is not only the menu they are buying, but an entire experience. It is not just a cosy evening in a restaurant, but an evening that gives our chefs the possibility to do things they cannot do in their restaurants. Rules and menues are often set by the location, mood and music by the chef’s wishes, and so it might also be an experience guests don’t like (as they only find out about menues and mood as they enter the venue). The secrecy is a spice that can make or break your personal perception of the event and we would like people to understand this before they click on our website’s application form. Luckily, there is a majority of guests who embrace the concept, but there are also some who don’t and they are out loud. Nevertheless, their comments also help us. With each dinner we learn and take all comments into consideration to help us develop a better experience. We will continue the project as long as it sells, because we firmly believe there is space and time to run a concept like that in Slovenia, with it’s wide variety of food, chefs and locations. We are also getting inquiries from various companies to organize closed Secret Dinners exclusively for them and we have been approached by a tourist agency that included our events into their offer. So we must be doing something right!
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MY FOOD IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY FACE
Interview with Chef Gregor Vračko from Hiša Denk in Maribor’s vicinity JASMINA JERANT //
HIŠA DENK
Notorious for being witty, sharp in his thoughts, work, words, for being uncompromisive and outspoken, and known as one of the best chefs in Europe and as an owner of amazing collection of supreme wines, Gregor Vračko in his Hiša Denk in Zgornja Kungota in Maribor’s vicinity, brings to Slovenia and beyond a surprising approach to fine-dining. His brother David is also one of the best chefs in Europe and he is also working at a fine-dining restaurant – Mak in Maribor’s city centre. The restaurants of both siblings have been, by the Austrian culinary magazine Falstaff, consecutively ranked among Slovenia’s five best restaurants.
"I don't care for things like monkey's brain and crocodiles and similar bullshit …"
Q: You worked in some of the top-notch restaurants around the world – from Austria, to Germany, Britain, and USA. More than a decade ago, you moved from Chicago, where you were working in a three Michelin star restaurant, back to Zgornja Kungota where you took over your parents’ inn. You transformed it into one of the best fine dining restaurants in Slovenia and in Europe. How was it convincing your loyal guests and your locality with the new approach to food? In the previous house, the cuisine was more classical. Once we stopped preparing the same food, of course the same guests were not coming back. But it doesn’t mean that I neglect my parents’ note in the new cuisine, I have just changed it. Regarding the locals … I am gonna tell you like this: if you do not keep up with the times, then you are lagging behind. Locals are sitting in pubs and drinking spritzers, and I am cooking differently. That’s all I have to say about this. Q: In your beginnings, who or what was your biggest inspiration? I learned cooking from my parents; they introduced me to the secrets. My style of cooking originates from the house. I also went to a cooking school. And there another horizon opens again when you realise all the possibilities. You get that push and your head opens up. As for chefs, my inspiration is Marco Pierre White, but the rest is the legacy from my parents.
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Q: In your cuisine, you use local ingredients in a traditional way with the 21st century’s twist, but you don’t remain in the sole frame of your locality. You are looking around when choosing elements and preparations. Which are those that are the most important to you or how do you combine them? I always take elements from nature. However, I do not, opposite to the current trends of fine-dining, remain in the sole frame of the regional, local ingredients. My brother and I, we are not worshippers of the Nova Regio cuisine in which a consistent implementation of regionality, seasonality, and ingredients at hand never used before in food is the main focus. In Slovenia, we are geographically speaking one of the best areas for cooking but the Nova Regio radius is for us established at around 5-10km. This is ridiculous. In the Norwegian cuisine, for example, established after the Spanish avant-garde culinary movement, they get a radius of ‘regional’ in between 300-500km. And I am supposed to get regional food from 5-10km around my restaurant? Come on. I have 200km to the Adriatic Sea, 100km to the Alps, 50km to Prekmurje and Pannonia with its natural jewels. And what? I shouldn’t use those ingredients because they are ‘too far’ away? It’s absurd. Q: Since you have renovated your parents’ inn a few years ago, you only provide degustation menus. How do you prepare them? We provide degustation menus but also à la carte. The latter, however, only provides two courses and the priority is on the degustation menues. If we run out of a particular ingredient, then the à la carte will not have that dish because it will be only available for degustation menues. The menues are prepared every day differently according to that day’s availability of ingredients. Sometimes each table eats differently. We do not have a consistent menu because the kitchen does not operate with big quantities. If we only have 3 kilos of meat, I cannot make 30 kilos out of it. From the 3 kilos we prepare a certain amount of dishes and as long as they last, people get them, otherwise, tough luck, they will eat something else what’s available that day.
"You either have rough working hands or you are a poseur and not a real winemaker. I don't deal with poseurs."
Q: Is there any particular meat, vegetable, fruit, …. that you have not yet used in your menu because either of its price or access problem, but you would like to? I don’t care for things like monkey’s brain and crocodiles and similar bullshit; I am focused only on making the best out of what is available and reasonably accessible. However, when something is my drive, when I want to prepare something, then I go dig ditches to get to it. I move mountains for it. I don’t buy the ‘special food’ stories, though. There is this chef who used 3 samples of rabbit brains in one course; this means that three rabbits were slaughtered for one plate. If this guy was holding this menu for two months, it means that maybe more than 5000 rabbits were used for it. And that’s just for the brain, the rest of their meat was not used at all.
No one is going to convince me that this makes sense and that this is ‘the regional’ take. Where could he find local farmers with thousands and thousands of rabbits? Come on, it’s a damn joke, it’s unrealistic. I don’t buy this crap.
"My brother and I, we lack the filter. Sometimes people don't like us. I can't blame them."
