REVIJA SLOVENSKE INDUSTRIJE SREČANJ • SLOVENIAN MEETINGS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE • ŠTEVILKA 1, APRIL 2007; ISSUE 1, APRIL 2007

URADNO GLASILO ZAVODA-KONGRESNOTURISTIČNI URADOFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE SLOVENIAN CONVENTION BUREAU

PREDSEDOVANJE EU 2008EU Presidency 2008

PREDSTAVITEV SLOVENSKIHKONGRESNIH PRODUKTOV - MESTAPresentation of Slovenian CongressProducts: TOWNS

BACKSTAGE - PREDSTAVITEVPRIMEROV DOBRE PRAKSEBackstage: Case StudyPresentation

PREDSEDOVANJE EU 2008EU Presidency 2008

PREDSTAVITEV SLOVENSKIHKONGRESNIH PRODUKTOV - MESTAPresentation of Slovenian CongressProducts: TOWNS

BACKSTAGE - PREDSTAVITEVPRIMEROV DOBRE PRAKSEBackstage: Case StudyPresentation

URADNO GLASILO ZAVODA-KONGRESNOTURISTIČNI URAD • OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE SLOVENIAN CONVENTION BUREAU

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Uvodnik

Prvi številki na pot

Na najnovejši lestvici mednarodnega združenja ICCA je Slovenija po števi-lu mednarodnih znanstvenih srečanj na 38. mestu, Ljubljana kot prestol-nica pa na 48. mestu. V primerjavi z letom poprej smo na listi držav na-predovali za nekaj mest. Tudi to kaže, da je industrija srečanj v Sloveniji vrazvojnem zagonu, ki bo vrhunec dosegel v času predsedovanja EU v prvipolovici leta 2008. Slovenija ima naravne danosti za kongresno dejavnost, intenzivno se raz-vija kongresna infrastruktura, kadrom se posveča večja pozornost in po-nudniki storitev se vedno bolj obračajo na tuji trg. Skupna prizadevanjapreko tridesetih soustanoviteljev bodo zaznamovala revijo KONGRES. Dol-go smo razmišljali, kako bi dali reviji ime, ki bi najbolj osmišljalo vsebine,ki se bodo v njej pojavljale. Za KONGRES smo se odločili zaradi tradicije,ki jo ima izraz na slovenskem govornem področju, čeprav bomo vsebinskoteme razširili na vsa področja industrije srečanj. Revija je namenjenavsem, ki vas te teme zanimajo in tudi tistim, ki želite samo kaj zanimivegaprebrati. V reviji bo dovolj prostora za kritično razmišljanje in soočenjemnenj med organizatorji dogodkov in ponudniki storitev. Revija bo hkratiizložbeno okno slovenske kongresne ponudbe.Neskromno si želimo, da bi k nadaljnjemu napredovanju na lestvici ICCAsvoj delček prispevali tudi mi. Revija ne bi mogla nastati brez podpore soustanoviteljev in oglaševalcev,zato se vam zanjo iskreno zahvaljujemo.

On the latest league table for scientific meetings from internationalorganisation ICCA, Slovenia is in 38th place, while its capital Ljubljana is48th. We have moved up a few places on the countries’ list compared tothe previous year. This shows that the meeting industry is developing rapidly in Slovenia, with this set to climax with the Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2008. Slovenia has a natural topicality for congress activities, as our conferenceinfrastructure is developing intensively, greater attention is being paid to it and service providers are turning evermore attention to the foreign market. Congress magazine is coloured by the common aspirations of its 30 or so co-founders. Much time has been spent considering the magazine’s name and what would be the best opinion content to include.We have chosen the name ‘Congress’ due to the tradition that it has in theSlovenian language although the content is to be expanded to cover thewhole field of the meeting industry. The magazine is intended for thosewho find the meeting industry interesting, as well as people who are simplylooking for something interesting to read. There’s going to be plenty ofspace in the magazine for critical thinking and bringing face-to-face theopinions of event organisers and service providers. At the same time, themagazine is to be a shop window for the Slovenian congressional offer. A little immodestly, we also hope that the magazine contributes to further advancement on the ICCA league table.The magazine would be nothing without the support of its co-foundersand advertisers, and we’d like to sincerely thank them for their support.

Gorazd Čad, glavni in odgovorni urednik Editor-in-Chief (Foto/Photo: B. Zupančič)

Editorial

First issue

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Kratke novice

Redno srečanje članov Kongresnega urada, Hotel Bellevue, Maribor

Za nami je še eno uspešno organi-zirano letno srečanje zavoda Kon-gresnoturistični urad, ki je v dvehdneh postregel s številnimi zani-mivimi predavanji. Osrednja temasrečanja je bila »Kaj slovensko in-dustrijo srečanj čaka v obdobjupredsedovanja EU leta 2008?«.Odgovore na to vprašanje sta dalag. Franci Kodela, vodja logistične-ga centra za predsedovanje, in g.Gregor Krajc, vodja podskupine zaodnose z javnostmi in promocijo.Na formalnem delu srečanja je bi-la za novo članico sveta zavodaKongresnoturistični urad izvoljenaRenata Balažič iz GH Union, zapredsednika strokovnega sveta paMatjaž Žnidaršič iz GH Bernardin. Kot vedno doslej je bilo večernodruženje, ki je potekalo v pravempohorskem vzdušju, prijetnejšidel dogodka. Pred večerno zabavopa so udeležence nasmejale tim-sko – animacijske igre agencijeKoren Sports.

Novi wellness in šport hotel Harmonija, Mengeš

Harmonija duha, telesa in doživetijje vodilo in vsebina novega špor-tno-rekreativnega, lepotnega inwellness hotela v Mengšu. Rekre-aciji in razvajanju je na voljo 4.500kvadratnih metrov pokritih povr-šin. Harmonija je prvi sodobnicenter v Sloveniji, zasnovan pometodi feng shui, v katerem sezdružujeta najsodobnejša medi-cinska tehnika in tradicionalna ki-tajska modrost.Harmonija šport ponuja 2600 m2

pokritih športnih površin, ki vklju-čujejo tri igrišča za tenis in pet zabadminton. V poletnih mesecih stana voljo dve igrišči za odbojko namivki in veliko travnato igrišče za

nogomet. Večnamenska dvoranaje na voljo za skupinske vadbe,dvorana za individualne vadbe po-nuja program kinesis ter vadbo nanapravi power plate. Harmonijawellness center se razprostira naskoraj 600m2 in je razdeljen na trisklope: svet savn, lepotilni in ma-sažni del ter VIP prostor – prostorza posebne, pravljične rituale.Hotel Harmonija je prvi hotel vMengšu. V novih, sodobno oprem-ljenih dvanajstih sobah nudi sku-paj trideset ležišč, sobe pa so za-snovane po metodi feng shui, karizjemno pozitivno vpliva na poču-tje in razpoloženje gostov. Re-stavracija Harmonija razvaja go-ste z zdravim načinom pripravehrane, odlična kuharska zasedbapa skrbi za zadovoljitev vseh vrstokusov za različne priložnosti –vse od dnevnih kosil do hrane ponaročil, s čudovitim pogledom napark. Harmonija svoje goste ra-zvaja tudi v osvežilnem baru in naletnem vrtu.Harmonija ponuja raznolike možno-sti za razvoj incentive programov,saj se nahaja sredi čudovite naravepod Mengeško kočo. Dodatne infor-macije: www.harmonija.eu

Svečana otvoritev dvora Jezeršek

Januarja je svoje duri svečano od-prl Dvor Jezeršek na Brniku. Sre-čanja z dobrimi jedmi in ljudmi ta-ko Hiša kulinarike Jezeršek, ki je

REVIJA KONGRES – REVIJA SLOVENSKE INDUSTRIJE SREČANJCONGRESS – SLOVENIAN MEETINGINDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Glavni in odgovorni urednik / Editor-in-Chief:Gorazd Čad

Izvršna urednica / Executive Editor:Jakica Jesih

Pomočnica urednika / Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief:Danaja Besnard

Uredniški odbor / Editorial Board:Christer CarlssonTony CareyGorazd ČadMiha KovačičSrečo PeterličTatjana RadovičPetra ČukMaja Vidergar

Ustanovna podjetja in svet revije / Founding Companies and Magazine Board:Adria Airways, Albatros Bled, Auditoria, Avditorij Portorož, Cankarjev dom, City Hotel,Domina Vacanze, Globtour, Gospodarsko razstavišče, GO.Mice, Hiša Kulinarike FrancJezeršek, Intours, Kompas, Liberty Slovenija,Liofetrek, M-hotel, Postojnska jama turizem,Prevajalska agencija Alkemist, RS Klan, SavaHoteli Bled, Hoteli Bernardin, Terme Čatež,Terme Maribor, Terme Spa Rogaška, TermeRadenci. Vivo Catering, Zavod-Kongresnoturistični urad Slovenije, Zavod zaturizem Ljubljana

Oblikovanje / Design:Tatjana Zupan, Propagarna d.o.o.

Tehnični urednik / Technical Editor:Marko Čopi, Grafika Paradoks d.o.o.

Prevod / Translation:Alkemist prevajalska agencija / Alkemist Translation Agency, Alasdair Green

Lektoriranje / Proofreading:Simona Kepic, Jakica Jesih, Alasdair Green

Tisk / Printing:Collegium Graphicum d.o.o.

Naklada / Circulation:5.000 izvodov

ISSN številka / ISSN Number:1854-9292

Revija izhaja 4x letno / Quarterly Magazine issued in: april / April; junij/julij / June/July; september /September; november / November

Izdajatelj, produkcija in trženje / Publisher, Production and Marketing:GO Mice, Štihova 4SI-1000 LjubljanaT: +386 (0)1 430 51 03F: +386 (0)1 430 51 04E: kongres@go-mice.eu

Ponudnikom kongresnih kapacitet se prijaznozahvaljujemo za fotografije iz njihovega arhiva. /We cordially thank to congress venues for theirphotos.

Za reproduciranje vsebine je potrebno pisnosoglasje uredništva. / For the content reproduction it is required to get the written editorial consigment.

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Kratke novice

pred 25 leti začela razvijati paletodejavnosti v Sori pri Medvodah,nadaljuje na Hočevarjevi domačiji.V okviru dvora deluje hotel z 18sobami in 40 ležišči, dva apartma-ja s stilnim pohištvom, restavraci-ja á la carte za čarobna gastro-nomska doživetja, gostilna s po-nudbo tradicionalnih jedi sloven-skih pokrajin, dvorana za srečanjain posvetovanja ter vrsta drugihpresenečenj v obnovljeni domačijiiz leta 1768. Dodatne informacije:www.dvor-jezersek.si

Predstavitev slovenske kongresne industrije v Bruslju

16 predstavnikov slovenske kon-gresne industrije se je predstavilopotencialnim kupcem na delavniciv Bruslju. Udeleženci so sodelova-li pri otvoritvi predstavništva STO vBruslju, ki deluje v prostorih Slo-venske hiše in ga vodi Rok Klan-čnik. Predstavitve Slovenije kotkongresne destinacije in sprejemav Stalni misiji RS pri EU se je ude-ležilo več kot petdeset gostov. Do-godek je obogatila jazz skupina»Renato Chicco trio«.

Slovenski kongresni katalog

Zavod Kongresnoturistični urad jeizdal slovenski kongresni katalog. Vkatalogu je predstavljena celotnaslovenska industrija srečanj. Za na-ročilo brezplačnega kataloga pišitena elektronski naslov miha.kova-cic@slovenia-convention.com

Natečaj za oblikovanje blagovne znamke turističnedestinacije Ljubljana

Ljubljana se danes kljub zelo pozi-tivnim trendom rasti povpraševa-nja in pozitivnim percepcijam obi-skovalcev sooča s problemom po-manjkanja jasne identitete in podo-be. Zavod za turizem Ljubljana jezato pripravil natečaj za oblikova-nje blagovne znamke turistične de-stinacije Ljubljana. Rok za oddajopredlogov je 1. junij 2007.

MPI 2007 – Proffesional education conference Europe

Evropska konferenca MPI, ki jepotekala od 18. do 20. marca v Ko-penhagnu pod pokroviteljstvomprincese Mary, je poleg odličneorganizacije prikazala tudi novostrateško usmeritev MPI. V nasled-njih letih bo strategija temeljila nanaslednjih usmeritvah: • Nove profesionalne konference,

med drugim profesionalna kon-ferenca za Bližnji vzhod (PEC-Middle East, Dubai);

• Več regionalnih uradov MPI (od-prtje novega urada v Singapurju);

• Zmogljivejši spletni portal; • Organizacija globalnih delavnic.

Rekordni EIBTM

Kongresna borza EIBTM 2006 (Eu-ropean Incentive Business Traveland Meetings) je pritegnila največještevilo obiskovalcev doslej. Po po-datkih organizatorjev je borzo obi-skalo 6.176 obiskovalcev. Med raz-stavljavci in vabljenimi gosti je bilo

opravljenih več kot 34.000 prodaj-nih sestankov. Borza se je povečalatudi prostorsko za približno 50 no-vih razstavljavcev. Slovensko kon-gresno industrijo je predstavljalo 15ponudnikov. www.eibtm.com

Gostitelj naslednje konference MPI je London

Konferenco MPI bo leta 2008 gostilLondon. Organizatorji so si zadaliambiciozen načrt, da bo to največjain najboljša konferenca MPI v zgo-dovini. Potekala bo v londonskemkongresnem centru Excel. V časukonference bo udeležencem pred-stavljen projekt urbanistične preno-ve Londona za potrebe olimpijskihiger 2012. Po zaključku konferencebodo udeleženci lahko nadaljevalipot na sejem IMEX v Frankfurt, sajbodo za vse udeležence organiziraniposebni leti iz Londona.

Generalna skupščina IAPCO

Več kot 70 članov mednarodnegazdruženja IAPCO se je sestalo na let-nem srečanju in skupščini v Sevilli.IAPCO je že desetletje sinonim zakakovost na področju industrije sre-čanj. Med mednarodnimi združenjije IAPCO eno od redkih združenj, kiima zelo stroge kriterije za sprejemnovih članov. Članstvo bodo po no-vem tudi redno preverjali s pomočjoorodij notranje in zunanje presojeneodvisnega odbora za kakovost. V Sloveniji sta kriterijem IAPCOdoslej zadostila: • Auditoria in• Cankarjev dom, kulturni in kon-

gresni center.

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Short News

The regular annual meetingof Slovenian Conventionbureau members, HotelBellevue, Maribor

Another well organised annualmeeting of the SlovenianConvention Bureau is behind usand, over two days, many interest-ing lectures were given. The maintopic of the meeting was “Whatawaits the Slovenian meetingindustry during the EU Presidencyin 2008?”Answers were given byFranci Kodela, Head of the EUPresidency Logistics Centre, andGregor Krajc, Head of the PublicRelations and PromotionSubgroup. During the formal partof the meeting, Renata Balažič ofGH Union was newly elected tothe Slovenian Convention BureauCouncil, while Matjaž Žnidaršičfrom GH Bernadin was electedChairman of the Council ofExperts. As always, the eveningreception, held in an authenticPohorje atmosphere, was themore enjoyable part of the event.Participants enjoyed themselvesbefore the evening entertainment,participating in Koren Sportsteam-activity games.

New wellness and sportshotel, Harmonija, Mengeš

‘The harmony of the soul, bodyand emotion’ is the guideline and

content of a new sports-recreatio-nal, beauty and wellness hotel inMengeš. Both recreation andindulgence are available in the4,500 square metre coveredareas. Harmonija is the first modern centre in Slovenia basedon the feng shui method, in whichcontemporary medical techniquesand traditional Chinese modestyare combined.Harmonija Šport has 2,600 m2 ofcovered sporting areas, includingthree tennis courts and five badminton courts. In summer, two beach volleyball courts and alarge grass football pitch are alsoavailable. A multi-purpose hall isavailable for group exercise whilean individual exercise hall offers akinesis program and power plateexercises. The HarmonijaWellness Centre covers 600m2

and is divided into three sections:sauna, beauty and massage sec-tions and a VIP area – an area forspecial, fairytale-like rituals. TheHotel Harmonija is the first hotelto open in Mengeš. Its 12 new con-temporarily equipped rooms havea total of 30 beds and they aredesigned in line with the feng shuimethod, which has an extremelypositive effect on guests’ wellbe-ing and mood. The Harmonijaresturant indulges its guests withhealthy dishes prepared by itsexcellent cooking staff to satisfyall tastes for various occasions –from daily lunches to meals toorder. With a magnificent view of the park, the Harmonija alsopampers its guests in the refresh-ment bar and summer garden.Harmonija offers a variety of possibilities for developmentalincentive programmes, as it isamidst wondrous countrysideunder Mengeš koča (Mengešhunting lodge).Additional information: www.harmonija.eu

The festive opening of dvor Jezeršek

Dvor Jezeršek in Brnik opened inJanuary this year. Gatherings withgood food and people were hostedby Hiša kulinarike Jezeršek, whodeveloped a range of activities inSora pri Medvodah 25 years agoand continue at the HočevarHomestead. A hotel with 18 roomsand 40 beds, two apartments withstylish furniture, an á la carterestaurant providing a magicalgastronomic experience, an innshowcasing traditional dishesfrom the Slovenian provinces, a meeting and assembly hall and a variety of other surprises in therenovated 1768 homestead operatewithin the framework of the court.Additional information: www.dvor-jezersek.si

Presentation of slovenianmeeting industry in Brussels

Sixteen representatives of theSlovenian meeting industry outlined their offers to potentialcustomers at workshops inBrussels. Participants attendedthe opening of the STO office inBrussels, which operates in the

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Short News

premises of the Slovenian Houseand is managed by Rok Klančnik. The presentation of Slovenia as a meeting destination and areception at the PermanentMission of the Republic ofSlovenia to the EU was attendedby over 50 guests. The event wasenriched by the ‘Renato Chiccotrio’ jazz group.