Q: How do you get new ideas for your dishes? Nick Cave once said that ideas are overrated and that it is all the work that makes them come true that matters. I completely agree with it. It is all about the hard work, the extremely hard work, not about the ideas. The idea is one thing, of course, but then you need to develop it so it makes sense. I sell to my guests only one story – my plate; I am not into selling ‘the story’. I am no fake; I do not sell stories and I do not wrap words in colourful ribbons. I just love to do what I do. When I hear someone selling ‘the story behind the idea’, I go ‘come on, dude, what a f***ing nonsense!’. (pauses and exhales) My brother and I, we lack the filter. Sometimes people don’t like us. I can’t blame them. Q: Your restaurant also provides a rich wine list. How do you choose a bottle that you want to serve with your food? I don’t care for pairing wine with food. If I want to drink cappuccino or Coca-Cola with my dish, I don’t give a damn, no one can force me to drink Sauvignon. Q: You also provide guests with extremely rare wines. And in one of the interviews you said that you hardly make any money out of them because you don’t charge them excesively on top of the original price. Which wine was the most expensive your guests ordered so far? I just love collecting and enjoying wines. Sometimes you just need to experience a really amazing glass of wine in your life to realize the difference. For me it is not not about selling them, but about sharing a really good wine. There are beautiful bottles. One could go bankrupt if buying them, but if I like the person at the table, if I see them to be a real, true person, then I happily take them to my cellar. It happened, though, that I regretted sharing wine with guests. A table of 12 hospitality experts wanted to try Armand Rousseau’s wine. I brought 4 glasses of wine and they drank it immediately. By the time I was leaving their table, I was already thinking: »Hell, what have I just done?!« No wine deserves this. The point is not in the money but in the attitude towards the bottle. I was so pissed off. If I knew at the time that they would pour it down just like that, I would never had brought that bottle out. Q: You collect Slovenian wines as well, right? I collect a diverse specter of wines, from the Slovenian and international headliners to individual winemakers who are not that famous. When deciding to try a wine from a small family winery, I choose them by hands. Seriously. If I see a winemaker with fine hands, I don’t buy their story of wine-making. You either have rough working hands or you are a poseur and not a real winemaker. I don’t deal with poseurs.
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PEOPLE ALWAYS TRIED TO FOOL OTHERS WITH SOMETHING UNEXPECTED
Interview with Jakub Bechyne, the man who created Pragues most famous house of illusions. AJDA BORAK //
KONGRES MAGAZINE / ANJA ŠTER
Q: First of all please explain how did you get to rent such a historical house in the very center of Prague? The building was purchased, in a landmark sale – the largest ever in Prague at the time – in 2016. From there, the developer (Coast Capital Partners) wanted a concept that would enable them to showcase this beautiful, historic landmark building with a project that wouldn’t require too much initial development. I was approached, as an exhibition producer, to generate content for a museum project. The concept, at least from an artistic point of view, was undefined at that stage. Once we agreed on content and a concept, we began work on the business plan. After seeing its potential, my partners and I decided that we wanted to be responsible for the entire operation and set out to make that possible. Now, here we are.
"It is absolutely possible. Our ideal customer is anyone who wants to throw a party in a unique setting in Prague’s most beautiful and wellknown location."
Q: Can you briefly describe the history behind the house that you turned it to the museum of illusion? Our building, known as Dům U Červené lišky (House of the Red Foxes), dates back to 1401, though the building’s foundation is much older. Indeed, it is one of the oldest buildings on Old Town Square. The building itself has served many different commercial purposes over the centuries, operating as a butchery and, more recently, as a bank. The basement features original pavement from Old town square dating to the 12th century. The entire city center of Prague was raised by 6 meters (one floor) a century ago because of problems with flooding. The building, as you would imagine for something that has stood so long in a prominent location, has been a key character in some fascinating stories. One of its owners, for example, in the 17th century had a dispute with local government officials and fired a cannon at the town hall, which is directly across the square. Because of his actions, municipality has stripped him of the ownership.
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Q: You were a professional basketball player. How did you end up as a
curator and the owner of a museum of illusions? My athletic career was rather brief, and basketball in our country is, more or less, on a semiprofessional level with the exception of a few clubs. After my career ended, and for the last fifteen years, I have been working as a producer of art and design. Five years ago, I formed a company with the well-known Czech sculptor Patrik Proško, and we created two exhibitions which were leased to shopping malls and other commercial buildings. One of the exhibitions was the inspiration for Illusion Art Museum Prague, and we tailored the concept and expanded the features to best suit this ideal location. It was always my dream to run a project like this and with the support of our landlords, we were able to bring it together fairly quickly.
Q: Can you please describe briefly the art displayed in the museum? Where did the inspiration come from? Illusion art dates all the way back to ancient times, really, as people always tried to fool others with something unexpected. We have taken some of these classic techniques used thru the centuries to alter perception and present them in our objects, all tailor-made for this exhibition. There are anamorphic images which are rooted in Salvador Dali´s work; other prominent features, such as trick art images and floor paintings using 3D deformation to create spatial illusions, were inspired by the work of MC Escher. Q: The 3rd floor of the museum is dedicated to a non-permanent exhibition. Now there is an exhibition of Patrik Proško, who is going to be next? Will you focus only on the Czech artists? We are currently featuring the work of Patrik Proško, a renowned Czech sculptor and land artist, who travels the world and creates his art installations in nature. The next temporary exhibition will likely feature graffiti and street art which explores the theme of 100 years of Czechoslovakia‘s (the anniversary is this year) common history, produced by well-known Czech and Slovak street artists. While we care most about the quality of
the respective artist‘s work than their nationality, our focus is recently on locals with some connection to the city of Prague.
Q: What are the future developmental plans for the museum? We will be opening an exhibition on the top floor in September, presenting a brand new illusion art technique developed by Czech/Dutch artist Peter Herel. It will be completely unique and requires a special device to enjoy it properly. We’re very excited about this. Q: It is also possible to rent the museum for events? Who is the perfect costumer? What kind of events can you organize there? It is absolutely possible. Our ideal customer is anyone who wants to throw a party in a unique setting in Prague’s most beautiful and wellknown location. Every window from the front of our building offers marvelous vantage points to Prague’s iconic astronomical clock – the oldest operating such clock in the world – and the UNESCO-protected Old Town Square. Our capacity is 200 people on our museum floors and we can host another 200 in our cafe and courtyard. We offer all kinds of services in addition to space rental, such as catering, open bars, live music, and entertainment, or even just artist-led tours through the exhibitions.