The Slovenian meetings catalogue

The Slovenian Convention Bureauhas published the SlovenianMeetings Catalogue, which outlines the complete Slovenianmeetings industry.To order a free copy of the catalogue please write to:miha.kovacic@slovenia-convention.com

A competition to design abrand name for Ljubljana as a tourist destination

Despite a clearly positive growthtrend in inquiries and the positiveperceptions of its visitors,Ljubljana today faces a lack of a clear identity and image. For this reason, Ljubljana TouristBoard has prepared a competitionto design a brand name forLjubljana as a tourist destination. The deadline for submitting suggestions is 1 June 2007.

MPI 2007 - Proffesional education conference, Europe

In addition to excellent organisation, the European MPIconference, held between the 18th

and 20th of March in Copenhagenunder the sponsorship of PrincessMary, also outlined MPI’s newstrategic orientation. In theupcoming years the strategy willbe based on: • new professional conferences,

including a professional conference in the Middle East(PEC-Middle East, Dubai),

• more regional MPI bureaus (the opening of a new bureau in Singapore),

• a more powerful website,• the organisation of global

workshops.

Record EIBTM

The European Incentive BusinessTravel and Meetings (EIBTM) 2006meetings exchange attracted the most visitors so far. Theorganisers say the exchangeattracted 6,176 visitors. Over34,000 sales meetings were heldbetween exhibitors and invitedguests. The exchange alsoincreased in terms of size, withapproximately 50 new exhibitors.The Slovenian meetings industryshowcased 15 providers. www.eibtm.com

London to host the next MPI conference

Excel, London, 18 – 20 April 2008 The 2008 MPI Conference is to behosted by London. Organisers havean ambitious plan to make it thebiggest and best MPI conferenceever. The conference will be held atthe Excel Congress Centre. A projectfor the urban renewal of London tomeet the requirements of the 2012Olympic Games will be presented toparticipants. After the conference,participants will be able to go on tothe IMEX Fair in Frankfurt, with special flights organised fromLondon for all participants.

IAPCO general assemby

Over 70 members of the IAPCOinternational association met attheir annual meeting and generalassembly in Seville. For ten years,IAPCO has been synonymous withquality in the meetings industry.IAPCO is one of the few international associations withextremely strict criteria regardingthe acceptance of new members.Membership will now be reviewedon a regular basis with the aid ofthe quality council’s internal andexternal assessment tools.To date, the following Slovenian venues have satisfied IAPCO criteria:• Auditoria and• Cankarjev dom Cultural &

Congress Centre.

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Novice soustanoviteljev

V hotelu Park po prenovi uspešni na področju kongresov

V blejskem hotelu Park, ki deluje vokviru blagovne znamke Sava Ho-teli Bled, so lani zabeležili več kot20-odstotni dvig števila nočitev,ustvarjenih s strani kongresnihgostov. Porast je rezultat celoviteobnove hotela in izgradnje manj-šega konferenčnega središča, kjerso na voljo štiri med seboj poveza-ne dvorane, od katerih največjasprejme 120 oseb.

Kavarna Belvedere spet odprta

Znamenita Titova čajnica v parkuhotela Vila Bled, kjer od lani delu-je kavarna, po zimskem predahuspet odpira svoja vrata. V poletnihmesecih je kavarna primerna zaizvedbo stoječih sprejemov in dru-žabnih dogodkov. Za kulinaričnoponudbo skrbi kuharska ekipa podvodstvom Andreja Kuharja, edine-ga slovenskega kuharja, odlikova-nega z Michelinovo zvezdico.

Blejski hotel Golf v vodnikuCondé Nast Johansens

Založba Condé Nast Johansens,izdajatelj mednarodnih vodnikovluksuznih hotelov, je objavila hotelGolf v vodniku “RecommendedHotels & Spas” za Evropo in Sre-dozemlje 2007. V vodniku je objav-ljenih preko 430 hotelov, hotelGolf, ki sicer velja za najpomemb-nejši kongresni hotel na Bledu, paje edini iz Slovenije. Objavljeni ho-teli so izbrani na podlagi njihoveposebne privlačnosti, značaja terkakovosti ponudbe in storitev.

Najvišji predstavniki državčlanic EU na Bledu

Slovenija je 15. januarja 2007 slav-nostno obeležila prevzem evra. Napovabilo predsednika vlade JanezaJanše so se slovesnosti udeležilinajvišji predstavniki držav članic EUin evropskih ustanov. Častni gostjeso se med enodnevnim obiskom vSloveniji mudili tudi na Bledu. Pre-mier Janša je zanje priredil slavnos-tno kosilo v Grand Hotelu Toplice.

Novice iz podjetja Albatros, Bled

Začetek tretjega desetletja uspe-šnega delovanja smo izkoristili zamanjše organizacijske spremem-be v podjetju Albatros. Uveljavlje-na blagovna znamka Albatros vceloti ostaja in združuje dve pravniobliki organiziranosti: Albatros,kongresno – turistična agencija,Majda Zidanski, s.p., in Albatros,kongresni servis, d.o.o. Dejavnost,cilji in usmeritve ostajajo isti,spremembe so se zgodile samona organizacijskem in kadrov-skem področju znotraj obeh po-djetij. Skupaj z njimi se je spreme-nil tudi logotip za kongresni ser-vis, v katerem se je naši značilnirdeči pridružila še modra barva.

Future Watch

»FutureWatch 2007«, tržna razi-skava trendov globalne industrijesrečanj, ki jo financirata MPI (Me-etings Professionals International)in American Express, napoveduješe eno uspešno leto, saj naj bi bilsektor že četrto zaporedno leto vvzponu, kar kaže na zdravo in mo-čno gospodarstvo v širšem smislu.Glavni trendi, ki jih raziskava na-poveduje za leto 2007, so večjacentralizacija organizacije srečanj,konsolidacija stroškov ter nadalj-nje povečevanje vloge nabavnihoddelkov pri odločitvah za sreča-nja. Glavni dejavniki, ki bodo v letu2007 vplivali na industrijo srečanj,pa bodo po pričakovanjih še vednoglobalizacija, terorizem ter dvigcen nočitev.

Novosti v Adria Airways

Adria Airways leti od 24. marca2007 dalje po poletnem voznemredu. Ponovno so vzpostavljeneredne povezave iz Ljubljane v Bar-celono, Rim, Manchester, Bir-

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Novice soustanoviteljev

mingham in Dublin. Redna linijana progi Ljubljana – Kijev, ki so jouvedli decembra 2006, deluje zelouspešno, zato so število tedenskihpovezav povečali na 3-krat teden-sko. Večje število tedenskih pove-zav so uvedli še na linijah v Am-sterdam, Bruselj, Skopje inZürich. Nov vozni red in aktualnaponudba sta na voljo na spletnistrani www.adria-airways.com.

Na kratko iz hotela Domina

V hotelu Domina se nam v mesecuaprilu obeta 2. mednarodni salsafestival. Organizatorji festivala»Salsoteka« bodo pripeljali dvaj-set svetovno priznanih salsa inš-truktorjev, ki bodo v treh dneh našestinpetdesetih delavnicah pri-pravili največji salsa dogodek vSloveniji do sedaj. Hotel Dominapa se lahko pohvali še z vrsto po-membnejših dogodkov, ki so seodvili v letu 2007: IBM Slovenija,BMW managerski izzivi, Mednaro-dna konferenca agencije za kme-tijske trge in drugimi.

Kompas za poslovne goste

Turistično podjetje Kompas d.d.uvaja novo blagovno znamkoKompas Corporate, namenjenoposlovnim uporabnikom. Združujevrsto izkušenih sodelavcev, ki bo-do pokrivali storitve najširše turi-stične ponudbe iz Kompasovegalastnega touoroperatorskega pro-grama (potovanaja, počitnice, izle-ti), pa do specializiranih storitev,kot so: rezervacija in prodaja le-talskih vozovnic ter vseh vrst pre-vozov (z vlakom, ladjo, najetimivozili, vozili iz voznega parkaKompasa – osebni avtomobili teravtobusi), rezervacija namestitevpo celem svetu, organizacija poto-vanj na kongrese in sejme v tujini,organizacija srečanj, konferenc inkongresov doma in v tujini, posre-dovanje vizumov, organizacija mo-tivacijskih (incentive) in drugihstrokovnih potovanj po meri naro-čnika. Cilj je sistematično pristopi-ti do kupcev, določiti key accountmanagerje za velike kupce in uve-sti CRM na ravni podjetja in nove-ga rezervacijskega sistema SIBO-OK, ki ga Kompas razvija v sodelo-vanju s podjetjem Hermes Softlab.Več o tem – prihodnjič.

Team building programi v Postojnski jami

Programi so namenjeni skupinam,ki jih povezujejo prijateljske, po-slovne, izobraževalne ali druge in-teresne vezi. Team building pro-grami se odvijajo v dvoranah po-stojnskega jamskega sistema ali vprostorih Predjamskega gradu,izvajajo pa jih strokovnjaki s po-dročja psihologije dela in izkušenijamski vodniki. Možnosti je več –zabavni team building ali team building akademija. Tovrstni do-življajski ogledi izven utečenih tu-rističnih poti so lahko zelo prime-ren incentive program.

Prenovljen grad Mokrice

Terme Čatež so s prenovo kom-pleksa na Mokricah postale šeprivlačnejša destinacija za poslov-ni turizem. Obnovljen je bil grajskikompleks, kjer v prenovljenihgrajskih kaščah nudimo sodobnoopremljeno dvorano Barbara. Go-stje lahko bivajo v Hotelu GolfGrad Mokrice ali v novi Depandan-si. Za sprostitev se udeležencilahko odločijo za igro golfa, razva-janje v grajskem masažnem salo-nu ali v bližnjih Termah Čatež.

125. rojstni dan Term Radenci

V Termah Radenci letos praznuje-mo svoj 125. rojstni dan. Že večdesetletij se uspešno ukvarjamo zorganizacijo in pripravo kongre-sov, seminarjev, simpozijev, učnihdelavnic, jezikovnih izobraževanj,tiskovnih konferenc ter poslovnihsrečanj, in sicer v vlogi hiše gosti-teljice, v zadnjem času pa tudi vvlogi soorganizatorja.

Vivo na Viktorjih

Ob podelitvi Viktorjev, nagrad zamedijske dosežke, je osebje Vivocateringa iz Gradu Fužin pripraviloizbrano kulinarično »pojedino« ingoste vključilo v kulinarično uživa-nje že pri pripravi jedi.

10

Co-fonders News

Hotel Park successful in the area of meetings after renovation

The Hotel Park in Bled, operatingwithin the scope of the SavaHotels & Resorts brand name,recorded a rise of over 20 percentin the number of overnight staysof meeting guests last year. The growth was the result of thecomplete renovation of the hoteland the construction of a smallermeeting venue consisting of fourinterlinked halls, the largest ofwhich can accommodate up to 120 persons.

Kavarna Belvedere open again

The renowned Titova čajnica(Tito's Teahouse) in the park of the Hotel Villa Bled, where acoffeehouse has been operatingsince last year, has opened itsdoors again after a winter break.During the summer months, thecoffeehouse is a suitable place forthe implementation of standingreceptions and social events. Thecreative cooking staff, under theleadership of Andrej Kuhar (theonly Slovenian chef boasting aMichelin Star) will be in charge ofthe culinary offer.

The Hotel Golf in Bled wins a place in the Condé guide

The Condé Nast Johansens publishing house, publisher ofinternational guides on luxury

hotels, has included Hotel Golf inits "Recommended Hotels & Spas"guide for Europe and theMediterranean, 2007. The HotelGolf has earned a place among themore than 430 hotels featured, andit represents the most importantcongress hotel in Bled and the onlyone included from Slovenia. Thepublished hotels were selected on the basis of their personalattractiveness, nature and thequality of their offers and services.

The highest representatives of EU Member States in Bled

Slovenia festively marked itsadoption of the euro on 15 January2007. At the invitation of PrimeMinister Janez Janša, the highestrepresentatives of the EU MemberStates and European institutionsattended the festivities hosted forthe occasion. The honorary guestsalso visited Bled during their one-day visit to Slovenia. A festivelunch was hosted for the dignitaries by Prime MinisterJanša at the Grand Hotel Toplice.

News from Albatros, Bled

At the start of the 3rd decade ofour successful operation, we havetaken a chance to make someminor organisational changes at Albatros. ‘Albatros’ as an operational trademark remains in its entirety, while the two legalentities – Albatros, congress-tourist agency, Majda Zidanskiand Albatros congress services –are united. Our activities, goalsand directions stay the same, and the changes only affect theorganisational and personnelfields within both companies.Meanwhile, the logo of our congress service has also beenmodified, with our characteristicred being joined by blue.

Future Watch

'Future Watch' 2007, marketresearch into trends in the globalmeeting industry, financed by MPI(Meetings ProfessionalsInternational) and AmericanExpress, forecasts another successful year. This would make it the fourth consecutive year ofgrowth, pointing towards a stronghealthy economy in a broadersense. The main trends forecastedin their research for 2007 aregreater centralisation of meetingorganisation, cost consolidationand further strengthening of therole of 'fun elements' in decision-making about meetings. The mainfactors expected to impact on themeeting industry in 2007 remainglobalisation, terrorism andincrease of accommodation costs.

Developments at AdriaAirways

Adria implemented its summertimetable on 24 March 2007.Regular connections have beenre-established between Ljubljanaand Barcelona, Rome,Manchester, Birmingham andDublin. Scheduled flights betweenLjubljana and Kiev which began inDecember 2006 are running very successfully, such that thenumber of regular connectionshas been increased to three aweek. A higher number of weeklyflights operate on routes toAmsterdam Brussels, Skopje andZürich. The new timetable andother information are available at www.adria-airways.com.

News in brief from the Hotel Domina

We are looking forward to the 2nd

International Salsa Festival at the Hotel Domina in April. The organisers of the ‘Salsoteka’

11

Co-fonders News

festival is to gather 20 worldrenowned salsa instructors whowill, over a period of three daysand 56 workshops, lead thelargest salsa event in Slovenia todate. The Hotel Domina can alsoboast of a number of other impor-tant events in 2007, such as IBMSlovenija, the BMW ManagerialChallenge, the InternationalConference of Agricultural MarketAgencies and a host of others.

Increasing demand for team-building programmesat Postojna cave

These programmes are aimed atgroups connected by friendship,business, educational ties or other interests. Team-buildingprogrammes take place in thecaverns of the Postojna Cave system or at Predjama Castle led by both experts in the field ofpsychology and experienced caveguides. A number of possibilitiesexist, such as entertaining team-building programmes or theteam-building academy. Theseadventurous tours, off standardtourist routes, are an extremelygood incentive programme.teambuilding@postojnska-jama.si

Kompas Corporate

Kompas, Slovenia’s largest touristcompany, is introducing a new‘Kompas Corporate’ brand nameintended for business users.Kompas Corporate will bringtogether the skills of a variety ofexperienced colleagues, who willcover the vast line of servicesranging from Kompas’ own touroperator programme (travel, holi-days and trips) all the way to spe-cialised services such as thereservation and sale of airlinetickets and a variety of othertransportation (by train, ship,

leased vehicles and vehicles fromthe Kompas fleet of cars andbuses), the reservation of accom-modation around the world, theorganisation of travel to meetingsand fairs abroad, the organisationof meetings, conferences andcongresses, both at home andabroad, mediation for visas andthe organisation of incentive andother expert travel, all customisedto the client’s requirements. Thegoal is a systematic approach tocustomers, the assignment of keyaccount managers to largeclients, the introduction of CRM atcompany level and also the new‘SIBOOK’ reservation system,which Kompas is developing in co-operation with Hermes Softlab.More information will be pub-lished in a later issue.

Mokrice complex renovated

The extensive renovation of theMokrice complex has made TermeČatež health resort an even moreattractive destination for businesstourism. The castle complex hasbeen renovated and the newlyrestored castle granaries nowoffer the contemporarily equippedBarbara Hall. Guests can stay atthe Hotel Golf Grad Mokrice or atthe new hotel Depandansi. Thoseguests seeking to relax can optfor a game of golf, be pampered inthe castle massage parlour orrelax at the nearby Terme Čatežhealth resort.The extensive renovation of theMokrice complex has made TermeČatež health resort an even moreattractive destination for businesstourism. The castle complex hasbeen renovated and the newlyrestored castle granaries nowoffer the contemporarily equippedBarbara Hall. Guests can stay atthe Hotel Golf Grad Mokrice or atthe new Hotel Depandansi.

The renewal project of the HotelGolf Grad Mokrice complex is par-tially financed by EU funds.

Terme Radenci's 125th birthday

The 125th birthday of TermeRadenci is celebrated this year.The spa resort has successfullyhandled the organisation andpreparation of congresses, semi-nars, symposia, educational work-shops, language courses, pressconferences and business meet-ings for many decades, as well asacting as a hospitality centre.Recently it has also become a co-organiser.

Vivo at the Victor awardsceremony

At the Victor awards ceremony,where Victor statues are given formedia achievement, the staff ofVivo Catering from Grad Fužineprepared a choice culinary ‘feast’,including the guests in their culi-nary delights via their inclusion inthe making of dishes.

12

Mi to znamo. Smo mednarodno uveljavljeno podjetje za podroËje svetovanja, trženja in managementa v poslovnem turizmu.

Imamo reπitve za uspeπno trženje kongresnih centrov in destinacij ter komuniciranje vaπih kongresov in poslovnih dogodkov. Pridobi-vamo in organiziramo mednarodne kongrese, poslovne dogodke, motivacijska sreËanja, razstave in sejemske prireditve, pri Ëemer uporabljamo najsodobnejπa znanja in tehnologije sreËanj.Pomagamo vam pri upravljanju in vodenju strokovnih inznanstvenih združenj.