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A SUCCESSFUL START-UP INSPIRED BY A VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL
Interview with Ondrej Coufalik, one of the co-founders of Survio - an online platform that is able to conduct the whole process of the survey. AJDA BORAK //
SURVIO
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the service? This is an interesting story. Once, my friend Martin, former Survio co-founder, had to fill in a lot of paper forms during a hospitalization. It inspired him to create an online tool for such forms. After his return from the hospital, he just started a new project. We made the first steps in 2008..
"Our main goal is to be user-friendly survey platform which can be handled by everybody."
Q: Why is Survio so special now? What makes it so popular? Our platform is not only a tool for creating a questionnaire, it is a solution for people who need to create their survey and get answers from respondents. Our users can choose from many professional templates, collect responses and get results in professional reports. Survio is able to conduct the whole process of the survey.
Q: Who are your target users? Everyone who needs to make a decision needs answers. Survio is a perfect platform for gaining data about respondents needs, expectations, preferences, opinions etc. The questionnaire can be set for anyone from customers, to potential customers, employees, colleagues, friends. Anyhow, we can define four main groups: students, SME’s, government in-
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stitutions and corporation. Currently, we have more than 1.5 million users from 196 countries.
Q: Which are some of the largest companies that use your service? Tesco, Continental, Webnode, Schenker, BMW, Škoda, NN, AXA, Allianz, Deloitte, VW, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Notino, Oracle, Hilton, National Geographic Q: What is your competition like and what makes you better than them? Our biggest competitor is probably SurveyMonkey. I am not sure what makes us better or worst. On the other side, we do care about our customers. Our main goal is to be user-friendly survey platform which can be handled by everybody. That is our main competitive advantage. Our users don’t need any special knowledge for creating their own surveys. Users can find advice on our blog with many useful tips and tricks. Survio interface helps to solve all the steps of the survey process. Every time you know where to click..
"Survio is a solution for people who need to create their survey and get answers from respondents."
Q: How big is the Survio team at the moment? We are a quite small company. Survios is 13 permanent in-house employees, two are in Latin America (Brazil and Mexico), plus more or less ten external freelance collaborators.
"Everyone who needs to make a decision needs answers."
Q: What are your developmental plans right now?
Currently, we are launching the new version of Survio. The new version is even more user-friendly, eye-catching and truly effective tool. Nowadays we are also hiring new colleagues – specialists in development, online marketing and starting some collaborations with individuals and organizations worldwide. We are preparing a different kind of events from small workshops to a conference dedicated to SAAS..
Q: How are you planning to improve your global customer experience? The new Survio is running on AI platform, setting a questionnaire will be even easier and intuitive, as well as the final analysis – data output – is going to be without any pain, clear and automatic. Q: How would people in the MICE industry benefit from using Survio? To be successful you need idea/ product/ service (to sell), people (employees, collaborators etc. to rely on) and customers. To gain loyal customers you need to know their needs, expectations as well as the amount of money they are willing to pay for the service. Thus, you need to analyze, ask questions, test beta versions and so on. Then, you can launch your service on a market. And the next step, you need to find out if the idea was satisfying, where you improve, where you were excellent. Thus, you can prepare another questionnaire about the customers’ happiness. The benefit is interaction and awareness of your customers need, expectations etc.
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SLIDO – THE APP THAT HELPED MAKE OVER 120.000 EVENTS MORE INTERACTIVE
Interview with Juraj Holub, the young and talented Marketing Manager at Slido - the provider of the app that makes audience interactions easy. AJDA BORAK //
SLIDO, KRISTINA KRALIKOVA
Q: Please explain to our reader what are the main features of Slido? Our mission at Slido is to enhance communication and increase interaction at events and meetings. We built a web-based app that allows event planners and meeting owners to crowdsource audience questions for Q&A and panel discussions as well as engage participants with live polls. To flip the sides and put it from the participant’s perspective. When you sit in the audience, Slido enables you to submit a question without raising a hand. And if a speaker uses a live poll to hear you out, you can simply express your opinion by sending a vote.
"I love cycling, especially long tours with 1000+ km. It helps train perseverance and patience."
Q: Who was the Slido designed for? It all started with a simple idea. To collect feedback from students. While lecturing at Comenius University in Slovakia, our CEO Peter Komornik wanted to find out what his students thought about his lectures so he could improve them. Instead of giving out paper sheets to collect feedback from students, he designed a simple app to do it in a much more convenient way. From there we moved to the conference world. Another place where learning happens. That’s when we implemented the first client’s feedback and built two core features – live Q&A and polls. Again, that was not our final stop. Having used Slido in a conference they were attending, many business leaders took it to their own companies. Now more companies than conferences are using our platform to make their team meetings more open and productive. Q: What are the statistics behind the success of Slido? We don’t like talking about success. After all, to each, it means something completely different. I will share some numbers, though. In 2013, we worked on 250 events in the entire year. Now around 2500 events use Slido every week. When we total it up, we helped make over 120.000 events more interactive to this date.
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Q: What are the main features in a marketing strategy in a technology company like Slido? In comparison with other tech solutions, event apps and audience engagement platforms have one major advantage. The more they get used at events, the more exposure they get as participants try them first hand. From those participants, many organize their own events and meetings and they take Slido with them next time such occasion occurs. It creates a snowball effect. Therefore from the early beginning, we have focused on building partnerships with some key global events to get that (snow)ball rolling. That was and still is our strongest marketing channel. But you need to be patient. For instance, our partnerships with SXSW or Web Summit took years to build. It’s about trust and that needs time. Q: Please name some of your favorite marketing campaigns? It’s much more than campaigns these days. If you use marketing perspective, almost any part of the business can be viewed as marketing now. In any case, it all starts with developing an amazing product the solves a major problem for the users. For example, communication platform Slack replaced internal email completely in many growing companies. The users found the platform so valuable that most of the initial growth was driven by word-of-mouth. So in their case an amazing product = amazing marketing. But that’s not where it ends. Even the best products need marketing support. The most successful companies successfully tapped into cultural shifts on which they built their brand. For example, Nike bet on the rise of an individual and his or her striving for a healthier lifestyle in the late 80s. And rose ever since. It was not shoes that they were selling but a better, healthier self. But it was also the mood in the society that allowed for such messaging. This strategy is no secret in the marketing world. The trick is that it’s incredibly difficult to pull it off.