Štihova ulica 4,1000 Ljubljana, T+386 (0)1 430 51 03, F +386 (0)1 430 51 04, info@go-mice.eu, www.go-mice.eu

oglas mice.indd 2 3/13/07 3:36:42 PMProcess CyanProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess Black

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Na Gospodarskem razstavišču zaključena prva borza Simex

Postavljeni temelji kongresne borze

Kongresna borza Simex, ki je na Gospodarskem razstavišču potekala29. in 30. marca, se je v Sloveniji odvijala prvič. Podobne borze, na kate-rih se srečujejo najpomembnejši ponudniki poslovnega turizma s tisti-mi, ki po teh uslugah povprašujejo, pa so ponekod v tujini že uveljavlje-ne prireditve. Prva borza Simex je na Gospodarsko razstavišče pritegnila 54 razstav-ljavcev, z njihovo ponudbo pa se je v dveh dneh seznanilo več kot stogostov. Letos so med gosti prevladovali predstavniki znanstveno-stro-kovnih združenj, vladnih organizacij ter večjih podjetij. Organizatorji prve kongresne borze pri nas (poleg Zavoda – Kongresno-turistični urad še Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije, Institut Jožef Stefan,Slovenska turistična organizacija, Slovensko zdravniško društvo, Trgo-vinska zbornica Slovenije, Zavod za turizem Ljubljana ter gostitelj, Gos-podarsko razstavišče) imajo ambiciozne načrte za prihodnost. Borzo biradi razširili tudi preko meja Slovenije. Miha Kovačič, direktor Zavoda – Kongresnoturistični urad, pravi, da seje pokazalo, da je nova vrsta organiziranega srečevanja v poslovnem tu-rizmu našla svoje mesto na slovenskem trgu. »Od udeležencev smoprejemali pozitivne komentarje. Navdušilo jih je predvsem dejstvo, daso prvič imeli priložnost na enem mestu spoznati celotno slovenskokongresno ponudbo in govoriti s kakovostnimi in resnimi ponudniki.Borza Simex je bila pravi naslov za navezovanje stikov in za podrobenpregled ponudbe in povpraševanja v kongresni dejavnosti.«

Na Gospodarskem razstavišču v Ljubljani je konec marca potekalaprva slovenska borzakongresnega turizmaSimex. Zavod –Kongresnoturistični urad, ki jo je pripravil, je z njeno izvedbo inrezultati zelo zadovoljen.

Častni otvoritelj prireditev je bil župan Ljubljane Zoran Janković, ki si je borzo z veseljem ogledal inpozdravil sodelujoče. • The honorary opener of the event was the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran

Janković, whose pleasure it was to visit the exchange and greet participants.

Gostje prejmejo za razgovor osebni urnik srečanj. • Guests receive a personal meeting schedule

for discussions.

15

The first Simex Exchange concludes at Gospodarsko razstavišče

Foundations Laidfor the Meetings Exchange

The Simex exchange that took place at Gospodarsko razstavišče on 29 and 30 March was the first such event held in Slovenia. Similarexchanges held at various locations abroad are already renownedevents where the most important business tourism suppliers and thoseinquiring about services can meet. The first Simex exchange at Gospodarsko razstavišče attracted 54exhibitors and they presented their offers to over 100 guests. This year,scientific-expert associations, state organisations and larger companies were prevailing at the event. Organisers of the first meetings exchange in Slovenia have laid outambitious plans for the future, along with the Slovenian ConventionBureau, the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the JozefStefan Institute, the Slovenian Tourist Board, the Slovenian MedicalAssociation, the Slovenian Chamber of Trade, the Ljubljana Tourist Board and the host, Gospodarsko razstavišče. They would like to expand the exchange beyond the borders of Slovenia. Miha Kovačič, the Director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, saysthat the new way of organising meetings in business tourism has founda place on the Slovenian market. “We have had positive feedback fromparticipants. They were especially enthusiastic about the fact that theyhad a chance to become acquainted with the entire Slovenian meetingsindustry offer in one place for the first time and to speak with professional providers. The Simex exchange is the right place to establish contacts and to take a detailed look at the offers and makeinquiries about meetings activities.”

The first Slovenianmeetings industryexchange, Simex, washeld at Gospodarskorazstavišče (the Ljubljana Exhibitionand Convention Centre)in Ljubljana at the endof March. The SlovenianConvention Bureau,which organised theexchange, was extremelypleased with itsimplementation andresults.

Ob poslovnem delu je na razstavišču potekalo tudi bogato spremljevalno dogajanje. Zelo zanimiviso bili primeri dobrih praks. • A rich variety of accompanying events took place alongside the busi-

ness part of the exchange. Examples of good practices proved particularly interesting.

Borza Simex bo tudi prihodnje leto potekala vokviru prireditve Turizem in prosti čas. •The next

Simex exchange will be held in the frame of theTourism and Leisure fair 2008.

16

Kolumna: Srečo Peterlič

Smo obuti v primerno velike čevlje?

V polletnem predsedovanju bo v Sloveniji več kot 150 uradnih srečanjEU s pričakovanimi 25-30 tisoč udeleženci in gosti, ki bodo prihajali kotpredstavniki in člani delegacij. Verjetno bodo prihajali v jutranjih urah inodhajali zvečer. Ob teh urah je ljubljansko letališče preobremenjeno žebrez teh delegacij. Kje in kako bo poskrbljeno za prihode, sprejem dele-gacij, VIP osebje, varnost itd.? Marsikdo me je že vprašal za mnenje o tem, kakšna je slovenska kon-gresna ponudba v primerjavi s konkurenco. Odgovarjam: kongresne ka-pacitete in storitve so nadpovprečne, upoštevati pa je potrebno nekate-re omejitve, možnosti in dejstva. Glede na velikost dežele in populacijoimamo nadpovprečno število kongresnih dvoran in drugih kapacitet, poštevilu mednarodnih dogodkov in udeležencev sodimo med države z bi-stveno večjo populacijo. Toda, kaj to pomeni pri tako velikem zalogaju,ki nas čaka pred vrati?Trenutno Evropi predseduje Nemčija. Primerjava med Slovenijo inNemčijo ni smiselna, govorimo seveda o kapacitetah. Mogoče bi se lahko primerjali s Finci, ki so odlično opravili delo lani.Zavedali so se svoje relativne majhnosti in so se pravi čas odlično orga-nizirali. Leto dni prej so imeli v najožji projektni skupini za izvedbo sre-čanj ekipo osemindvajsetih strokovnjakov, v času predsedovanja prekoštirideset z nekaj sto stalnimi zunanjimi sodelavci. Ali vemo, kako mo-čna je trenutno slovenska ekipa?Še pred Finci je predsedovanje organizirala Avstrija. Na Dunaju imajo vprimernih hotelih na voljo preko 20.000 sob, v Ljubljani jih je manj kot2000, ki pa so že sedaj nadpovprečno zasedene. Da ne govorimo o dvo-ranah in ostalih prostorih za družabna srečanja.Slovenci smo znani kot odlični gostitelji in dobri organizatorji. Verjetnose vsi zavedamo objektivnih danosti in omejitev, v primerjavi z navede-nimi deželami. Toda, v zadnjem desetletju smo bili gostitelji lepega šte-vila zelo odmevnih srečanj, kot npr. obiska ameriškega predsednikaClintona, srečanja Bush – Putin, srečanja OVSE, dveh papeževih obiskov … Pričakovano predsedovanje se seveda ne more primerjati znavedenimi dogodki. Niti po obsegu, niti po številu dogodkov, niti po po-trebnih kapacitetah, niti po zahtevni logistiki, niti po varnosti in varova-nju, niti po potrebni zasedbi in obsegu projektne izvedbene skupine. Jepa pričakovani projekt nadgradnja vseh dosedanjih. Prepričan sem, dasmo ga Slovenci sposobni odlično izpeljati. Za začetek ugotovimo, alismo obuti v primerno velike čevlje, nato pa stopimo skupaj. Slovenskikongresni ponudniki smo pripravljeni. Pri projektu mogoče niti nismovsi potrebni, upravičeno pa pričakujemo, da bo odlična izvedba posledi-čno za vse nas priložnost za prihodnji razvoj kongresne dejavnosti, kotse je to zgodilo Avstrijcem in Fincem.Nestrpno pričakujem spletno stran predsedovanja Slovenije, upam, dabo na njej števec dnevov, ki so še na voljo do 1.1.2008.

Srečo Peterlič, direktor kongresne dejavnosti, Auditoria; predsednik svetaZavod Kongresnoturistični urad

Pred kratkim sem bil vTurčiji. Z letalom sem sepeljal iz Linza do Antal-ye. Ali lahko moje poto-vanje kakorkoli povežemz bližnjim predsedova-njem Slovenije Evropskiuniji? Lahko. Letališče vLinzu ima dnevno manjkot polovico poletov inpristankov kot AerodromLjubljana, je pa po povr-šini, namenjeni potni-kom, vsaj enkrat večje.Antalya ima po uradnihpodatkih nekaj več kotpol milijona prebivalcev,po neuradnih pa prekomilijon (verjetno štejejozraven še vse turiste), le-tališče pa je med najso-dobnejšimi in vsaj pet-krat večje kot ljubljansko.

Srečo Peterlič

17

Column: Srečo Peterlič

Are we fitted with Shoes of the appropriate Size?

Over 150 official EU meetings will be held in Slovenia during the half-year Presidency, with around 25-30,000 participants and guestsexpected, bringing with them representatives and members of delegations. They will probably arrive in the mornings and leave in the evenings. Currently, Ljubljana Airport is already overburdened at these times, even without these delegations. So where and how will the arrival and reception of delegations, VIPs, security and so on be implemented?A lot of people have asked me for my opinion regarding the Slovenianoffer of meeting services in comparison with that of the competition.My answer is that while meeting venues and services are above average, several restrictions and facts must be observed. We have anabove average number of meeting halls and other venues for the size of the country and the population, and we are a country with an essentially greater number of international events and participants. So what does this mean with regard to the major challenge awaiting us?At the moment, Germany holds the European Presidency. Of course, a comparison between Slovenia and Germany would not be sensible.Perhaps we can compare ourselves to the Finns, however, who performed an excellent job last year. Aware of their relatively smallsize, they did an excellent job nevertheless and organised themselvesat the right time. A year before, they had a team of 28 experts in thenarrowest project group, and then over 40 experts and several hundredpermanent outworkers during the Presidency. Do we know how strongthe Slovenian team is currently?Austria organised the Presidency before the Finns. Vienna has over20,000 rooms in appropriate hotels. There are less than 2,000 inLjubljana, and these are already filled above average, not to mentionthe meeting halls and other venues for social meetings.We Slovenes are known as excellent hosts and organisers. We areprobably all aware of our objective resources and restrictions in comparison with the above mentioned countries. Nevertheless, we’vehosted a good number of extremely successful meetings in the lastdecade, such as President Clinton’s visit, the Bush/Putin meeting, theOVSE meetings, two visits of Pope, etc. The upcoming Presidency, ofcourse, cannot compare to these events in terms of scope, the numberof events, the venues required, the necessary logistics, security andprotection or in terms of staff – and nor can the scope of the projectimplementation groups. We can, however expect a project upstaging allprevious ones and I am certain that Slovenes are capable of executingit with excellence. Firstly, we all find out if we are fitted with the appropriate size shoes, then we step forward together. We, theSlovenian meeting providers are prepared. Perhaps not all of us will berequired for the project, but nevertheless we can rightfully expect thatits excellent execution will consequently be an opportunity for thefuture development of meeting activates for us, as experienced by theAustrians and Finns. I await the website of the Slovenian Presidencywith impatience, and I hope it includes a countdown of the number of days left until 1 January 2008.

Srečo Peterlič, Congress Director, Auditoria; Chairman of the SlovenianConvention Bureau Council

I was in Turkey a shorttime ago, having travelled by plane from Linz to Antalya. I wondered whether therewas any possibility oflinking my travel withthe upcoming SlovenianPresidency of the EU? I could. Although thereare fewer landings andtakeoffs per day at Linzairport than at AerodromLjubljana, it is at leasttwice as big in terms ofthe surface area avail-able for passengers.Then, although Antalyaofficially has somewhatover half a million inhabitants, unofficiallythis figure exceeds onemillion (with touristsincluded, most likely).The airport there is one of the most contemporary airports in the world and is atleast five times the size of Ljubljana Airport.

18

Predsedovanje Evropski uniji 2008

Bomo pripravljeni?

Dodana vrednost predsedovanja je udeleženec,

ki se bo vrnil z družinoMag. Franci Kodela, vodja Logističnega centra za predsedovanje Slovenije EU, Vlada RS»Predsedovanje Evropski skupnosti pomeni, da bomo teh šest mesecevvodili Evropsko skupnost tako, kot naši ministri vodijo svoje posle zaRepubliko Slovenijo. Mi vodimo dosjeje, mi vodimo delovne skupine, karje v tem trenutku za nas res veliko priznanje,« zelo posplošeno in pre-prosto definicijo predsedovanja pove mag. Franci Kodela, namestnikgeneralnega sekretarja Vlade RS in vodja Logističnega centra za pred-sedovanje Slovenije EU.

Kakšen je pomen predsedovanja EU za Slovenijo in slovenski turizem?Predsedovanje ima nedvomno velik pomen tako za Slovenijo kot za sa-ma mesta, kjer se bodo odvijali dogodki. Glavno mesto bo Brdo pri Kra-nju, pri čemer imam v mislih organizacijo konferenc. Nastanitve inspremljevalni programi se bodo odvijali po vsej Sloveniji. Večina udele-žencev bo sicer spala v Ljubljani in na Bledu, ki sta lokacijsko najbližjaBrdu in letališču, dogodki pa se bodo odvijali tudi v Mariboru, na obali, vTermah Čatež ... tako da računam, da bo pokritost Slovenije s sprem-ljevalnimi dogodki relativno široka in pestra. Strinjam se, da bosta me-sti, ki bosta nočili udeležence, imeli največ od dogodka, kar pa ne po-meni, da ostalih krajev ne bomo promovirali. Manj pomena pripisujemotemu, kar bodo udeleženci videli oziroma zapravili v času svojega prve-ga obiska pri nas, če ne pridejo nazaj; za nas je dodana vrednost pred-sedovanja udeleženec, ki se kasneje vrne z družino. Avstrijci so predse-dovanju namenili okrog 90 milijonov evrov, po njihovih ocenah so spredsedovanjem zaslužili okoli 200 milijonov. To je lepa številka in izje-men uspeh, vendar verjamem, da to še ni vse, saj morajo kasneje sledi-ti še multiplikativni učinki. Slovenija ponuja veliko naravno in kulturnopestrost ter odlično kulinariko, ki ponavadi navduši. Izredno pomembenpa je način predstavitve teh atributov tujcem, zato upam, da jih bomoznali predstaviti na primeren način.

Pričakujemo predvsem zahtevne goste na najvišjem nivoju. Boste za-nje pripravili kaj posebnega, sodelujete s STO-jem?Naš Urad za komuniciranje seveda tekoče sodeluje s STO-jem, mi pa sezaenkrat še nismo povezovali. Menim, da imamo dovolj dobre informa-cije, kateri slovenski kraji lahko ponudijo ustrezne kapacitete in stori-tve, tudi z ozirom na nivo gostov, ki jih pričakujemo. Ne mislim pa s temna ignoriranje STO-ja, vsekakor nameravamo potem, ko bomo pripraviliprograme, za mnenje oziroma morebitno pomoč zaprositi tudi njih. SSTO-jem pa, kot rečeno, bolj intenzivno sodeluje naš Urad za komunici-ranje, ki ima glavno promotivno nalogo v času predsedovanja.

Slovenija bo v prvi polo-vici leta 2008 predsedo-vala Evropski uniji. Vtem času bo vodila vsedelovne skupine in drugadelovna telesa vseh ses-tav Sveta EU. Predsedo-vanje ima za Slovenijovelik promocijski pomen,veliko si od njega obetatudi slovenski turizem.Samo v Sloveniji pričaku-jemo okoli dvesto priredi-tev na različnih nivojih.O predsedovanju in po-menu za slovenski turi-zem smo se pogovarjali z mag. Dimitrijem Picigo,direktorjem Slovenske turistične organizacije, z Miho Kovačičem, direk-torjem Zavoda-Kongres-noturistični urad in zmag. Francijem Kodelo,ki na Vladi RS vodiLogistični center za predsedovanjeSlovenije EU.

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trebe. Sicer pa je to ena od stvari, ki me v času predsedovanja izjemnoskrbi. Tudi zaradi dejstva, da se bo ob uradnih dogodkih odvijala še ce-la vrsta drugih. Ne smemo pozabiti na spremljevalne programe ostalihministrstev, dogodke nevladnih organzacij ... in namestitev je eden ve-likih problemov Ljubljane, Bleda in cele osrednjeslovenske regije.

Kaj pa konferenčne kapacitete?Nov objekt, ki ga gradijo na Brdu, bo pokril večino velikih dogodkov. Si-cer pa Slovenija velike in primerne dvorane za 400-500 udeležencev, ssistemi za zahtevno prevajanje oziroma tolmačenje, nima. Ugtavljamo,da za velike dogodke manjka tudi primernih in dovolj velikih prostorovza gala večerje, kar me je, osebno, zelo presenetilo.

Cankarjev dom?Cankarjev dom je edini, ki ima ta hip ustrezen prostor, ki pa je dejanskopreddverje in ne dvorana. Ne želim biti kritičen, vendar namenske dvo-rane praktično ni. Sicer pa bomo CD dejansko uporabili, tudi zaradi nji-hovih profesionalnih storitev.