"from the early beginning, we have focused on building partnerships with some key global events to get that (snow)ball rolling. That was and still is our strongest marketing channel."
Q: How do you as a marketing manager working in an industry that is developing so rapidly, stay updated with the latest trends and tools? I read practically every day. Less about the latest hypes and fads and more about sociology, philosophy, and psychology. I believe that it’s crucial to understand the essentials of human behaviour before you can implement the communication and marketing techniques. My favourite publications are Aeon Magazine, Harvard Business Review and NewPhilosopher. Recently, my colleague Lucy put Fermat’s Library on my radar. They re-publish academic papers with ground-breaking ideas from the present and past.
Q: What are the biggest challenges for you on the position at Slido?
In this phase, it’s setting the right priorities. There are so many things that we could be working on. But we need to assess and decide which activities we believe will most drive the business. You can’t spread yourself too thin. Even though it’s necessary for the early stages, you can’t wear too many hats for too long. You need to start focusing on one area and get as good as possible at it to help the team prosper.
"You need to start focusing on one area and get as good as possible at it to help the team prosper."
Q: Do you have any hobbies or interests that have added value to you as a Marketer? I’m an avid reader and I always carry a hard copy of a book with me at all times. I’m a huge fan of sci-fi works such as Frank Herbert’s Dune, Dan Simmons’s Hyperion or dystopian classics such as 1984, Brave New World or Fahrenheit 451. It’s like a time travel. Many ideas in those books work like self-fulfilling prophecies. In the recent report, BBC revealed that business giants like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos found inspiration for their inventions, be it self-driving cars or virtual assistant Alexa, in the sci-fi novels. And then I love cycling, especially long tours with 1000+ km. It helps train perseverance and patience. Q: If you didn’t have to be working for money, what will you be doing? I would combine bike-touring across Americas from Alaska to Patagonia with writing a novel. Ah, and one more important thing – photography! I love photography.
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I AM A MASSIVE FOODIE
Interview with Tjaša Lampe, Hotel Manager at Hotel Das Weitzer in Graz JASMINA JERANT //
WEITZER HOTEL
Tjaša Lampe is a Slovenian who, after more than nine years working for Terme Maribor, has been managing the Das Weitzer Hotel, one of the Austrian Weitzer Hotels. Das Weitzer Hotel in Graz has been in the city for more than 100 years and is located in the Old Town, directly by the river Mur. The hotel has 204 fully modernised rooms in seven differently furnished categories and also offers 10 conference rooms.
"We are always looking for something extraordinary and therefore we do not like stereotypes."
Q: The Hotel Das Weitzer is one of the most prominent hotels in the Graz area that fosters a long-lasting tradition of superb hospitality. The hotel’s architecture is a tasteful combination of modern urban style and traditional building techniques. With nearly half of its rooms undergoing recent renovation, the hotel emanates a fresh new vibe. What is the underlining idea for the new design? The Weitzer Hotel represents tradition with a modern urban twist. The underlying concept for the interior design of our rooms was to combine high-level functionality with the experience of a very comfortable and chic place. We are always looking for something extraordinary and therefore we do not like stereotypes. The best way to illustrate this is to check out our Suite – it is truly exceptional – hard-to-describe only in words. Q: The hotel’s restaurant (Der Steirer) is open not just to the hotel’s guests but also for the locals. What is the main drive behind the restaurant? What kind of food do you serve, what is the inspiration behind the food? You got that right. Der Steirer isn’t a hotel restaurant – it is truly a staple in the local food scene. Staying in Graz and not experiencing the laidback traditional Styrian cuisine accompanied with the almost limitless selection of wines that Der Steirer has to offer, would be a big mistake. Exceptional quality of our food was also recognized by Gault&Millaue guide that has awarded us with their hat.
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Q: Besides modern rooms, the hotel also offers 10 conference/seminar halls. What are their main features? We could start by listing clichés like a lot of daylight, high-end technology, excellent AC etc … but I have to say that it is Weitzer’s charm that makes our seminar halls special. When you chose to host an event at Das Weitzer, it means that you’ll get top quality food from our restaurant; that your attendees will be taken care of by highly-skilled and caring staff and that they will get to experience and enjoy the Weitzer’s unique design everywhere they look.
"The future certainly looks bright not only for the MICE part but for Weitzer in general."
Q: What is the future plan for MICE in Weitzer? What are you expecting? Taking into account the recent economic boom of the Graz region and Austria’s ongoing presidency of the Council of the EU – the future certainly looks bright not only for the MICE part but for Weitzer in general. To be able to cope with increased demands for our services – we are constantly refurbishing and upgrading our hardware – we strive to maintain the high-level of satisfaction of our guests and seminar goers. Of course – since we have a foodie reputation to maintain – we are always working on new menu options and we like to surprise our guests with exciting and fun new meals. Q: Weitzer is located right in the Old Town of Graz. What does this neighbourhood offer to your business guests?
Being able to walk around the city and experience the authentic Old Town with its cafés, restaurants, museums and shops, without worrying about transportation, is definitely a big plus for our business guests. If you’re a more leisure-oriented traveller, we’ve got you covered too. You can stroll or jog along the River Mura or just visit many of our city parks – their beauty will fill you with joy and serenity.
Q: What would you recommend to business and congress guests to buy as the perfect gift when they visit Graz? I will have to go with our culinary delights! They should get some pumpkinseed oil to dress their salad, some roasted pumpkinseeds covered with chili or chocolate as a tasty snack, some of our world-famous Styrian wines to quench their thirst and of course – they should not leave Graz without getting some of my personal favourite - Zotter chocolates. Q: Are there any fun activities, in the vicinity of your hotel, that you would like to recommend? I would definitely like to recommend a sommelier crash course. This course is joint venture between our hotel and one of our local wine suppliers. Q: Can you tell us about your favourite part of the Weitzer Hotel? It’s a hard choice – but – I will have to go with our latest project – the sauna & gym on the 5th floor! Not only because I personally like going to the gym but also for the spectacular views you get to enjoy from our sauna (built as a glass-cube located on the hotel rooftop). To top it all – our new gym design is very elegant and with purpose-built lighting it always gives a bit of a mystique vibe. Q: What about Graz – what do you like the most about this city? If you recall – I am a massive foodie – and Graz being the official Austrian capital of culinary delights (since 2008) – it is a match made in heaven.
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SLOVENIA HAS A HUMBLE APPROACH, MUCH IN TOUCH WITH MOTHER EARTH Interview with Antonio Lorenzo Deperte, Director of Sales and Marketing of Union Hotels AJDA BORAK //
UNION HOTELS
Q: Can you please explain to our readers your business path that led you to Union Hotels? I truly believe that “word of mouth” is the best marketing one can do, and this is exactly what happened. I had worked on a similar project in Dubrovnik and because the client was satisfied and spoke well about me, I was referred to Union hotels when they were searching for someone to bring international hotel experience within the company. My travel industry work experience is made of 35+ years, mostly with luxury hotels in Italy and Europe. CIGA Hotels, which is no longer … is my inspiration and is my soul and it gave me many unique opportunities such as experiencing the very best houses and the opportunity to know the American luxury travel networks such as Virtuoso and the rest.
"I belive it is a matter of bringing some international hotel experience while keeping the local Slovenian heritage."
Q: With many international experiences that you gain in your career, what would you state as the most apparent advantage and disadvantage of Slovenia? The advantage is that we are still dealing with the almost untouched territory, ready to grow, learn, improve and eager to conquer. Slovenia offers still a very humble, clean and simple atmosphere, which marries well with all the natural wonders, wholesome food and unique wines. The humble approach in Slovenia, much in touch with mother earth, reminds me much of Puglia, the place I was born in Italy and my current residence, which is Abruzzo. Disadvantage? I would call it more like an opportunity. The lack of managed international brands, which would bring the know-how of processes and procedures that have been proven to work worldwide. Q: What is your managerial strategy at the Union Hotels? A few things I always brought with me into my professional career: start at the bottom and learn so that as you elevate yourself, you understand
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what is going on; respect everyone in their role and involve them as the success of the travel industry is made up of good logistics and these can be improved only if the persons directly involved can help improve processes; lastly…always observe and understand how things work, and this compliments my statistical and analytical side.
"Slovenia still offers a very humble, clean and simple atmosphere, which marries well with all the natural wonders, wholesome food and unique wines."
Q: What are the key challenges for you at the Union Hotels? Always opportunities! Trying to bring analytics into the equation and trying to stay away from the exceptions. I believe it is a matter of bringing some international hotel experience while keeping the local Slovenian heritage. Q: You have been working in the hospitality industry for a number of years. How did the industry change since you started? I often lecture in hotel management schools, and after 35+ years I like to start with the explanation of the telex machine. Many of today’s gen-
eration do not even know a fax machine! I would say that distribution channels have become multifaceted before you could make reservations only via phone or via telex and mostly everything was done via regular mail. The other side that has become very complex is the promotion of your product before it was TV, radio or print media … now you do not even know where to start and whom you will reach.
Q: How would you describe the potential of Ljubljana as a MICE destination? I would say a tight network of individuals working in hotels, destination management, and incoming services and in the public sector promoting the destination. Ljubljana overall is very good value for money, very concentrated in its offer and a “boutique city” that can be as small as one needs or adapt to larger sizes very quickly. Q: Which is your favorite getaway spot in Slovenia? I was born by the sea and when I live too far away from it, I miss it. Here I am only 60 minutes away and the town I have enjoyed most so far is Piran … although I still have a lot more Slovenian sites to explore. Q: It is a common belief that the Italians have a certain love for food, like no other nations. How would you describe Slovenian cuisine? And what is your favorite Slovenian dish? I have had the opportunity to taste many dishes in this country and must say that they are all wholesome and have a good taste. I tend to like a more home-made, rustic/country and simple taste and must say that pork is the best here in Slovenia and my favorite dish so far is “štruklji” (rolled dumplings).
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WE ARE AIMING TO PROVIDE AN INDIVIDUALLY CREATED STORY Interview with Doris Urbančič Windisch, Director of Maribor-Pohorje Tourist Board JASMINA JERANT //
MARIBOR-POHORJE TOURIST BOARD
With its quality congress/business capacities and opportunities for unique experiences combined with picturesque surroundings and the warm hospitality of the people, Maribor is becoming increasingly renowned as a host destination for conventions, seminars and other meetings. We talked to Doris Urbančič Windisch, director of Maribor – Pohorje Tourist Board, about Maribor – Pohorje destination and its rise inside the meetings industry.
"Do you know that Maribor is one of the sunniest places in Slovenia? I believe this fact also impacts both, the residents as well as our visitors for developing such a positive attitude."
Q: Which are Maribor’s greatest assets in terms of attracting the meetings industry? Maribor`s greatest assets are its hospitable residents, natural resources with the world`s oldest vine as a highlight, and diverse, picturesque setting of the city with the mountain area covered in green woods in its vicinity, as well as the countryside scattered with vineyards stretching right into the city centre. On the top of that, there is a high-quality service with competitive prizes. Q: What would the prolonging of the tourist season to the whole year mean for the City of Maribor? Prolonging of the tourist season is of a key importance for the Maribor - Pohorje tourist destination. In the last few years, the peak of the season in the city of Maribor has already moved from the winter months to the months of June, July, and August. Thus, our goal is to fill up the lower parts of the year, which we could successfully perform by creating incentive adventures for even the most demanding incentive guests. As we all know, incentive guests provide the highest consumption rate per day; consequently, this would contribute not only to the prolonging of the tourist season, but also to the increase of the overall daily expenditure per a guest.