Portorož?Kar se tiče namestitvenih kapacitet je ena boljših, če ne celo najboljšadestinacija, nekoliko šibka pa v kongresnem delu, čeprav ponuja nekajzanimivih dvoran, ki pa so po velikosti premale. Menim, da bi bilo zelopriporočljivo, če bi Portorož prišel do kakšne večje dvorane. V kolikorse bo tradicija predsedovanja nadaljevala in se bo širil tudi režim tol-mačenja, si lahko v prihodnosti tako mi kot ostale države, ki jih predse-dovanje še čaka, obetamo resne težave. Upam, da se bodo ostali od nasčesa naučili, predvsem smotrnosti centralizacije. Če je na enem mestuvelika dvorana in nekaj večnamenskih manjših, skupaj z vso ustreznoinfrastrukturo, tudi namestitveno, je zadeva veliko lažja in cenovno ugo-dnejša. Dosedaj predsedujoče države so pogosto uporabljale tudi svojerazstaviščne kapacitete, ki pa se ne morejo primerjati z našimi.

Kako je potekala komunikacija s hotelskimi ponudniki?Zelo korektno in brez težav. Tukaj dejansko nimam nikakršnih pri-pomb. Lahko pohvalim vse glavne hotele, ljubljanske Union, DominoGrand Media in Lev ter verigo hotelov Sava hoteli Bled, in že v tem tre-nutku se lahko zahvalim za njihovo izjemno kooperativnost in korektenodnos. Zavedamo pa se seveda, da imajo hoteli tudi svoje stalne gostein da bo verjetno z naše strani prihajalo do dodatnih povpraševanj ponamestitvi, vendar računam na fleksibilnost in kooperativnost, doklerbodo sobe seveda na voljo. Ob rezervacijah smo si vzeli nekaj rezervein upam, da bo dovoljšnja.

Že obstaja ocena stroškov predsedovanja?O tem govoriti v tem trenutku je zelo nehvaležno. Prva ocena stroškovslovenskega predsedovanja je bila 13 milijard 600 milijonov nekdanjihslovenskih tolarjev, vendar moram opozoriti, da je bila ta ocena narejenaza manj dogodkov z manjšo pestrostjo, saj nismo dovolj pozornosti na-menjali vsebini dogodkov. Danes vemo, da dogodki niso samo »matema-tika«, saj imajo sporočilno noto – »prihajam, da nekaj vidim« - kar jepogosto izražena želja in tradicija ob rednem, plenarnem delu. Dogodki,

Kdo je pooblaščen za izbiro in re-zervacijo kapacitet? Ste se tegalotili sami ali ste ta del obvezno-sti predali turističnemu gospo-darstvu?V osnovi smo naredili dve vrsticentralizacije. Prva je izbira cen-tralne lokacije JGZ Brdo – kar jenajbolj racionalna odločitev, sajponuja bližino letališča, osebjeima potrebne izkušnje, komunika-cijske poti so enake do Ljubljanein do Bleda, kjer bodo udeležencinastanjeni, hkrati je aktualen tudiracionalni, ekonomski, cenovnirazlog, saj bližina in stalna posta-vitev pomenita prihranke. Drugocentralizacijo pa smo naredili stem, da je logistični center pre-vzel odgovornost za vse dogodke,tako na ministrski ravni kot podnjo. To pomeni, da smo mi zadol-ženi tudi za rezervacijo vseh na-stanitvenih kapacitet, kar smo žeizvedli skoraj za vse dogodke,vsekakor pa za vse, ki so napove-dani v koledarju. Na nedavnemsrečanju na Bellevueju smo doži-veli kritiko, da smo turističnimoperaterjem pobrali preveč na-stanitvenih kapacitet, kar pa semdejansko razumel kot pohvalo, dasmo dovolj zgodaj rezervirali po-

Mag. Franci Kodela

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peli predstaviti kot naš skupen projekt. Da bodo ljudje kakšno za nekajminut zaprto cesto sprejeli z razumevanjem in ponosom, da se nekajpomembnega dogaja, namesto z negodovanjem.

Pa se s tem namenom za državljane Slovenije pripravljajo kakšne ak-cije tovrstnega osveščanja? Upam, da ja. Jaz kot Franci Kodela bi s tem že začel. Pred dopusti bi mo-rali narediti prvi krog, jeseni pa drugega. To je moje osebno mnenje. Tudizato, ker se mi pogosto dogaja, da me sicer zelo razgledani ljudje spra-šujejo, kaj sploh pomeni naše predsedovanje. Po tem sklepam, da nasplošno premalo vemo, kaj nas čaka.

Se nameravate v prihodnosti povezati z domačimi strokovnjaki spodročja kongresne dejavnosti?V tem trenutku še samostojno izvajamo vse priprave za organizacijo inizvedbo dogodkov, tako v njihovem plenarnem kot družabno turističnemdelu. Ne izključujemo pa možnosti, da bi v primeru, da bi se pokazalapotreba, poiskali pomoč ustrezne agencije.

Jakica Jesih

Predsedovanje je političen projekt

Miha Kovačič, predsednik Zavoda – Kongresnoturistični uradKakšen je pomen predsedovanja EU za Slovenijo in slovenski turizem?Kot predstavnik Kongresnoturističnega urada se zavedam, da je pred-sedovanje EU političen projekt. Iniciator je politika, udeleženci so politi-ki, ne pa gospodarstveniki ali strokovna združenja, zato so tudi dogodkiorganizirani v tem smislu. Predsedovanje bo za seboj zagotovo potegni-lo druge dogodke, ki pa bodo lahko tudi gospodarskega značaja. Nadslednjimi sploh še nimamo pregleda, glede prvih pa smo od predstavni-ka vlade dobili informacijo o načrtu, številu dogodkov ter poteku dogaja-nja. Z vidika slovenske kongresne industrije predsedovanje EU pomenipromocijo, saj se bo odvijalo več dogodkov kot doslej; na letnem nivojuje v Sloveniji približno 7.000 dogodkov, predsedovanje jih bo pripeljalo

ki se odvijajo v času predsedova-nja, imajo poleg formalnega tudizelo močan neformalni del terpromocijo.

Bo ta dodatni del, turistična pro-mocija Slovenije, organiziran?Naš logistični center je zadolženza vso logistiko, tako neformalne-ga, delovnega dela dogodka, zaplenarni del, transporte in tudi zata drugi, družbeno – socialni del.Vse to pripravljamo.

Imate za te aktivnosti tudi dovoljustrezno usposobljenih kadrov?Na vprašanje, ali imamo v temtrenutku dovolj ljudi, lahko z goto-vostjo odgovorim, da ne. Vendarpa sem pripričan, da jih bomo dotakrat, ko se bo po njih pokazaladejanska, praktična potreba, ime-li. V tem trenutku smo kadrovskookrnjeni. Moram pa reči, da vsesedanje aktivnosti delamo profesi-onalno, a tudi zelo entuziastično,da smo vsi, celotna naša ekipa,čustveno povezani s predsedova-njem. Na projekt lahko gledamo zdveh zornih kotov, kot veliko bre-me ali pa kot osebni izziv, kot gajemljemo mi. Prepričan sem, daso naše ideje dobre in dejstvo je,da delo poteka skladno s termin-skim planom. Nikoli ne bom poza-bil besed avstrijskega kolega, kipravi – predsedovanja se ne danapisati, treba ga je doživeti in ču-titi. Verjamem, da bomo s predse-dovanjem uspeli predvsem v pri-meru, če ga bomo Slovencem us-

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kov. Treba pa je opozoriti tudi na to, da je pri njih siceršnji obseg do-godkov bistveno večji. V Sloveniji je težava, ker so omejene predvsemhotelske kapacitete, in če pride k nam kakšen večji dogodek, se to ne-kako dotakne celotne slovenske turistične scene.

Kako ocenjujete količino in kakovost naših hotelskih in kongresnihkapacitet?Vlada je zelo hitro ugotovila, da so naše kongresne kapacitete omeje-ne, zato se je odločila za gradnjo novega kongresnega centra na Brdu,kar pozdravljamo. Da pa bo ta center zares zaživel tudi po koncu pred-sedovanja, potrebuje v neposredni bližini tudi namestitvene kapacitete.Zaenkrat kapaciteta kongresnega centra in razpoložljivih namestitve-nih kapacitet nista v sorazmerju, kar pomeni, da bi na Brdu moralizgraditi še hotel z nekaj sto sobami. Šele tako bi ta center dolgoročnolahko postal zanimiv za mednarodne dogodke, ki edini lahko napolnijotolikšne kapacitete. Za udeležence dogodkov je nesprejemljivo, da seod letališča do odličnega kongresnega centra peljejo deset minut, zve-čer, po koncu napornega dneva, pa se morajo na nočitev odpraviti v polure oddaljeno mesto. S takšno ponudbo na mednarodnem trgu eno-stavno ne bomo konkurenčni. Drugače je seveda s političnimi dogodki,ki so večinoma enodnevni, ljudje zjutraj priletijo in se zvečer vračajo, ažal teh na mednarodnem nivoju ni dovolj. Veliko več pa je mednarodnihkorporacijskih dogodkov in dogodkov strokovnih združenj, ki jih bocenter na Brdu prav tako primoran pridobivati, in kjer igra pomembnovlogo druženje, zato običajno vključujejo vsaj eno nočitev. V tem prime-ru se bo omenjena pomanjkljivost zagotovo zelo izrazito pojavljala. Se-veda pa je vprašanje, če se bo center na Brdu v prihodnosti sploh tržilna takšen način.

Se z namenom zagotovitve kapacitet v času predsedovanja gradijo šekakšne dodatne kapacitete?O tem nimam informacij, se pa občuti pospešeno vlaganje v investicije vkongresne in hotelske kapacitete v zadnjih letih tudi zaradi predsedova-nja. Večino hotelov in kongresnih centrov so zato pravočasno obnovili,če izpostavim samo Cankarjev dom in Gospodarsko razstavišče, pospe-šeno se obnavlja tudi na obali. Verjetno bo temu obdobju sledilo manjšezatišje. Ugotavljamo 10% porast dogodkov pri ključnih akterjih, kar jenad slovenskim povprečjem; čim bo zasedenost namestitvenih kapaci-tet v ključnih destinacijah dosegla mednarodni nivo, lahko pričakujemovstop tujih hotelskih verig in tujih ponudnikov, kar z vidika povečanjakapacitet pozdravljamo.

Se lahko slovenska kongresna ponudba po kakovosti meri s ponudbov državah, ki so že predsedovale EU? Slovenija ima na področju organizacije kongresov, tudi najbolj zahtev-nih, izkušnje že preko 20 let. Tudi iz lastnih izkušenj lahko povem, dasmo bili Slovenci vedno vrhunski gostitelji. Če bodo v organizacijo pred-sedovanja EU vključeni pravi akterji, bomo dokazali, da je Slovenija spo-sobna organizirati tudi dogodke najvišjega nivoja, hkrati pa lahko ponu-di še lepote in zanimivosti kot turistična destinacija. Prepričan sem, dase bo ob množici udeležencev, ki nas bodo v tem času obiskali, našlodoločeno število takih, ki se bodo vračali, bodisi iz poslovnih ali osebnihinteresov, česar si dejansko vsi želimo.

Ali menite, da bi morala vlada pri organizaciji aktivnosti tesneje sode-lovati s strokovnjaki s področja kongresne dejavnosti?Vlada bi se morala pri pripravi na predsedovanje povezati s strokovnja-ki s področja kongresne dejavnosti. Izvedba srečanj ni samo organiza-cija prevoza, najem dvoran in rezervacije hotelske namestitve ter mo-goče še kakšne večerje, ampak še veliko več. Zavod-Kongresnoturisti-čni urad bi kot neprofitna organizacija, ki nudi strokovne in nepristran-ske informacije o destinacijah, krajih dogodkov in ponudnikih dogodkov

dodatnih 300 novih, kar ne pred-stavlja velikega dodatnega obsega.Dejstvo pa je, da se bodo odvijali vkratkem časovnem obdobju, koutegne škripati pri prostih kapaci-tetah. Ponudniki kongresnih stori-tev se veselijo predsedovanja, kerbodo dobili posel, tudi hotel Kokraoziroma Brdo pri Kranju, ki prido-biva novo kapaciteto, bo dobro za-seden. Tudi ostali ponudniki – čla-ni Kongresnega urada – bodo za-sedli svoje kapacitete, kar jim boprineslo nekaj več posla, da pa bipredsedovanje pomenilo velikopromocijo na mednarodnem nivo-ju, sem rahlo skeptičen. Ne verja-mem, da bo obseg promocije tak-šen, kot se je vsi nadejamo. Kot jepovedal g. Krajc, večina ljudi v Ev-ropi, vključno s Slovenci, ne ve,kdo trenutno predseduje Evropskiskupnosti. Gre za povsem političenprojekt in velikega števila ljudi po-litika ne zanima. Bo pa predsedo-vanje zagotovo dobra izkušnja zaponudnike storitev, ki bodo orga-nizirali nov tip dogodkov in se tudina ta način na novo pozicioniralina evropskem tržišču. Morda bodotako pridobili tudi nove dogodke.

Imate informacije, v kolikšni merije predsedovanje vplivalo na turi-stične tokove v kateri od držav, kiso že predsedovale EU?Ko sem se na Dunaju pogovarjal spredsednikom njihovega mestne-ga kongresnega urada o vplivupredsedovanja na zasedenostkongresnih kapacitet, mi je prese-netljivo odgovoril, da skoraj nisozabeležili višjega obsega dogod-

Miha Kovačič

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Evropa med Portugalsko in Slovenijo

Mag. Dimitrij Piciga, direktor STO

Kakšen je pomen predsedovanja EU za slovenski turizem?Predsedovanje Sloveniji Evropski uniji je za slovenski turizem velikegapomena, saj je prav turistična dejavnost tista, ki bo imela od predse-dovanja največje neposredne in posredne učinke. Ocenjujemo, da boSlovenijo v času njenega predsedovanja EU obiskalo med 15.000 in20.000 tujih gostov, diplomatov, gospodarstvenikov in drugih gostovzgolj v okviru predvidenih uradnih programov. Ne smemo pozabiti tudipotovanj Slovencev po Evropi v času predsedovanja, saj gre za se-gment turizma, ki ga premalo poudarjamo. Na drugi strani predsedo-vanje predstavlja priložnost, da se Slovenija tuji javnosti predstavi kotdržava z vsebinskimi tematikami, ki bodo imele velik pomen za priho-dnost Evrope. Za Slovensko turistično organizacijo se predsedovanje začenja že v le-tošnjem letu, saj v naše aktivnosti intenzivno vključujemo tematikopredsedovanja ter promocije Ljubljane kot prestolnice Evrope leta2008. Leta 2008, v samem letu predsedovanja, STO načrtuje tudi vrstopredstavitevenih aktivnosti naše dežele na vseh evropskih trgih, ter vr-sto promocijskih dogodkov, kar se bo zgodilo prvič. Te predstavitve bo-do ob rednih načrtovanih predstavitvah Slovenije predstavljale dodanovrednost v promociji naše države.

Katere aktivnosti načrtuje STO v času pred in katere med predsedo-vanjem?

lahko ponudil ustrezno pomoč.Obenem Urad deluje kot profesio-nalni posrednik med organizatorjidogodkov, ponudniki storitev inpodpornimi organizacijami, kate-rim skupni cilj je najti čimboljustrezno rešitev za organizacijo inizvedbo dogodka.Med našimi 54 člani so kongresnicentri in hoteli, profesionalni kon-gresni organizatorji (t.i. PCO) instrokovne kongresne turističneagencije (t.i. DMC), Zavod za turi-zem Ljubljana ter drugi ponudnikistoritev. Povedano drugače - vsi,ki se profesionalno ukvarjajo skongresno dejavnostjo. Za primer lahko navedemo Fin-sko, kjer so skoraj eno leto predzačetkom predsedovanja v ekipoza priprave na predsedovanjevključili predstavnico enega odkongresnih uradov.

Jakica Jesih

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nja Slovenije uniji bomo izkoristili za promocijo naše države tako, dabomo z aktivnostmi na nekatrih trgih opozarjali, da Slovenija obstaja –seveda na trgih, kjer je prepoznavnost nizka, na drugih trgih pa bomociljano sporočali, kaj Slovenija ponuja. Dogodki promocije bodo tako pi-sani na kožo posameznih državam oz. določenemu ciljnemu trgu.

Ali so znane informacije, koliko je s turističnega vidika v času predse-dovanja iztržila Avstrija? Sodelovanje z avstrijsko nacionalno turistično organizacijo je odlično invodstvo nam je posredovalo naslednje ocene rezultatov predsedovanja: • blizu 35 miljonov obiskovalcev je obiskalo spletni portal www.eu2006.at,

ki ga je Avstrija pripravila prav za namen predsedovanja EU,• podokence aktualno na portalu Europa on-line je vsebovalo več kot

3000 dokumentov,• potekalo je 513 uradno evidentiranih dogodkov, • organizatorji so poslali preko 2250 newslettrov,• 24 največjih dogodkov so spremljale tiskovne konference,• 75000 oseb se je poskusilo v e-kvizu; podobnega pripravljamo tudi v

Sloveniji kot nadgradnjo kviza “chat & play“, • Avstrija je imela po neuradnih ocenah hotelirjev 50.000 gostov.

Menim, da bo Slovenija po številu dogodkov, vezanih na predsedovanje,zelo blizu Avstriji. Neposredno zaradi predsedovanja uniji se bo v Slove-niji po naši oceni mudilo med 15.000 – 20.000 obiskovalcev. Že sedaj je jasno, da bo turistično leto 2008, kljub eventuelnim klimat-skim spremembam, ki vplivajo na turistični obisk Slovenije, uspešno.Sama velikost države ni soodvisna z vsebino promocije, zato lahkoavstrijske uspehe vzamemo kot osnovo za primerjavo za Slovenijo, pre-pričan pa sem, da lahko Avstrijo na področju promocije v tujini celoprekosimo. Primernejša je po mojem mnenju na tem področju primerjava Slovenijes Finsko in Portugalsko. Drugega januarja 2008 pripravljamo simboli-čno primopredajo predsedovanja. Portugalci se bodo predstavili na sej-mu turistizma v Ljubljani in obratno. S tem bomo tudi simbolično ude-janili slogan “Evropa – dežela med Portugalsko in Slovenijo”.

Kateri segmenti slovenskega turizma bodo vključeni v projekt pred-sedovanja?STO je neposredno vsebinsko vključena v promocijo na tujih trgih, so-delujemo pa tudi pri izvedbi aktivnostih v Sloveniji. V aktivnostih, veza-nih na predsedovanje, bo vključeno celotno turistično gospodarstvo. Vvseh projektih bodo sodelovali naši stalni partnerji, v določenih aktivno-stih pa bodo sodelovala druga slovenska podjetja. Podrobnosti gledenekaterih aktivnosti so še v fazi usklajevanja. Ne smemo pozabiti, da boSTO razen teh aktivnosti izvajal tudi redne, pri katerih sodelujejo našipartnerji in te bodo še dodatno razširjene na promocijo države. Na dru-gi strani bo STO aktivna tudi pri soorganizaciji dogodkov, ki niso strik-tno povezani s turizmom (koncerti, drugi dogodki) v državah, ki niso naseznamu naših ključnih turističnih emitivnih trgov. Pri tem bomo sode-lovali s partnerji, ki do sedaj niso bili tako intenzivno povezani z STO.Politika partenstva torej ostaja prioriteta delovanja. Neposredno vizvedbo dogodkov v Sloveniji bodo vključeni tudi prevozniki, hotelirji inponudniki drugih turističnih storitev, predvsem v Ljubljani in na Bledu,za vzporedne dogodke pa tudi v drugih turističnih središčih. Pogostonamreč pozabljamo na tiste, ki se bodo dogajali ob predsedovanju. Včasu predsedovanja bodo Slovenijo obiskale številne gospodarske dele-gacije, pri čemer so za organizacijo teh dogodkov odgovorna posame-zna ministrstva. Kot enega od dogodkov, ki bodo potekali v tem času inkjer je STO organizator, naj navedemo srečanje predstavnikov Europe-an Travel Comission, aprila 2008 na Bledu. Ob tako številnih dogodkih je velikega pomena ažurna uskladitev koledarja vseh dogodkov. Seveda se bodo ob dogodkih, vezanih na

Celoten projekt promocije Sloveni-je ob predsedovanju EU je v fazizaključnega usklajevanja. Brezdvoma bo STO skupaj z Uradomvlade RS za komuniciranje pri temprevzela pomembno vlogo koordi-natorja promocijskih aktivnosti vtujini. V Sloveniji bo STO delovalkot ”servis” in osrednji partner pripromociji, za samo logistiko pa bopristojen Logistični center vladeRS. Gre za celovit marketinškiprojekt, ki bo razširjen na vse dr-žave članice EU. Prav ta široka di-menzija je tisto, kar ocenjujemoza slovenski turizem kot največjododano vrednost ob priložnostipredsedovanja uniji. Naj pouda-rim, da tudi nastop oz. predstavi-tev Slovenije na manjših trgih oce-njujemo kot zelo pomemben, in tetrge temu ustrezno vključujemo vprogram promocijskih aktivnosti.Več o celotnem programu promo-cije bo znanega po 1. maju. Ome-nim naj, da bo v projekt intenzivnovključeno celotno turistično gos-podarstvo po formuli partnerske-ga sodelovanja. Promocija v tujinibo temeljila na nekaj deset nosil-nih dogodkih in paleti manjšihspremljevalnih dogodkih. Na pro-jektu že od septembra 2006 inten-zivno dela koordinacijska skupinaUrada vlade za komuniciranje inSTO s ciljem privabiti v Slovenijočim več tujih turistov, predstavni-kov strokovnih javnosti ter gospo-darstvenikov. Naj poudarim, da jepromocija predsedovanja v tujinienako pomembna kot izvedba sa-mega predsedovanja v Bruslju inSloveniji. Priložnost predsedova-

Mag. Dimitrij Piciga

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Razen pozitivnih vplivov predsedovanja velja izpostaviti tudi negativneučinke, ki jih posebej izpostavljajo turistične agencije. Hotelirji večino-ma skušajo stalnim partnerjem zagotoviti minimalne nastanitvene ka-pacitete, kadar pa to ni mogoče, lahko predstavlja priložnosti za drugekraje, da pridobijo goste in dogodke, ki so se do sedaj odvijali v Ljublja-ni. Pomembno je najti odgovor na vprašanje, kako ob vrsti dogodkov obpredsedovanju zagotoviti ustrezne kapacitete tudi za tiste dogodke, kise tradicionalno odvijajo ter zagotoviti ustezno namestitev gostom, ki vSlovenijo ne pridejo zgolj zaradi predsedovanja uniji. To pomeni, da sebodo hoteli prihodnje leto soočili z novo situacijo glede obvladovanja“hotelskega yielda“.

Ali načrtujete kakšne aktivnosti za osveščanje javnosti v smislu “turi-zem smo ljudje”, saj bomo prav vsi v tem obdobju živeli s predsedova-njem in bomo na nek način “turistični delavci“?Posebna akcija v tem kontekstu ni načrtovana. Načrtovana pa je močnapromocijsjka akcija na domačem trgu pod sloganom “I feel Slovenia“, vokviru katere se bo napovedalo predsedovanje in drugi z njim povezaniprojekti. Predsedovanje je za slovenski turizem pomembna priložnost,ne bo pa temeljito spremenilo slovenskega turizma. To priložnost lahkoizkoristimo, in na njeni osnovi beležimo pozitivne rezultate, pri čemerpa je pomembno, da bodo vsi gostje, ki bodo obiskali Slovenijo, zado-voljni in se tudi domov vrnili kot ambasadorji ter tako v tujino poneslidober glas o Sloveniji. Ne pozabimo, da moramo ustrezno pozornostnameniti tudi 2,5 miljijonom gostov, ki letno obiščejo Slovenijo. Novoznamko, na kateri bo temeljila promocija naše države, pa bo potrebnonajprej sprejeti doma, da bi jo lahko ustrezno komunicirali tudi na tujihtrgih. Predsedovanje je lahko dobra priložnost, da se Slovenci identifici-ramo z novo tržno znamko države.

Kako se bo v aktivnosti vključila Ljubljana kot prestolnica Evrope?Ljubljana se že v letošnjem letu predstavlja kot prestolnica Evrope. Vokviru te predstavitve potekajo številni promocijski projekti. Pri izvaja-nju promocijskih aktivnosti sodeluje kot strateški partner Zavod za turi-zem Ljubljana, ki je po strokovnosti in številu največji slovenska lokalnaturistična organizacija. Sodelovanje med obema inštitucijama je zgle-dno in v takšnem partnerstvu se rojevajo številne zanimive turističneideje.

Ali bodo sejemski in borzni nastopi v letošnjem letu obarvani v duhupredsedovanja?Borzni nastopi bodo izvajani z novo stojnico in novo celostno podobo inv skladu s strategijo trženja, ki poudarja lokalne posebnosti.

Kakšna je vloga Kongresnega urada Slovenije? Kongresni urad se bo v juniju združil s kongresnim oddelkom STO. Vsetrženjske aktivnosti za ta segment, ki so bile doslej razbite na več od-delkov, se združijo v en oddelek. Ta bo sodeloval ali vodil vse ključnedogodke STO-ja v Sloveniji. To je priložnost tudi za vse obstoječe članeKongresnega urada.

Gorazd Čad

predsedovanje, odvijali tudi drugi,za katere pa kapacitete na Brdune bodo zadostovale.

Ali STO sodeluje z logističnimcentrom na Vladi glede organiza-cije srečanj in glede ostalih doda-tnih turističnih aktivnosti in ka-ko?STO je seznanjena z vsemi aktiv-nostmi in pripravami na predse-dovanje. Neposredno je STO koor-dinator promocije predsedovanjauniji v tujini, pri čemer dnevno so-delujemo z Uradom Vlade za ko-municiranje. Neposrednega sode-lovanja z logističnim centrom vtem trenutku še ni. Če pa bo po-trebno, bo STO zagotovil potrebnopodporo tudi na tem področju.

Kako komentirate, da imamo ko-maj zadosti primerno kakovo-stnih kapacitet za namestitev pri-javljenih udeležencev in kakšnorešitev predlagate v primeru do-datnih rezervacij?Kar se tiče Ljubljane, je kar nekajnovih hotelskih projektov pred za-ključkom izvedbe. Kar nekaj je ho-telov, ki so razširili svoje kapacite-te. Zagotovo so meseci, ko kapaci-tete ne zadostujejo povpraševanju,so pa tudi poletni meseci, ko sokapacitete zelo slabo zasedene.Graditi nove hotelske kapacitetesamo zaradi predsedovanja EU jepo mojem mnenju vprašljivo. Po-membno je, da so obstoječe kapa-citete tudi ustrezno zasedene, daso lahko komercialno uspešne. Zvidika lastnikov kapacitet velikovlogo namreč igra doseženi dobi-ček na vložena investicijska sred-stva. Ocenjujem, da bi se v prime-ru hudega pomanjkanja kapacitetže našli investitorji v njihovo razši-ritev. To pomeni, da bi morali bitihoteli na letni ravni zasedeni vsaj70 %. Na letni osnovi pa v Ljubljanizaenkrat še ni takšnega pomanj-kanja nastanitvenih kapacitet.

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The 2008 EU Presidency

Will we be Ready?

The added value of the Presidencyis those participants who return

later with their FamiliesFranci Kodela, MSc, Head of the Slovenian EUPresidency Logistics Centre“Simply said, the EU Presidency means that we will lead the EuropeanUnion for these six months in the same way as our ministries managethe affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. We will manage the dossiers andworking groups, which is a great sigh of recognition for us at thismoment.” This was the very simple definition of the Presidency given tous by Franci Kodela, MSc, Deputy General Secretary of the Governmentof the Republic of Slovenia and Head of the Slovenian EU PresidencyLogistics Centre.

What does the EU Presidency mean for Slovenia and Sloveniantourism?The EU Presidency is undoubtedly very significant for both Slovenia and the locations where events go on. The main location for the organisation of conferences is to be Brdo near Kranj, though the accommodation and accompanying programmes will be held all overSlovenia. Most participants will stay in Ljubljana and at Bled, which areclosest to Brdo and the airport, while the events will also take place inMaribor, on the coast and at Terme Čatež Health Resort. I estimate thatthe coverage of Slovenia will be relatively wide and varied in terms ofaccompanying events. I agree that places where participants stayshould have the greatest concentration of events, but this does notmean that we will not promote other cities and towns. We ascribe lesser significance to what participants see, or how they spend timeduring their first visit to Slovenia if they do not return, but the addedvalue of the Presidency is the participants who return later with theirfamilies. Austria put around €90 million into the Presidency and earnedan estimated €200 million from it. This is a tidy sum that shows exem-plary success; nevertheless I believe that this is not all, for cumulativeeffects must follow later.Slovenia has a wide variety of natural and cultural features and excellent and highly esteemed cuisine. What’s most important is how to present these qualities to foreigners, and I hope that we knowhow to present them in the right way.

We are especially awaiting the demanding guests of the ‘highestlevel’. Are you going to do anything special for them and are youworking with the Slovenian Tourist Board?Naturally our Government Communication Office works with theSlovenian Tourist Board on an ongoing basis – however at this time we are not affiliated with them. I think that we have enough qualityinformation available with which Slovenian areas can offer appropriate

Slovenia is to presideover the EU in 2008. At that time, it will leadall the working groupsand other working bodiesof the Council of theEuropean Union.The Presidency has greatpromotional significancefor Slovenia and it alsoholds great promise for Slovenian tourism.Around two hundredevents are expected atvarious levels in Sloveniaalone. We've discussedthe EU Presidency and itsimportance for Sloveniantourism with DimitrijPiciga, MSc, Director of the Slovenian TouristBoard, Miha Kovačič,Director of the SlovenianConvention Bureau andFranci Kodela, MSc,Deputy General Secretaryof the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.

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What about conference venues?The new facility being built ay Brdo will cover most of the big events.However, Slovenia doesn't have adequate halls, large enough to take400-500 participants with the systems required for translation or interpretation. We are facing a shortage of adequate sized areas suitable for gala dinners and larger events, which personally quite surprised me.

Cankarjev dom?Cankarjev dom is the only facility currently big enough but it’s, in fact, a vestibule and not a hall. I don't want to come across as critical, butpractically no dedicated halls exist. We will however also utiliseCankarjev dom for its professional services.

Portorož?In terms of accommodation, Portorož is one of the better, if not thebest destination. It’s a bit weak on the convention side though it’s gotseveral interesting halls, which are nevertheless too small. I believe itwould be very advisable, if Portorož could somehow get some biggerhalls. If the traditional type of Presidency continues, with evermoreinterpretation, we face serious problems in the future, as will othernations awaiting the Presidency. I hope that others learn somethingfrom us, especially about the benefits of centralisation. If a large halland several multi-purpose smaller halls exist in one location, togetherwith all the right infrastructure and accommodation, the matter ismuch easier and better in terms of price. Previous presiding nationsfrequently used their fair premises as well, which ours can’t comparewith.

How was communication carried out with the hotel providers?Totally correctly and with no problems. I’ve really got no complaintshere. I can praise all the main hotels, Ljubljana's Union, the DominaGrand Media and the Lev, and the Sava Hotels Bled group, and I’d liketo take a moment to thank them for their immense co-operation andgood attitude. Nevertheless, we do realise that hotels also have permanent guests and that, on our part, we’ll probably need additionalaccommodation. However, I am counting on their flexibility and co-operation as long, of course, as rooms are available. We’ve securedsome extra rooms with the reservations and I hope they will suffice.

Does a cost estimate already exist for the Presidency?To speak of this now is quite a thankless task. The initial cost estimatefor the Slovenian Presidency was about SIT 13.6 billion, however I mustcaution that this estimation was made for fewer events and with lessvariety, as we hadn’t paid enough attention to event content. Today weknow that events do not merely encompass ‘mathematics’, they carry a message – “I'm coming to see something” – which is a frequentlyexpressed wish and tradition alongside the regular plenary work.Events happening during the Presidency have an extremely stronginformal and promotional part, in addition to a formal portion.

Will this additional part, the promotion of Slovenian tourism, be organised?Our Logistics Centre is responsible for all logistics, both for the formaland informal parts of events – for the plenary parts, transportation and other social parts. We’ll prepare for all this.

Do you have enough qualified staff for these activities?Regarding the question of whether we now have enough people, I can saywith certainty that no, we don't. However, I am sure that we will have bythe time an actual and practical need arises. At the moment we are shortof staff. I must say, however, that all current activities are being

venues and services – includingfor the level of guests we areexpecting. But I don't mean toignore the STB, and we intend toask for their opinion and eventualhelp once the programmes havebeen prepared. Our GovernmentCommunication Office, which is toplay the main promotional roleduring the EU Presidency, co-operates more intensively with the STB.

Who is in charge of choosing andreserving venues? Are you doingthis yourself or handing over thispart of the obligations to thetourist sector?In general, we’ve created twoforms of centralisation. The firstwas the choice of the central location at Brdo – the mostrational decision – which offersshort distance to the airport and staff who have the requiredexperience – and where communication routes are identical for both Ljubljana andBled where the participants are to stay. At the same time, it’s alsosensible for rational, economicand cost reasons, as its proximityand permanent set up mean savings. The other centralisationscenario that was set up was the Logistics Centre taking overresponsibility for all events, both at ministerial level andbelow. This means that we’re also responsible for the reservation of all accommodation,which we’d already executed previously for nearly all eventsand by all means for everythingon the calendar. At a recentmeeting at Bellevue, we got somecriticism that we’ve taken toomuch accommodation space fromtourist operators, but I actually saw this as a compli-ment, in that that we’d bookedaccommodation early enough. Of course, this is one of the thingswhich really concern me duringthe Presidency.Also in the sense that a wholerange of other events will go on alongside the official events ...and accommodation is one of the bigger problems, forLjubljana, Bled and for all of central Slovenia.

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The Finnish government employed convention experts for almost ayear to help prepare for the Presidency. Are you planning anythingsimilar?Currently, we’re still making all the preparations for the organisationand implementation of events independently, both at plenary level andthe social and tourist levels. However, we don’t rule out the possibilityof seeking the help of the appropriate agencies if the need arises.

Jakica Jesih

The EU Presidency is a political project

Miha Kovačič, President of the Slovenian Convention BureauWhat does the EU Presidency mean for Slovenian tourism?As a representative of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, I’m aware thatthe EU Presidency is a political project. The initiator is politics and theparticipants are politicians, not economists or expert associations, thusevents are also organised in this sense. The Presidency will certainlybring with it other events which may also be of an economic nature.As yet, we don’t have a view of the latter, but with regard to the first,we’ve obtained information about the plan, number of and course of the events from government representatives. From the viewpoint of the Slovenian meetings industry, the EU Presidency means promotion,as more events will be carried out then; about 7,000 events are held inSlovenia annually, while the Presidency will add a further 300, whichisn’t a considerable extra scope. The fact is that they’ll happen in a short time period, which could lead to a shortage of space.Meeting service providers are eagerly awaiting the Presidency asthey’ll get business, as will the Hotel Kokra and Brdo near Kranj which with its new capacity will certainly be fully occupied.Other providers – members of the Slovenian Convention Bureau – will fill their capacities, getting somewhat more business. I’m a bitsceptical that the Presidency will involve a great promotion on theinternational level. I don’t think that promotion will be to the extent

performed professionally and quiteenthusiastically and our wholeteam is emotionally involved inthe Presidency. We can look at theproject from two angles, either asa large burden or as a personalchallenge, which is how we see it.I’m sure our ideas are good andthe fact is that our work is beingdone in line with the time plan.I will never forget the words of an Austrian colleague who saidthat the Presidency can’t be‘described’, one must experienceit and feel it. I think it’ll be a successful Presidency, especiallyif we manage to successfullypresent it as our joint project tothe Slovenian people, so peopleaccept a road being closed for afew minutes with understandingand with pride that somethingimportant is going on, rather than with complaints.