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Q: What kind of incentives can one get in Maribor? Our guests can enjoy so much on a such a small area! What do you think of a genuine experience of wine-tasting in the company of the World`s Oldest Vine, traditional timber-rafting with a live concert on a raft in the middle of the river, a treasure hunt in the underground world of a wine cellar located in the Maribor old town, and all this upgraded by the outstanding Styrian winemakers and chefs, top-notch cultural as well as numerous recreational opportunities? Q: What is the plan for Maribor’s meetings tourism in the future? Our short–term plan is for Maribor to be placed to its rightful position within Slovenian field of meeting industry. The long-term plan, on the other hand, is for the SE Europe to recognize Maribor as a perfect place for their meeting or congress on the ground of all of the Maribor’s attractions and providers with genuine and quality service. Best value for money. Q: City of Maribor has been also famous for its Lent Festival. What kind of experience does Lent Festival offer to congress or business guests? The Lent Festival is the largest Slovenian open-air festival and one of the largest in Europe. For more than a quarter of a century, at the beginning of summer, Maribor gets transformed into a gigantic stage and a lively junction of artistic expressions, cultures and languages from around the world. Every year it welcomes about half a million visitors; almost every fourth Slovene has visited it at least once. More than fifty festival venues, stretching from the banks of the river Drava to the city park, are only a few minutes on foot away. Lent Festival is unique in its diversity and vast number of events and stages spread all across the city, with a floating stage on river Drava that hosts the best shows and performers, giants and legends like Ray Charles, Bob Geldof, B.B. King, James Brown, Jose Feliciano. This year, a highlight will be the Gipsy Orchestra of hundred violins. A part of the festival is the so called Sladolent, which brings the best Slovenian chefs to the city. Thus, in a single evening, with a single walk between the festival venues, a visitor can taste the best that modern Slovenian cuisine has to offer. Q: Maribor has a rich offer of programmes not just from spring to autumn but is also vivid in winter. What kind of events and programmes would you recommend for congress guests in that time of the year? As Maribor being a key winter destination in Slovenia, one would for sure combine business with pleasures in the snow – let it be either on the top of the Pohorje Mountain on a night skiing or in a snowy Maribor city centre on an extravagant culinary experience with a big party on an outdoor concert on the biggest square in Slovenia. However, as we are following the five-star experience strategy set also by the Slovenian Tourist Board, we are aiming to provide an individually created story of Maribor, and thus fulfilling the interests and wishes of our guests. Q: This year, Maribor is one of the 16 European cities to hold the title ‘European City of Sport’. What does this title mean for Maribor in terms of programmes and services? We have already done a lot of work in the field of sports tourism, and there is still a lot of work ahead of us. We are aware that the sports tourism and its tourist development are of the utmost importance for the city. Particularly because the sports tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of tourism’s integral products, which strongly influence the achievement
of good results in consumption and the number of guest arrivals. During sports events or competitions, as a rule, the accommodation capacities in the city and the surrounding area are usually 90-100% occupied. The city and destination Maribor-Pohorje has enormous potential, and the title European City of Sport is an exceptional promotional opportunity for a tourist destination and at the same time a commitment for all of us who work in the development and promotion of such tourism product. Naturally, local public awareness about a healthy lifestyle and the preservation of health through sport is of key importance, which we will achieve through numerous events. One big sports event is just behind us – the Tour of Slovenia, country`s biggest cycling event, which was extremely successful from both organisational as well as promotional perspective.
Q: How does meetings industry impact the local community? Meetings industry perfectly integrates with the local community. Feedbacks of our guests are almost 100 % positive and they especially emphasize the kindness, the hospitability of the locals, the everlasting smiles on their faces and the locals’ openness. Do you know that Maribor is one of the sunniest places in Slovenia? I believe this fact also impacts both, the residents as well as our visitors for developing such a positive attitude. At the end of the guest`s stay there`s always the wish for coming back – on the guests’ as well as on the hosts’ side.
"Maribor is becoming increasingly renowned as a host destination for conventions, seminars and other meetings."
Q: Graz, the Austrian town just an hour ride from Maribor, has been quite an established meetings destination. How do you see Graz as a competitor to Maribor? The city of Graz is a perfect opportunity for international and regional cooperation; this is one of our strongest wishes for the near future. There are so many common things we share with the towns and places on the north. For example, the sunny wine roads, where the border doesn’t really matter – guests are strolling from one place to the other all the time and thus pass from Austria to Slovenia and back. And there`s the common history, historical figures, for example the Archduke Johann, who is one of the most important persons for the development of Maribor and the surrounding area in such a well-known destination for lovers (and experts) of (for) wine. Plus, Maribor and Graz are true cultural centres, nothing could confirm this more then the title of European City of Culture both cities boast of. Q: What would you recommend to business guests to get in Maribor as a perfect business gift from Maribor to their partners? Maribor is the only place on Earth where the World`s Oldest Vine grows. Thus, a perfect gift could undoubtedly be connected to this unique treasure: maybe a wine from the first cutting of the World`s Oldest Vine or a picture with the leaf of the Old Vine, or anything connected to the rich wine tradition and culture of Maribor and Slovenia.
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GRAZ IS AUSTRIA’S CAPITAL OF DELIGHT WITH GOOD REASON Interview with Heinz Kaltschmidt, Head of Graz Convention Bureau AJDA BORAK //
GRAZ TOURISMUS, GRAZ TOURISMUS / HARRY SCHIFFER
Q: How would you describe Graz to somebody who has never heard about the city? Graz is a cosy, old city located between mountains to the north and a wine-growing region to the south. It is the ideal size for pleasant living and offers a lot for its size: an abundance of cultural events, numerous sights, four universities, a wide range of modern architecture and design as well as industry and business. The historic city centre of Graz is listed as UNESCO World Heritage.