Are any promotional campaignsbeing prepared to inform thepeople of Slovenia?I hope so, yes. I, Franci Kodela as a person, would certainly start withthat. We should implement a firstround before the holidays and thena second in the autumn. That's mypersonal opinion, because it oftenhappens that highly educated people and experts ask me whatour Presidency even means. This makes me think that we really know too little about whatawaits us.

Ko udobje• sodobno opremljene sobe

in apartmaji, ki nudijo ves komfort štirih zvezdic

• vrhunske ribje in tradicionalne specialitete, catering

• kongresna dvorana od 1-80 oseb, gostinske storitve

• prijaznost in strokovnostzaposlenih

www.pristan-koper.siFerrarska ul. 30, 6000 Koper • Tel.: +386 5 61440 00 • Fax: +386 5 61440 40 • Gsm: +386 51 347231 • E-mail: hotel@luka-kp.si • Marketing: mojca.rojc@luka-kp.si

Ko udobje

Ferrarska ul. 30, 6000 Koper • Tel.: +386 5 61440 00 • Fax: +386 5 61440 40 • Gsm: +386 51 347231 • E-mail: hotel@luka-kp.si • Marketing: mojca.rojc@luka-kp.si

28

trying day, they have a half-hour drive to their hotel. We simply can’tcompete if that’s our offer on the international market. Political eventsare different of course, as they’re usually one-day events where peoplecome in the morning and leave in the evening. Unfortunately therearen’t enough of these on the international level. There are many moreinternational corporate events and expert association events which thecentre in Brdo will be able to get, playing an important role in meetingsthat usually include at least one overnight stay. In this case, the capaci-ty shortage would certainly stand out. Of course, there’s a questionabout whether the centre in Brdo will even market itself in such a wayin the future.

Is any additional capacity being built to ensure there’s enough duringthe Presidency?I don't have any information on this, but it can be seen in the accelerated investment in meeting and hotel capacity in recent years,also due to the Presidency. Most hotels and meeting venues have thusbeen promptly renovated, Cankarjev dom and Gospodarsko razstaviščeto name but two, while renovations are also being speeded up on thecoast. A short period of calm will probably follow this. We have seen10% growth in key players’ events which is above the Slovenian average. Once hotel occupancy in key destinations reaches international levels, we can also expect the arrival of foreign hotelchains and service providers, which we welcome in the sense of increased capacities.

Can the Slovenian meeting offer measure up in terms of quality with offers in countries that have already presided over the EU?Slovenia has over 20 years’ experience in the area of meeting organisation, even the most demanding ones. In my experience, I can tell you that we Slovenes’ve always been superior hosts. If theright players are included in the organisation of the EU Presidency, we will show the world that Slovenia is also able to organise events at the highest level, while at the same time offering beauty and touristdestinations. I’m sure that given the number of people who will visit us in this period, there will be a certain number who return either on business or from personal interest, something that all of us want.

Do you think the government should co-operate more closely withmeeting activity experts when organising activities?To prepare for the Presidency, the government should form a closeassociation with meeting activity experts. The implementation of meetings isn’t just the organisation of transport, the hire of halls, hotel reservations and perhaps a dinner or so, but a great deal more.The Slovenian Convention Bureau could offer suitable help as a non-profit organisation that also provides expert and impartial information on destinations, event venues and event providers. At the same time, the Bureau operates as a professional intermediarybetween event organisers, service providers and supporting organisations whose common objective is finding suitable solutions for the organisation and execution of events.The fifty-four members include meeting venues and hotels, professional congress organisers (PCOs) and destination managementcompanies (DMCs), the Ljubljana Tourist Board and other serviceproviders. In other words, all those professionally involved in meeting activities.

Finland is a case where the representative office of the ConventionBureau was in the team preparing for the Presidency nearly a year in advance.

Jakica Jesih

we all hope. As Mr Krajc says,most Europeans, includingSlovenes, don’t know whichMember State currently holds theEU Presidency. This is particularlya political project and a lot of peo-ple aren’t interested in politics.The Presidency will however, certainly be a good experience for service providers, who willorganise new forms of events and reposition themselves in the European market. Perhapsthey may in this way also get new events.

Do you know how much effect the Presidency’s had on touristpoints in any of the countrieswho’ve already presided over the EU?When I spoke to a representativeof the Vienna conference bureauregarding the effect of thePresidency on the occupancy ofmeeting capacities, he surprisedme by saying that they’d reallyseen a higher number of events. I should also point out that thescope of events in Vienna is muchlarger. The problem in Slovenia is mainly that hotel capacities arelimited and if a larger event isheld here, this has an effect onthe whole Slovenian tourist scene.

How do you assess the quantityand quality of our hotel andmeeting facilities?The government quickly saw thatour meeting capacities were limited, thus it decided to build a new congress centre in Brdo,something we welcome. For thiscentre to really thrive after thePresidency as well, it also needsaccommodation capacity nearby.Right now the congress centre’scapacity and accommodationavailable aren’t proportionate,meaning that another hotel with a few hundred rooms has to bebuilt in Brdo. That’s the only waythe centre can be a candidate for international events in thelong-term, the only type whichcould fill such capacities. Forevent participants it’s unacceptable that it only takes ten minutes to get to an excellentcongress centre from the airport,but in the evening at the end of a

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The entire project is in the final reconciliation phase and the STB, withthe Government Communication Office, will certainly take on theimportant role of promotional coordinator abroad. In Slovenia, the STBwill act as a service and the main partner in promotions, while theSlovenian Government Logistics Centre will be in charge of logistics.This will be a complete marketing project, which we’ll extend to all theEU Member States. We think this part has the greatest added value fortourism. We also estimate that entry into the smaller markets is reallyimportant, as otherwise these markets would not be in the programmeof activities. There’ll be more information on the entire programmeafter 1 May, while the entire tourist economy will be included intensively in the project according to the partnership formula, namelyco-operation. Promotion abroad is based on some ten fundamentalevents and smaller accompanying ones. The co-ordination teams of theGovernment Communication Office and the STB have been working onthe project intensively since September 2006 aiming to attract as manyforeign tourists, members of the expert public and economists toSlovenia as possible. Let me emphasise that promotion abroad is asimportant as the execution of the Presidency in Brussels and Slovenia.Through these activities, we inform the individual markets that Sloveniaexists and communicate what Slovenia has to offer in a focused manner. Events will be tailored to individual countries.

Is information already available regarding, for example, what Austriagained during its EU Presidency from a tourism viewpoint?Co-operation with the Austrian national tourist association is excellentand the management has sent an assessment on the results of thePresidency to us:• 35 million guests visited the website;• sub-menus under ‘current events’ on the Europa website contained

over 3000 documents;• 513 officially recorded events were carried out;• organisers sent out over 2250 newsletters;• 24 of the largest events were accompanied by press conferences;• 75,000 people tried the e-quiz. Slovenia is preparing a similar quiz in

the form of a prize-winning chat & play quiz;• according to estimates, Austrian hotels accommodated 50,000 guests.

I believe that Slovenia will closely match Austria in terms of the num-ber of events. We think Slovenia will welcome 15,000 to 20,000 visitorsas a direct result of the EU Presidency.

Europe: a land betweenPortugal and Slovenia

Dimitrij Piciga, MSc.Director of the SlovenianTourist Board

How do you assess what the EUPresidency means for Sloveniantourism?Slovenia’s Presidency of the EU is highly important for Sloveniantourism. The tourist sector willexperience both direct and indirecteffects from the Presidency. Weestimate that 15,000 to 20,000 fore-ign guests, diplomats, economistsand other guests will visit Sloveniajust within the scope of thePresidency’s official programmes.Also, we shouldn’t forget theSlovenes travelling throughoutEurope during the Presidency, whomake up a tourist segment that issometimes underemphasised. On the other hand, the Presidencyis a chance for Slovenia to show-case itself as one of the countriesbringing up topics that have greatsignificance in the future of Europe.For the Slovenian Tourist Board,the Presidency starts this year withthe promotion of Ljubljana as theEuropean Capital 2008. The STB isplanning to carry out activities in allEuropean markets in 2008 involvingsmaller promotional events thatweren’t usual before, and thesehave added promotional value.

What activities is the SlovenianTourist Board planning in thetime preceding the Presidencyand during it?

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other hand, the STB will take on the co-organisation of events that are notstrictly connected to tourism (concerts and other events) in countries ofless interest to tourists. Partners who’ve not previously been closely con-nected to the STB will co-operate in these efforts. The policy of partnershipthus remains. Transport companies, hoteliers and other tourist serviceproviders in Ljubljana and Bled will be included directly in events inSlovenia and in events scheduled in other tourist centres. We often forgetevents taking place alongside the Presidency. Numerous economic delega-tions will also visit Slovenia. Individual ministries are responsible for theseevents where, for example, the STB will act as organiser of the EuropeanTravel Commission in April 2008, with accommodation in Bled. What’simportant is quick reconciliation of the events’ calendar and separation ofthe Presidency events and remaining events according to the unofficialrule on EU events. There is not enough space for such events at Brdo.

Is the Slovenian Tourist Board co-operating with the SlovenianGovernment Logistics Centre in terms of organising meetings and other tourist activities? If so, in what way?The STB is fully aware of all the activities and preparations for thePresidency. It’s directly co-ordinating promotions abroad, and we co-operate with the Government Communication Office on a daily basis. Right now, there’s no direct co-operation with the Logistics Centre. If required, however, the STB will certainly ensure adequate support.

Are you aware that we barely have enough quality accommodation prepared for participants and how do you intend to resolve additionalreservations if they arise?As far as Ljubljana is concerned, quite a few new hotel projects are closeto realisation. Several hotels have expanded their capacities. There aremonths when space is short, certainly, but there are also summer monthswhen capacities are poorly filled. Construction of new hotels just for theEU Presidency is questionable, in my opinion. What’s important is thatexisting venues are commercially successful. This is an important gainfrom the viewpoint of the owners. I think that investors could be found inthe case of an extreme shortage of space. This means that hotels wouldbe at least 70% occupied on an annual level. On an annual basis, Ljubljanahas not yet experienced such a deficiency.In addition to the positive effects, we should also point out negative effectsof the Presidency, especially highlighted by the tourist agencies. Themajority of hoteliers try to understand that it’s necessary to ensure a minimum space for permanent partners and, when this isn’t possible, they

It is already clear that the 2008tourist year will not be threatened,despite climatic changes. The sizeof the country is not related to itscontent, so can Austria be comparable to Slovenia and I’msure we can surpass Austriaregarding promotions abroad.Nevertheless, I feel it would bemore suitable to compare ourselves to the Finns or thePortuguese. We are most compara-ble to Portugal and they will be anorientation point for us. We are alsopreparing a symbolic handover on 2 January 2008, in which thePortuguese will be present at atourist fair in Ljubljana and viceversa. This act will symbolicallyimplement the European slogan – aland between Portugal andSlovenia.

Which segments of Sloveniantourism will be included in thePresidency project?The STB is both directly and contex-tually involved in promotion outside Slovenia, and we’ll also lendsupport to activities within thecountry. The entire tourist economywill be included in these activities.Our usual partners will participatein all the projects, while specificactivities will involve otherSlovenian companies. Not all thedetails’ve been negotiated yet. TheSTB will also carry out classicalactivities, in which all partners willparticipate, expanded to make uppromotion of the country. On the

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What is the role of the Slovenian Convention Bureau?The Slovenian Convention Bureau will join forces with the STB’s meetingsdepartment in June. All marketing activities for this segment, which weredispersed among a number of departments until now, will be combinedinto one department. It will manage and co-operate in all the key events of the STB in Slovenia. This will be an opportunity for all existing membersof the Slovenian Convention Bureau.

Gorazd Čad

offer other locations a chance toacquire business that was previous-ly in Ljubljana.The important question of how tomaintain regular business remainsopen. Hotels will be faced with anew situation regarding the man-agement of ‘hotel yield’.

Are you planning any publicawareness activities along thelines of ‘people are tourism’, for all of us will live with thePresidency in this period and will we all be ‘tourist workers’ in some way?No special promotion is planned inthis sense. A strong promotionalcampaign is planned on the domestic market, utilizing the ‘I feelSlovenia’ slogan though, and thePresidency and other associatedprojects will be announced withinthis scope. Although the Presidencyis important, it won’t essentiallychange Slovenian tourism. We canexploit it and get a great deal fromit, but what’s most important is thatall our guests are happy and gohome pleased, promoting Slovenia’sgood reputation. Additionally, wealso have to take care of the 2.5million regular guests. The newbrand name must first be acceptedat home. This will be easier becauseof the Presidency.

How will Ljubljana, as theEuropean Capital, be incorporatedin these activities?Ljubljana is already being show-cased as a European Capital thisyear. A number of promotionalprojects are being carried out inthis area. Our strategic partner, the Ljubljana Tourist Board, whichis the largest Slovenian local touristorganization in terms of size andexpertise, is co-operating in theirimplementation. Co-operation is exemplary with numerous interesting tourism ideas born out of such a partnership.

Will fairs and exchanges beflavoured with the spirit of thePresidency this year?Exchanges will be carried out at a new stall, with a new image andin accordance with the marketingstrategy, emphasising local particu-larities.

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Predsedovanje EU - Finska

Oh, kakšen cirkus …

težko se je bilo spopasti s hierarhijo, točno določenimi vzorci vedenja, zakreditacijo (nikoli registracijo) delegatov, s sistemom priponk, z zahte-vami glede hotelov in izbiro prizorišč ter s tem, da je bilo treba navsakem sestanku posneti zbirko »gasilskih fotografij«.»Mislim, da poznam vse dimenzije vseh sejnih površin v državi,« senasmeje. »Konferenčnih in športnih dvoran, starih tovarn … Bili smo venaindvajsetih različnih mestih na Finskem, ker se je hotel vsak minis-ter, ki je bil gostitelj sestanka, pohvaliti z rojstnim krajem. Bili smo kotvelik potujoči cirkus. Nekateri hoteli so se morali posodobiti ali pripel-jati dodatno pohištvo, ali pa smo morali hotelsko osebje naučitirazličnih stvari, kot je na primer 24-urna sobna postrežba. Nekateredelegacije iz držav izven EU in nekateri vodje vlad so imeli glavnekuharje, ki so vse pripeljali z zasebnim letalom, ki je moralo nekje pris-tati, šele potem so lahko prevzeli kuhinje.«

Ustvarjen dohodek

»Varnostnikov je bilo ogromno. Vsakega delegata je na vsakem pri-zorišču preverila policija. Mi smo prav tako imeli svoje varnostnike,tako kot tisti, ki so pripotovali z ministri, in vsi materiali so bili označeniza zaupne – nekaterih dokumentov nismo mogli poslati po elektronskipošti, zato smo jih morali pošiljati po staromodnih slih.Celo kupovanje daril ni bilo vedno preprosto, ker smo morali vsakidržavi članici EU poslati javni razpis za zbiranje ponudb, večinoma poUradnem listu Evropske komisije, da smo lahko zagotovili lojalnokonkurenco med vsemi dobavitelji. Prav tako smo imeli jasna merila ovrednosti daril glede na sestanek. Davkoplačevalci države gostiteljiceso seveda plačali račun in to je draga stvar. Dobra stran pa je bila, dasmo pri pripravi končnega poročila zbrali statistiko o ustvarjenemdohodku – glede na število prenočitev v šestih mesecih za 23.000 dele-gatov in druge prihodke – kar je vsekakor dobro za državo.«

Ste se kdaj spraševali,kako je sodelovati priorganizaciji srečanj, kovaša država predsedujeEU? Leena Sipilä je meni-la, da ve o tem vse, doklerni prevzela organizacijesrečanj ob šestmesečnemfinskem predsedovanju.