"Our goal is to make Graz even more attractive for events with more than 1000 participants."
Q: What can Graz offer to congress guests that no other city can offer? Graz offers 60 different venues in different styles to suit every taste, most of them in the old town and many of them in the pedestrian zone. As most of them are within walking distance of the hotels, transfer is hardly necessary. Furthermore, Graz is still a little bit of an insiders’ tip and congress guests like to discover new places. Q: What are the strategic and developmental goals for your city for 2019? We will try to attract bigger and more international conferences and events. Our goal is to make Graz even more attractive for events with more than 1000 participants. The infrastructure of the meeting rooms and congress centres is available and the hotel capacities have constantly expanded in recent years. And of course, we will support all congresses in Graz in the best possible way in 2019. Service is also marketing for us! Q: Every city has a certain vibe—what would you say is the vibe of Graz? And how would you describe the people of Graz? Graz offers a certain southern flair and a mild climate in which fruit, vegetables and wine thrive. The people here are laidback and fond of culinary pleasures, we simply love to eat and drink. Several farmers’ markets offer
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seasonal products throughout the year. Graz is Austria’s Capital of Delight with good reason. With its four universities, research centres, colleges and various clusters, Graz is also a city of knowledge and in many areas a very innovative city. And the more than 60,000 students are the perfect ingredient for a youthful and exciting nightlife!
Q: Why did you incorporate content marketing into your marketing strategy? How do you see the impacts of content on achieving your goals? We want to convince our customers with messages from the city of Graz. Unfortunately, Graz is still not sufficiently well-known. We need to enhance our popularity with stories and information about the city. Especially in the MICE business, organisers often need a good reason or a relationship with the city they choose for an event. If we publish the various aspects of Graz in various media, we will reach different target groups and thus organisers of conferences, seminars, incentives and those kinds of events.
Q: And about you… what are your personal goals for 2019? What will be your personal driver in the upcoming year? I have been the head of the Graz Convention Bureau since 2003 and first and foremost my personal goal is to maintain the high standard of service of my department. Secondly, my free time and work-life balance is also very important to me. Therefore, I plan to do a lot of hiking, ski touring and cycling and I look forward immensely to sailing in the beautiful Adriatic around Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. Last but not least my wife, my friends and my family must not be neglected! As you can see, there is more than enough to do. Q: What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? Everyone should decide for themselves. My dream would be to sail for several months—of course, combined with getting to know new countries and people and enjoying life.
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SURPRISINGLY CLOSE, EXCEPTIONALLY SMART
Interview with Nina Erneker, the Head of Bratislava Convention Bureau AJDA BORAK //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE, WWW.VISITBRATISLAVA.COM
Q: You have been Head of the Bratislava Convention Bureau since 2016. What would you highlight as the key achievements of the Bureau during this period? I am honoured to lead this department thanks to the recognition of the MICE segment as a valuable part of the destination marketing policy by the management of the Bratislava Tourist Board. In 2017, we created our Bratislava MICE Strategy. It is a clear and comprehensive strategic document covering all MICE segments that helps us stay focused. From my perspective, one of the biggest achievements is that we got out of our comfort zone and started to transform the theory into practical activities.
"Bratislava stands for the essence of Central Europe, it connects cultural heritage with modern innovative features with a green backdrop."
Q: It seems like Bratislava is developing a strong, clear and very focused brand. Can you please explain how you managed that? Firstly, I have to thank all the heads, hands and hearts around me to help us to do that. The initial idea came at the end of 2016, when we got aligned with the idea that we couldn’t compete with our XXL destination neighbours with traditional means, we would have to create our own niche market. And the exceptional execution with the innovative approach of Slovaks is the key to that. Q: Why did you incorporate content marketing into your marketing strategy? How do you see the impact of content on achieving your goals? Content is the king. And relevant content spread to your target group on time is the queen. Well, as a representative of the destination level, I can (only) see an increase in enquiries and more relevant meeting requests in our appointment calendars at the trade shows/B2B forums.
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Q: Is Bratislava gaining international recognition as a MICE destination? I believe so, the data from our surveys show a major increase in awareness‌ Q: What can Bratislava offer to a congress guest, that no other European capital can? Accessibility. In many different ways. It is easy to get into the city, it is comfortable to move around, delegates can spend their valuable time enjoying the city rather than on the bus. The atmosphere of the city is intimate, relaxed and still authentic, with locals on the streets. Bratislava stands for the essence of Central Europe, it connects cultural heritage with modern innovative features with a green backdrop. And the value for money is still very good. Q: What will be the main strategic focus for the Bratislava CVB in the coming year? Association business meetings.
"Content is the king. And relevant content spread to your target group on time is the queen."
Q: And your own? What will drive you in 2019? I am looking forward to another team member to help us deliver more and better work for the destination. Q: Where, in your opinion, does the secret of success lie? Personal drive, persistence, vision and a small piece of good luck
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WORKING IN OUR INDUSTRY IS LIKE ENDURANCE SPORT
Interview with Miha Kovačič, Director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau on the development of meetings tourism in Slovenia GORAZD ČAD //
PERSONAL ARCHIVE
Miha Kovačič has over 20 years of working experience in the travel industry. Tourism is part of the family being already the fourth generation working in tourism. Started with Kompas, the Destination Management Company and Professional Conference Organiser, later joined Grand Hotel Union, largest convention hotel in Ljubljana. For the last 12 years Miha holds position of CEO of the Slovenian Convention Bureau.