Leena Sipilä, ki zdaj spet sedi zasvojo mizo v Kongresnem uraduHelsinki, si je petindvajset letnabirala izkušnje v kongresniindustriji, preden so jo povabili, dase pridruži sekretariatu, ki je bilzadolžen za tehnične pripravesestankov za finsko predsedovan-je EU. To je pomenilo, da se jemorala septembra 2005 preseliti vpisarno predsednika vlade, da binačrtovala 140 uradnih sestankov,ki jih je Finska gostila v časupredsedovanja.»Mislila sem, da vem vse o orga-nizaciji konferenc in dogodkov,« jepovedala nekdanja direktoricaKongresnega centra Marina vHelsinkih, ki je bila, preden se jepridružila Kongresnemu uraduHelsinki, vodja PCO-ja in kongres-nega oddelka v centru Tampere.»Toda zelo sem bila presenečena,ko sem odkrila, da so vladnasrečanja tako drugačna in takozapletena. Bila sem vzhičena inhkrati nisem mogla verjeti!«

21 različnih mest

Kot vodja organizacije sestankovje bila del ekipe, ki je štela ose-mindvajset ljudi, med predse-dovanjem EU pa je ta številkanarasla celo na štirideset. Vedelaje, da bo protokol pomemben,varovanje pa sploh. Še posebej Helsinško sejmišče, pripravljeno na ASEM 6 • Helsinki Fair Centre ready for ASEM 6

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Generalni direktorat Evropske komisije za tolmačenje v Bruslju s svojoekipo dobro izurjenih tolmačev ima natančno določena pravila gledevedenja do svojih ljudi in specifikacije za kabine za simultano prevajan-je. »Če so bile stalno postavljene kabine na določenih prizoriščih samoza nekaj centimetrov premajhne, smo morali pripeljati izposojene, ki sobile usklajene z njihovimi standardi,« komentira gospa Sipilä. Pri bilat-eralnih sestankih so uporabljali šepetano tolmačenje.Najpomembnejši sestanki, ki jih je organizirala gospa Sipilä, so bili delseptembrskega vrha ASEM 6, ki se je odvijal na helsinškem sejmišču inse ga je udeležilo 1500 delegatov iz Evrope in Azije ter spremljevalnisestanek zunanjih ministrov v okviru barcelonskega procesa(EUROMED) in se je odvijal novembra v Tampereju. Pomagala je tudi priorganizaciji sestanka predsednikov držav in vlad, ki se je odvijal oktobrav Lahtiju, in pri devetih ministrskih sestankih, ki so se uradno imenovali»neuradni«, medtem ko je skupno 68 sestankov organizirala za različneministre. Treba je povedati, da se je na Finskem odvijal samo majhendel od 3300 sestankov EU, ki so jih izvedli v tistih šestih mesecih.Zdaj, po zelo zasluženem počitku, Leena Sipilä pravi, da je srečna, kerje dobila svoje življenje nazaj. »Morala sem celo izstopiti iz članstva v organizaciji Meeting Professio-nals International, da sem lahko ostala nevtralna, ko sem izbiraladobavitelje. Kljub temu je bilo vse skupaj čudovita izkušnja, ki je ne bizamudila za nič na svetu.«

»Bila sem zelo presenečena, ko sem ugotovila, da so vladna srečanjatako drugačna in tako zapletena.«

Angela Antrobus, povzeto po reviji Quality in Meetings; foto: Kabinetpredsednika vlade, Lehtikuva

Preglavice

Nepredvidljivost je bil še endejavnik, ki se ga je gospa Sipilämorala navaditi. »Do zadnje minutenismo vedeli, kako velika bo dele-gacija, niti imen delegatov. Ministrinikoli ne potujejo sami, in če jih jebilo dvajset, jih je zelo verjetnospremljalo še dodatnih sto oseb -članov kabineta, sekretarjev, urad-nikov za zvezo, asistentov, da neomenjam medijev. Tudi za hotelirjeje bil to čas nervoze, kadar nismodobili seznamov prej kot štiri alipet dni pred prihodom.«Število delegatov, ki so smeli nasestanke in so jih predhodnonajavili po vrstnem redu sedežev,je bilo strogo omejeno, todaobičajno se jih je hotelo pomemb-nih sestankov udeležiti še več.Zato so bile izdane priponkerdeče, modre ali rumene barve, kijih je uradnik za zvezo odnesel inrazdelil med svoje delegate. »Šeposebej pri plenarnih sestankihnismo nikoli natančno vedeli,kakšen bo program,« pojasnjujegospa Sipilä. »Vedno smo moralibiti pripravljeni za vrati, če binajavili nenačrtovan odmor zakavo, medtem ko so popravljalidokumente, kar se je lahkozavleklo na dve uri. Včasih ses-tanka sploh niso nadaljevali!«Obroki so jim prav tako povzročalipreglavice, celo kadar je šlo zadelovna kosila in večerje, ko so pomizah ležali papirji in mikrofoni,toda, kot poudarja gospa Sipilä,prekaljenih delegatov navideznikaos ni preveč motil.

Bilateralni sestanki

Gospa Sipilä pravi, da so bilateral-ni sestanki, ko se predstavnikidveh držav sestanejo na samem,vedno popularnejši. Zato je bilotreba pripraviti dodatne sobe.Sledilo je vprašanje tolmačev. Finska ljudska glasba na uvodni slovesnosti za ASEM 6 • Finnish folk music at the ASEM 6 opening ceremony

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EU Presidency - Finland

Oh, what a Circus …

particularly so, but it was another thing getting to grips with the hierarchies, the fixed behavioural patterns, the accreditation (never registration) of delegates, the badging system, the demands made ofhotels and the requisites for selecting venues, even down to ensuring the set-piece “family photo” was taken at every meeting.“I feel I know the dimensions of every flat floor space in the country,”she laughs. “Conference halls, sports halls, old factories…We used 21 different cities in Finland because every minister hosting a meetingwanted to show off his home town. It was like a huge travelling circus.Some hotels had to be upgraded or bring in extra furniture or we had to train them in things like 24-hour room service. There were also delegations from countries outside the EU and some heads of government had their own chefs who brought everything in by privateplane, which had to land somewhere, and then took over kitchens.

Generated revenue

“The security was massive. Everybody in every venue was checked by thepolice, we had our own security people as well as those who travelled withministers and all material was security classified – certain documentscouldn’t be sent by email so we had to use old-fashioned messengers.“Even sourcing gifts wasn’t always straightforward as public tendershad to be put out to every EU country, mainly through the EuropeanCommission official newspaper, to ensure fair competition among allsuppliers. There were also clear criteria about the value of the giftsdepending on the meeting. The tax payers of the host country foot thebill, of course, and it’s an expensive business. On the plus side, whilemaking our final report, we collected statistics on the revenue generated - based on the number of overnights during the six monthsfor 23,000 delegates and other income - which was certainly good for the country.”

Ever wondered what it’s like to organise the meetings when youcountry holds the EUpresidency? Leena Sipiläthought she knew allthere was to know aboutconferences until shetook on the job forFinland’s six months in the hot seat.

Leena Sipilä, now back at her deskat the Helsinki City Tourist &Convention Bureau, had spent 25 years in meetings managementbefore she was invited to join thesecretariat responsible for thetechnical meeting preparations for Finland’s EU presidency. Thisinvolved moving to the prime minister’s office in September2005 to plan the 140 official meetings Finland would host during the second half of last year.“I thought I knew everything aboutconference and event organisation,” says the formerconference director at the MarinaCongress Centre in Helsinki, headof the congress department atTampere Hall and PCO beforejoining the convention bureau.“But I was very surprised to discover that governmentalmeetings were so different and so complex. I was excited butincredulous at the same time!”

21 different cities

As head of meeting arrangements,she was part of a team of 28 people which grew to 40 during the presidency. She knew protocolwould be important and security Delovna večerja v Lahtiju. • Working dinner in Lahti.

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Headaches

Unpredictability was another factor Sipilä had to get used to.“We never knew the size of delegations until the last minuteand certainly not the names.Ministers never travel alone so ifthere were 20 of them there couldeasily be an extra 100 people by way of cabinet members, secretaries, liaison officers, assistants. Not to mention themedia. It was a nervous time for the hotels, too, if we didn’t get the lists until four or five days beforehand.”There was a strict limit on thenumber of delegates allowed intothe meeting room, announced in advance, as was the seatingorder. Colour coded badges wereissued, red, blue and yellow,which the liaison officers tookaway to allocate among their owndelegates. But inevitably moretried to squeeze in if it was amajor meeting. “Also, especiallywith plenaries, we could never besure of the programme,” explainsSipilä. “We had to be on our toesbehind the door in case anunscheduled coffee break wasannounced while papers wererewritten, which could go on fortwo hours. Or the meeting maynever resume at all!”Mealtimes were anotherheadache, especially workinglunches and dinners when tableswere strewn with papers andmicrophones but, as Sipiläremarks, seasoned delegatesseemed to cope with the apparentchaos.

Bilateral meetings

She says bilateral meetings aregrowing increasingly popular,when representatives of twocountries meet in private. »Gasilska fotografija« z EUROMED-a. • EUROMED “family photo”.

So additional rooms must be available. Then there was the question of interpretation. As well as its own host of highly trained interpreters,the EC Directorate General for Interpretation in Brussels has definitiverules on the treatment of its people and the specification of simultaneous interpretation booths. “If a venue’s permanent boothswere even a few centimetres too small, we had to bring in rentedbooths which met the standard,” Sipilä comments. Whispered interpretation was used in bilateral meetings.The most important meetings she handled were the ASEM 6 Summit in September in the Helsinki Fair Centre, attended by 1,500 delegatesfrom Europe and Asia, and the Foreign Ministers’ follow-up meeting ofthe Barcelona Process (EUROMED) in November in Tampere. She alsoassisted with the Heads of State or Government meeting in October inLahti and nine ministerial meetings officially termed as “informal”,while a total of 68 meetings were organised for different governmentministers. And it needs to be borne in mind that what was going on inFinland was only a small proportion of 3,300 EU meetings held duringthat six months.Now, after a well earned rest, Leena Sipilä says she is happy to haveher life back. “I even had to resign from Meeting Professionals International in orderto remain neutral when selecting suppliers. But the whole thing was an experience I would not have missed for the world.”

Angela Antrobus, Quality in Meetings; Photos: Prime Minister’s Office,Lehtikuva

"I was very surprised to discover that governmental meetings were sodifferent and so complex"

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Kolumna: Matjaž Kek

Kdo potrebuje koga?

S ponudbo kongresnih storitev imam v mislih celovite storitve, potrebneza izvedbo (praviloma) mednarodnega dogodka, ki zajema vse od prevo-zov in namestitev pa do cateringa in kulturnega programa (seveda zvsem organizacijskim in tehnološkim potencialom, ki je bistven za us-pešno izveden dogodek). Z dogodki, ki so jih pripravljali državni organi,pa lahko svojo osebno izkušnjo omejim predvsem na velike mednarod-ne dogodke (kjer sem sodeloval pri pripravi press centrov in prireditevv počastitev državnih praznikov).Neposredno po osamosvojitvi Slovenije so bile v »kongresnem biznisu«le kake tri organizacije, ki so se s tovrstno organizacijo ukvarjale žeprej. Sama kongresna dejavnost je bila v prvi polovici devetdesetih tudipri tistih, ki smo bili zadolženi za »promocijo države in dežele« spreje-mana z naklonjenostjo in filozofijo, da naj tujci svojo »izkušnjo« Slove-nije doživijo kar najbolj neposredno – v Sloveniji! Zato smo pridobivanjemednarodnih konferenc, s čimer so se ukvarjali tako profesionalni po-nudniki storitev kot strokovna združenja, podprli tako finančno kot tudis promocijskimi gradivi.Kar pa se tiče naših izkušenj z organizacijo tovrstnih prireditev, so bilete nikakršne in smo se od ponudnikov storitev učili tako »obrti« kot tudisodelovanja z zunanjimi izvajalci. Do danes so se zadeve na obeh straneh kar precej spremenile. Nastrani ponudnikov je število specializiranih organizacij zelo naraslo,pojavile so se nove vrste storitev, ki jih te organizacije ponujajo, dobilismo neke vrste nacionalnega koordinatorja in promotorja teh storitevin celo prvo poslovno borzo. V državni upravi pa smo se tudi okrepili sslužbami in oddelki, ki se ukvarjajo z odnosi z javnostjo in v okviru tegatudi z organizacijo dogodkov, kar nekaj ministrstev in služb ima oddel-ke za protokol, pripravljamo pa seveda veliko več dogodkov in z vsto-pom v EU tudi še več mednarodnih dogodkov (posebej v času sloven-skega predsedovanja EU).

Kateri so tisti dejavniki na obeh straneh, ki vplivajo na obseg in kako-vost našega sodelovanja?Naše izkušnje s ponudniki so vsaj pri projektih, kjer sem sodeloval, vosnovi dobre. Posebej na začetku, ker sami nismo imeli dosti znanj invedenj, pa tudi zato, ker so ponudniki v želji, da bi si zagotovili dolgoro-čnejše sodelovanje, vlagali več svoje kreativnosti v zasnovo in izpeljavodogodka. Mi pa smo imeli tudi manj težav pri spoštovanju pravil javneganaročanja (ki so zdaj bolj kompleksna in zahtevna).No, nekaj slabših izkušenj tudi lahko navedem. Posebej takrat, ko jeponudnik »lokacije« dogodka ponujal tudi agencijske storitve, se je privečjih mednarodnih dogodkih zgodilo tudi, da se ni zavedal komple-ksnosti projekta in v začetku ni pravilno ocenil, koliko zunanjih podizva-jalcev bo potreboval, zaradi česar je prihajalo tudi do zamud pri izvedbi.Današnji čas na strani ponudnikov vzpodbuja nekakšen način ponujanjastoritev (ki pa je nasploh značilen za celotno storitveno industrijo), kiobljublja uresničitev vseh možnih želja potencialnega naročnika. Hkratipa seveda ne upošteva omejevalnega dejavnika – razpoložljivega časain denarja, ki včasih izvedbe »sanjskega« projekta ne omogočata.Ena od značilnosti ponudnikov, ki jim uspe razviti dober model zasnovein izpeljave dogodka za korporativnega naročnika, je včasih ta, da po-tencialnemu naročniku iz državne uprave ponujajo kot zveličaven recept

Kot se je z leti spreminja-la ponudba profesional-ne kongresne dejavnosti,se je spreminjal tudi ob-seg in značaj sodelovanjaorganov državne upraves ponudniki tovrstnihstoritev.

Matjaž Kek

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taisti »model«, ki pa ne more do-bro delovati, ker so nekatere or-ganizacijske značilnosti v državniupravi ali pa specifičnosti medna-rodnega protokola in drugih jav-nofinančnih pravil take, da obojene gre dobro skupaj.Zadnje čase v državni upravi svojeodnose s ponudniki teh storitevosredotočamo predvsem na dvatipa naročanja: ali iščemo ozkospecializirano storitev, ki je zgoljmajhen del celotne organizacijedogodka, ki ga sicer izpeljemo sa-mi, ali pa želimo cel dogodek iz-peljati z najboljšim ponudnikompo načelu »na ključ« (teh je manj).Omejevalen dejavnik pri iskanjustoritev zunanjih ponudnikov jetudi včasih prisotno zmotno pre-pričanje, da bomo prihranili, čebomo dogodek izpeljali kar sami(in potem včasih zadnji hip išče-mo pomoč).Službe, ki se v okviru državneuprave ukvarjajo z načrtovanjemin organizacijo dogodkov – bodisimednarodnih konferenc, proslavin slovesnosti bodisi motivacijskihsrečanj ali česa drugega –, mora-jo najprej vedeti, kakšna ponudbaobstaja na trgu (še posebej, ker testoritve opravlja precej novih lju-di), ter se naučiti, kako se dela zzunanjo agencijo. Ponudniki pamorajo bolje spoznati značilnostidržavne uprave in osnovna načelajavnega naročanja.Gotovo je tudi v interesu ponudni-kov, da na različne načine boljepromovirajo svoje storitve, tudi znadaljnjimi kongresnimi borzami.Po koncu predsedovanja v drugipolovici leta 2008 bomo tudi v dr-žavni upravi imeli več izkušenj inčasa, da se bolj načrtno lotimo iz-boljšanja medsebojnega sodelova-nja in nadaljnjega skupnega na-stopa v tujini!

Matjaž Kek, sekretar na Uradu vlade za komuniciranje

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Column: Matjaž Kek

Who needs who?

When talking of the meeting services offer, I refer to complete servicessuch as those required, as a rule, for the execution of an internationalevent, encompassing everything from transport and guest accommodation through to catering and the cultural programme (of course, including all the organisational and technological potentialrequired for a successfully implemented event). In terms of events prepared by state bodies, I can mention large international events frommy own personal experience where I’ve participated in the preparationof press centres and events to mark state holidays.Only three organisations in the ‘meetings business’ were involved insuch things directly following Slovenia's independence. In the first halfof the 1990s, meeting activities were adopted with the conviction andphilosophy that foreigners should ‘experience’ Slovenia as directly as possible – in Slovenia! As it was for those responsible for the ‘promotion of the country and provinces’. Thus, we supported theacquisition of international conferences, with professional serviceproviders and expert associations, both financially and through promotional materials.Our experience in organising such events was basically nil and welearned both the ‘craft’ and how to co-operate with external contractors from service providers.Matters on both sides have changed considerably since then. The number of specialised providers’ organisations has grown considerably, as well as the new types of services these organisationsoffer. We now have several types of promoters and national service co-ordinators, and even the first business exchange. We’ve also fortified our ranks in the state administration, with new offices anddepartments involved in public relations and, within this scope, alsoevent organisation. Quite a number of ministries and offices also possess protocol departments. Of course, we are also preparing formany more events following Slovenia's entry into the EU, includingmore international events, especially during Slovenia's EU Presidency.What are the factors, on both sides, that affect the scope and quality of our co-operation?Our experience with providers – in the projects I have participated in –has been good in essence. This was especially true at the beginning,where we did not possess adequate knowledge or skills. This was alsobecause providers wanted to ensure long-term co-operation andinvested more of their creativity into the design and execution of anevent. We also encountered fewer problems in following public tenderrules, which are now more complex and demanding.However, I can also list a few bad experiences, especially where theprovider also offered agency services to the event ‘venue’ and, withregard to larger international events, did not realise the complexity of the project, failing to assess initially that it would require numerousexternal sub-contractors, ultimately leading to delays in execution.These days, some type of services from providers are encouraged(which is, as a rule, characteristic of the entire service industry), promising realisation of all a potential subscriber’s possible wishes. In short, this fails to observe the restricting factor of available time andmoney, which sometimes prevents the execution of a ‘dream’ project.One of the characteristics of providers who succeed in developing good

The offer of professionalmeeting facilities haschanged over the yearsand the scope and natureof the co-operation ofstate administration bodies with the providersof such services haschanged with it.

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the conclusion of the EU Presidency in the second half of 2008, we atthe state administration will also have more experience and time totackle the improvement of our mutual co-operation and the continuedjoint approach abroad in a more planned way.

Matjaž Kek, Secretary at the Government Communication Office

conceptual models and executingevents for corporate clients, is tosometimes offer a potential clientfrom the state administration ageneric recipe in this same‘model’ that cannot function well,since several organisational characteristics in the state administration or, specifically,those of international protocol and other public financial rules,do not fit together well.Lately, the state administration hasparticularly focussed on two typesof orders in its relationships withthe providers of such services –the search for narrowly specialisedservices that are merely a smallpart of the entire event, which it organises itself – or the implementation of an entire eventusing the best provider accordingto the ‘turnkey’ principle (of whichthere are only a few).Another restricting factor in thesearch for services from externalproviders is a false conviction that we will save money if weimplement the event ourselves(then sometimes seeking help at the last minute).Officials within the framework ofthe state administration involvedin event planning and organisation– whether they are internationalconferences, celebrations andfestivities or motivational meetings or other events – mustfirst know offers that exist on themarket (especially as there are somany new people in this field) andthen learn how to work with anexternal agency. Providers mustbecome better acquainted withthe characteristics of the stateadministration and the basic principles of public procurement.It is certainly in the interest ofproviders that they promote theirservices in a variety of ways –including through continuedmeeting exchanges. Following

telefon: 01 2006 151 • congressesakompas.si • www.kompas.si

Kompas CorporateKONGRESI, POSLOVNA POTOVANJA, LETALSKE VOZOVNICE

Kompas Corporate je Kompasova

blagovna znamka za vrhunske

celostne storitve za vse poslovne

uporabnike – podjetja, razli~ne

ustanove in vladne institucije iz

Slovenije in tujine.