Q: What was your biggest challenge in developing Slovenia as a premier congress destination? The Slovenian Convention Bureau was established 14 years ago with the aim to make Slovenia more successful on the international congress, meetings and incentive travel market (Business Events). In cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board and our members we have developed considerably during this time. About the biggest challenge … I would say there was a mix of several challenges that were interconnected. On the one side, there was the government’s understanding of the opportunities for Slovenia on that market. On the other side, the supply side was not developed enough on a national level. Most of the destinations did not understand the needs of this industry. There was only a small number of players who were very active on that market. Things are changing positively on both sides. Business Events are well placed in the latest national strategy for tourism drawn up by the Ministry of Economy. Business Events are one of the three main tourism products of Slovenia. Also, the number of members has grown and more and more destinations are eager to host more business events in their destinations. They are increasingly aware of the differences, needs and expectations of meeting planners but also participants. New properties and refurbished hotels and venues are also looking strategically at this lucrative market. Q: What has excited you most this year? I understand that working in our industry is like endurance sport. You have to be focused, persistent, patient but also proactive. To name the exciting things, I would mention this year’s great success of the ICCA Association Meetings Programme held in Ljubljana this Summer. It was a great proof of the amazing cooperation of different stakeholders all with the aim of presenting our country through knowledge, innovation, cooperation, and professionalism. Q: What is your plan for the development of Slovenia as a MICE destination in the coming 5–10 years?
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I would say that the meetings industry is developing at quite a speed with constant changes in the market influenced by economical, political, social, environmental and other factors. Slovenia is still perceived as an emerging destination. I believe there will be many positive changes in the coming 5–10 years. Slovenia will further develop its product for all the segments of MICE. New players will come onto the market, either green field or brown field investments but also refurbished properties throughout the country. Many destinations will learn and develop the MICE product in their destinations and promote it internationally too. There will also be development in the human resources sector where the level of knowledge will increase. Last but not least, the national Government will also realise the economic impact of the meetings industry. All that will help us to become stronger and more successful on the international market.
Q: Conventa is a huge success. What is the legacy and the impact of the event? I believe that as creators of Conventa we were not aware of how big the impact of the event would be for Slovenia but also for the region of South East and Central Europe. A decade ago our aim was to invite clients to the region and present to them the New Europe. Ten years later the region was visited by more than 2000 meeting professionals because of Conventa. What’s more, Conventa is not just a two-day show. It is actually the marketing machine of the New Europe, as promotional activities go on for the whole year. Additionally, clients that have attended Conventa are positively surprised by the quality of the experience and become ambassadors of the show and the New Europe region.
Q: How do you capture the essence of Slovenia through your actual marketing campaign? We are very proud that in close cooperation with its members back in 2009 the Slovenian Convention Bureau defined the essence of MICE Slovenia. These were and are the People. We have started to promote Slovenia through Slovenian Energy. We have been quite innovative in the marketing since then. Later we added two more pillars: Place and Purpose. The aim of the three pillars People, Place, Purpose was to present all of the advantages of Slovenia for the MICE market.
"Business events are one of the three main tourism products of Slovenia."
Q: What can event delegates expect to experience in Slovenia? We can think ourselves fortunate that Slovenia has so much to offer on such a small piece of land. These are words of our clients! Four experiences of the region that can actually be enjoyed in one day is amazing. The project “Imagine Slovenia” has not only three different climate regions and three geographic regions but also three wine regions. Not to mention the gastronomy that amazes even the most demanding people. Slovenia is not just a fantastic country for exploring the great outdoors and outstanding gastronomy. Slovenia is also strong in science and business. We understand that participants at today’s meetings and events are seeking local knowledge and business opportunities. Q: What are Slovenia’s advantages compared to the wider region? I started working in the leisure tourism industry more than two decades ago. I soon realized that I prefer the meetings industry. In the meetings industry you are building long-lasting relationships with business partners from all over the world but also very strong ties with the national suppliers in order to a create strong product. In the meetings industry your product or the whole country is actually competing with the whole world. On the other hand, the whole world is also your potential market. I see that as a big opportunity for Slovenia. Although other countries are our competitors, we have great relationships and cooperation. I believe that in our business we are not competitors at all. Each product is a destination, congress centre, hotel, DMC, PCO, or incentive provider that differs from the others so much. Of course, you can compare prices and services. It is more difficult to compare complete programmes and business solutions if they are based on professional and respectful relationships. As I stated earlier, Slovenia’s advantages are, in particular, the diversity of its geography, good food and wine, and strong business and scientific communities.
Q: How can we break down cultural barriers in the region? If used smartly, the cultural barriers in the region could also be the countries’ unique selling points. Take Conventa, for example. I believe we have still not realized the true potential of regional cooperation. I hope this changes in the near future. There will be some new actions at the forthcoming Conventa experience. Q: Your favourite incentive idea in Slovenia? This is a tough question. It would definitely consist of an outdoor activity, combined with local cultural heritage and people, topped off with authentic gastronomy. Q: What would be your ideal event to host in your country? My ideal event to host in my country would be where global meeting professionals meet with all the members of Slovenian Convention Bureau. It would be an educational but also a networking event where lots of great ideas and new relationships could be built. Q: What is your advice to younger generations starting out in your field? Listen, learn, be curious, be active, engage internationally but also be patient, focused, persistent. Keep your promises. Q: What makes you smile? Cool people. Q: What is your best recipe for your days off? Disconnect from business. To do some sport, read a book, have a good meal with great wine and great company. Q: What are the 3 things you cannot live without? Business or private? Business: smartphone, smart people, smart ideas. Private: family, sport, selfness.
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Kongres Magazine
EDITOR IN CHIEF Gorazd Čad ASSISTANT EDITOR Ajda Borak DESIGN Barbara Dimec DTP AND PREPRESS Barbara Dimec PROOFREADING Jasmina Jerant, Soglasnik
The Kongres Magazine is entered into the media register under sequence number 1423. MAGAZINE ISSUED IN January, March, May, July, September, November, December ISSN NUMBER 1855-8615 PUBLISHER AND PRODUCTION Poslovni turizem Gorazd Čad s.p., Kamnica 6B, SI-1262 Dol pri Ljubljani T: +385 (0)1 430 51 03 E: gorazd.cad@go-mice.eu MARKETING Toleranca Marketing d.o.o., Štihova 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana T: +385 (0)1 430 51 03 E: gorazd.cad@toleranca.eu ISSUE DATE December 2018 For the content production it is required to get the written editorial consignment.
Official magazine of the Slovenian Convention Bureau