Ne glede na to, kaj želite –

letalsko vozovnico ali celotno

organizacijo konference kjerkoli

na svetu – je Kompas Corporate

tu zato, da poskrbi za vse.

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Kongresna mesta pod žarometom

Malo doma in malo preko naših meja

bitve za mesta, ki se spuščajo v tekmovalno okolje svetovnega trga. Kose potegujejo za pozornost potencialnih organizatorjev srečanj, se šte-vilne destinacije pri lastnem trženju lahko pohvalijo z novo ali posodo-bljeno / povečano kongresno infrastrukturo. Realizirane investicije vnova kongresna središča ali napovedi bodočih so se v zadnjem desetle-tju razmahnile v skorajda svetovno pandemijo, posebej pa moramo bitipozorni na razvoj v Aziji. Kljub temu, da v Evropi že nekaj let zaznavamorahel upad skupnega deleža mednarodnih kongresnih prireditev, tudistara celina ne miruje. Prav blizu nas so v središču Salzburga pred ne-kaj leti odprli nov, srednje velik kongresni center, v Zagrebu in Budim-pešti pa v bližnji bodočnosti načrtujejo gradnjo kongresnih centrov ve-čjih kapacitet.

V iskanju definicije »kongresnega mesta«.

In kaj je pravzaprav »kongresno mesto«? Ali lahko nekaj tako komplek-snega, kot je »kongresno mesto«, preprosto vznikne? Spomnila sem se,da mi lahko eno možnih definicij ponudi Evropska federacija kongresnihmest – EFCT, ki se je nedavno spojila z Združenjem evropskih mestnihturističnih uradov v novo organizacijo z imenom European Cities Marke-ting. EFCT je ob svojem nastanku pred dobrimi štiridesetimi leti pogoje-vala članstvo s tem, da mora mesto nuditi ustrezne kongresne zmogljivo-sti za najmanj 300 oseb v kino postavitvi, bodisi v kongresnem centru alihotelu. Prav tako naj bi imelo kakovostne prenočitvene zmogljivosti zaisto minimalno število udeležencev, dobro prometno dostopnost, izkušnjev segmentu poslovnega turizma, vključno z referencami vsaj petih izve-denih mednarodnih srečanj, ter svoboden prestop meja države.Če se dotaknem zgodovine specializiranih »podpornih organizacij« zatrženje kongresne ponudbe mest, saj so te nastale prej na lokalni kotna državni ravni, naj kot zanimivost navedem, da je bil prvi kongresniurad na svetu ustanovljen v Detroitu davnega leta 1896, ko je skupina

»Zamisel o kongresnemcentru je ukoreninjena vparadoksu poznegadvajsetega stoletja. Poeni strani lahko ugotovi-mo, da možnosti elek-tronske izmenjave infor-macij že postavljajo podvprašaj tradicionalnevzorce dela, hkrati pazaznavamo rast global-nih prireditev, ki združu-jejo ljudi zaradi njihove-ga skupnega zanimanjaali stroke. Z družbenegavidika je potreba po sre-čanjih in neposrednihstikih videti večja kotkdajkoli prej.«

Sir Norman Foster, sloviti britan-ski arhitekt; studio Foster & Partners je med drugim ustvarilprojekta kongresnega centra v Va-lenciji in Scottish Exhibition andConvention Centre v Glasgowu.

Dogaja se tudi čisto blizunasOb tem, da nas sodobna komuni-kacijska tehnologija vse boljusmerja v delo v izolaciji je, skorajv nasprotju s tem trendom, pov-praševanje po novih prizoriščih zaneposredne diskusije »iz oči v oči«vse močnejše. Konference in stro-kovna srečanja danes predstavlja-jo mednarodno industrijo, in kon-gresni centri so pomembne prido-

Avtorica članka Tatjana Radovič na obrežju Ljubljanice. • The author Tatjana Radovič on theshore of Ljubljanica river.

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Bežen pogled na kongresna mesta v Sloveniji – nekoč in danesNaše glavno mesto uvrščamo med tri pionirje slovenskega kongresnegaturizma, v družbi Bleda in Portoroža. Ljubljana ima sicer med njimi sta-tus veterana, saj je bil prvi pomemben dogodek, ki ga je mesto gostilo,ljubljanski kongres Sv. Alianse davnega leta 1821, ko so pomembni ev-ropski vladarji krojili njeno politično ureditev po porazu Napoleona I., tu-di s ciljem preprečitve širjenja idej francoske revolucije. Zanimivost do-godka je, da je trajal kar štiri mesece in pol, udeležili pa so se ga pred-stavniki desetih držav. Takega kongresa se še danes ne bi nihče branil,za seboj pa ni pustil zgolj političnih dogovorov, temveč tudi imena ulice,večjega trga in gostilne – slednja v spomin na carsko ljubezen … Če se ozrem na kontinentalna mesta v Sloveniji, ker bo o Obali in Alpahgovora v prihodnjih številkah revije, kot kongresne destinacije pravza-prav izstopajo samo tri: ob že večkrat omenjeni Ljubljani (ne morem sipomagati, imam jo v krvi) še drugo največje mesto v Sloveniji – Maribor,in cvetoče mesto ob italijanski meji, nastalo po 2. svetovni vojni – NovaGorica, ki jo v šali, zaradi močno razvite igralniške in zabaviščne dejav-nosti, lahko imenujemo tudi slovenski Las Vegas.

Zadetek v bistvo?

Ni moj namen, da bi v prispevku podrobno naštevala vse konferenčnezmogljivosti, adute ali pomanjkljivosti zgoraj omenjenih mest, saj imavsako od njih svoje danosti in posebnosti. V mednarodnem prostoru jezagotovo najbolj uveljavljena Ljubljana, ki je z gradnjo Cankarjevega do-ma kot osrednjega kulturnega in kongresnega centra stopila v areno le-

lokalnih poslovnežev ugotovila,kako donosna so organiziranasrečanja skupin za njihov kraj.ZDA so za kar nekaj desetletijprehitevale Evropo, ki se je zače-la prebujati šele v šestdesetih le-tih prejšnjega stoletja, najprejskozi investicije v infrastrukturo.Med najstarejše kongresne uradese sicer uvrščata finski (izvornoHelsinki – Finland, 1974) in lon-donski (1980), v Sloveniji pa se jena tem področju začelo premikatidosti kasneje - v Ljubljani preddobrim desetletjem, na nacional-ni ravni pa efektivno šele predtremi leti.

Google je zakon!

Ko sem razmišljala, kje najti ra-zlago, kaj »kongresno mesto« je,sem iz radovednosti v Google vtip-kala »city for congresses«, »cityfor conferences« ter »city for me-etings«. Če se omejim na Evropo,se je pojavila vrsta zelo podobnihuvodnih opisov številnih destinacijz vsemi njihovimi odlikami – v pri-meru dveh mest skoraj dobesednoenakih.Tako ali drugače zasledimo izrazekot »idealno, prvovrstno, odlično...mesto za konference / kongrese /srečanja,« ki ponujajo sodobne invečnamenske lokacije za raznovr-stne dogodke, pa tudi širok izbornamestitev v kategoriji od treh dopetih zvezdic, kulturna doživetja,kulinarično pestrost, lahko pro-metno dostopnost – tudi iz tujine,izkušene kongresne organizatorje,zanimive nakupe in dobro zabavo,in še zmerne cene za povrhu. Zaopisi vsaj dela naštetih karakteri-stik najdemo mesta kot npr. Am-sterdam, Bergen, Trondheim, denHaag, Valencio, Leipzig, Goete-borg, Glasgow, Torino, Basel, Helsinki, Bilbao, Reykjavik ali Že-nevo … v to zgodbo pa bi lahkoumestili tudi Ljubljano. Foto: Zavod za turizem Ljubljana • Photo: Ljubljana Tourist Board

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centru, ki je po svoji zasnovi zelo funkcionalen, lahko sprejme do 430udeležencev. Manjše zmogljivosti na določenih fakultetah, v nekaterihmestnih hotelih in podjetjih ter v Narodnem domu, ki je prvenstvenoprizorišče kulturnih prireditev, zaokrožijo podobo. Reaktiviranje mari-borskega letališča z rednimi povezavami do določenih evropskih mest,kakor tudi bližina letališča onstran avstrijske meje, v Gradcu, vse boljodpirajo ta prostor tudi tujim naročnikom. Preplet zgodovine v ohra-njenem starem mestnem jedru ob reki Dravi, vrhunske kulture, atrak-tivnih zimskih športov in zelenega pohorskega zaledja, odličnega ter-malnega in wellness produkta, enogastronomija – s poudarkom navinskih cestah, zavito v kompaktnost kraja, lahko izpostavimo kot ne-katere izmed odlik štajerske metropole. Svojstvena je tudi Nova Gorica – mlado mesto, ki v grbu nosi vrtnico inpremore resnično veliko cvetočih površin, in kjer je glavni generator tu-rističnega razvoja skupina HIT, ki sodi med največje evropske ponudni-ke zabave. HIT je kompleksna igralniško-turistična skupina, ki je dejav-na v številnih krajih po Sloveniji, eno njenih vodil pa je ustvariti visokokakovost ponudbe za preživljanje prostega časa svojih gostov, kjer zinovativnim pristopom v evropskem prostoru zapolnjuje pomemben deltrga igralništva, zabave in turizma. V njihovem hotelu in konferenčnemcentru Perla, kjer sta največji plenarni zmogljivosti za 280 in 350 oseb,ob tem pa je še nekaj manjših, se je zrvstilo že mnogo poslovnih dogod-kov tako domačih kot tujih naročnikov, med katerimi prevladujejo Itali-jani. Bližina reke Soče z neštetimi možnostmi vodnih športov, zgodovinateh krajev iz obdobja prve svetovne vojne, kratka razdalja do slikovitegaKrasa ter enogastronomija, s poudarkom na odličnih vinarjih v GoriškihBrdih, izvrstno dopolnjujejo ponudbo mesta, ki je z bolj oddaljenimi kra-ji najbolje povezano preko tržaškega letališča Ronchi.

Manjša mesta v senci metropol?

In kako se lahko relativno majhna mesta – v primerjavi s svetovnimikongresnimi metropolami (ali tudi celotna država), ki jih naročniki sre-čanj radi spregledajo, uveljavijo v krogu ostre konkurence? Najprej mo-ra v mestu in med njegovimi prebivalci obstajati želja, da ne ustvarijosamo potrebne infrastrukture, temveč tudi živahen utrip in prijetno živ-ljensko okolje na katerega so sami ponosni, obiskovalci pa ga želijo do-živeti. Naravne lepote ali kulturna dediščina predstavljajo prednost,vendar je nujna tudi lokalna avtentičnost. Nenazadnje pa tudi zelo do-bro razmerje med ceno in kakovostjo, kar nam v Sloveniji tuji organiza-torji radi pripišejo. Ko infrastruktura že obstaja, je pomemben tudi uglašen pristop do tr-ženja tako kongresne, kot tudi splošne turistične ponudbe mesta. Urav-notežen razvoj ponudbe, od nastanitvenih zmogljivosti pa vse do promet-nih (letalskih) povezav, zvišuje konkurenčnost posameznih mest na me-dnarodnem trgu. Med zmagovalce prištevamo tista, ki so bila sposobnaubrati holističen pristop pri razvoju destinacije.Ta stavek je lahko popotnica za tiste kraje v Sloveniji, kjer napovedujejovlaganja v novo kongresno infrastrukturo. Zavedati se moramo tudi dej-stva, da je domači trg za ponudnike zelo pomemben, vendar ni neome-jeno močan, pot do tujih naročnikov pa je bolj težavna in dolgotrajna. Vtem pogledu se ne moremo primerjati z večjimi državami, kjer nacio-nalni kongres specialistične medicinske stroke po številu udeležencevpogosto presega evropski kongres istega združenja. Kot že mnogokrat rečeno, pa se možnosti Slovenije in s tem tudi nje-nih kongresnih mest kažejo v tem, da tuji naročniki dogodkov stalnoiščejo nove kraje, pogosto manj stresne od velemest – skratka, boljprijazne, obvladljive in intimne urbane prostore, ki med drugim lahkoponudijo tudi zmernejše cene in bolj pristna doživetja kraja. In vse tomi zagotovo imamo!

Tatjana Radovič, vodja kongresne dejavnosti, Zavod za turizem Ljubljana

ta 1981. V tem obdobju, z delnoprekinitvijo v prvih letih po osamo-svojitvi Slovenije, si je uspelaustvariti zelo soliden imidž kot de-stinacija za mednarodna znanstve-na in strokovna združenja, in se zdogodki leta 2004 uspela prvič do-slej prebiti med 50 »top svetovnihmest« v statistikah mednarodnihkongresnih združenj ICCA in UIA. Zgradnjo novejših hotelskih konfe-renčnih zmogljivosti je ponudbapostala zanimiva tudi za vse števil-nejše podjetniške dogodke, trženj-sko pozicioniranje prenovljenegaGospodarskega razstavišča pamestu prinaša še en kongresnicenter z drugačno funkcionalno-stjo, primerno tudi za večje me-dvladne dogodke, kot jo ima Can-karjev dom, ki se je sicer tudi del-no »pomladil«. Ljubljana je doslej gostila medna-rodne kongrese s preko 2.000udeleženci, kar nekako postavlja-mo kot njeno zgornjo mejo, vendarlažje diha, če jih je dejansko nekajsto manj. Ko bo nekoč v mestu,čim bližje središča, več hotelov –med njimi s tremi zvezdicami,morda en de luxe, pa tudi kateraod močnih mednarodnih verig, ševeč direktnih letalskih povezav,vključno z nizkocenovnimi, in ne-nazadnje tudi večje letališče, bodonaši izgledi v ostri mednarodnikonkurenci še boljši. Sama turisti-čna ponudba se je v preteklih letihznatno izboljšala, nastajajo noviprodukti, ambicij in načrtov nika-kor ne zmanjka, prav tako ne ra-znovrstnih prireditev. Bližina šte-vilnih atraktivnih krajev, ki so lah-ko prizorišča spremljevalnih dru-žabnih dogodkov ob kongresnihprireditvah, ali pa številnih aktiv-nosti na prostem, je vsekakor do-dana vrednost sami ponudbi me-sta, ki ga številni tuji obiskovalciradi označijo s pridevnikom»cosy«.Maribor se je kot kongresno me-sto začelo uveljavljati predvsem spomočjo iniciative privatnega sek-torja v turizmu, saj je investicijadružbe Terme Maribor v izgradnjosodobnega kongresnega centra vHotelu Habakuk ter manjših kon-ferenčnih zmogljivosti v njenihdrugih poslovnih enotah dala mo-žnost za pravi razvoj te dejavnosti.Največja dvorana v omenjenem

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Conference Towns in the Spotlight

Some at Home and some just over our Border

expert meetings are today an international industry and meetingvenues are an important acquisition for places entering the competitive environment of the global market. As they vie for the attention of potential meeting planners, numerous destinations canboast new or improved/expanded meeting infrastructure. Investmentinto new meeting venues or proposals for future ones have resulted inan almost world-wide pandemonium in the last decade and we shouldbe especially aware of its development in Asia. The old continent is notstatic however, despite the fact that we have seen a slight decline forsome years in the total share of international meeting events. Quiteclose to us, a new medium-sized meeting venue opened in the centreof Salzburg a few years ago, while the construction of larger meetingvenues is planned in the near future in Zagreb and Budapest.

The search for the definition of a ‘conference town’

And what exactly is a ‘conference town’? Can something as complex asa ‘conference town’ simply appear? I remembered that the EuropeanFederation of Conference Towns (EFCT), which recently merged withEuropean Cities Tourism (ECT) and now bears the name of EuropeanCities Marketing, could offer me a possible definition. Upon its establishment a good sixty years ago, the EFCT set up a conditionalmembership prescribing that a city must offer appropriate meetingspace for at least 300 people set up theatre-style, either in a meetingvenue or hotel. It should also have high quality overnight accommodation for the same minimum number of participants, good trafficaccess, experience in the area of business tourism, the liberal ability tocross a national border and should include references of at least fiveimplemented international meetings.If I touch on the history of specialist ‘auxiliary organisations’ for marketing the meetings facilities of cities, which originated at locallevel before national level, I should mention as a point of interest thatthe first convention bureau in the world was set up in Detroit back in1896 when a group of local businessmen realised how profitableorganised group meetings were for their region. The United States sur-passed Europe in this activity for several decades, with Europe finallyawakening in the 1960’s, initially through investment ininfrastructure. The Finnish (originally Helsinki – Finland, 1974) andLondon (1980) convention bureaus are among the oldest and things got moving a lot later in Slovenia – in Ljubljana, just over a decade ago but with effects only felt at national level three years ago.

Google rules!

As I was pondering where to find a definition of a ‘conference town’,I typed the terms ‘city for congresses’, ‘city for conferences’ and ‘city for meetings’ into Google, merely out of curiosity. Limiting thesearch to Europe, a slew of quite similar introductory descriptions of numerous destinations appeared, describing all their distinctions,with almost identical descriptions in the case of two cities.In any case, we see expressions such as ‘ideal, first-rate, excellent...city for conferences / congresses / meetings’, which offers

The concept of the conference centre is rooted in a paradox of the late twentieth century. On one hand, we can see that the possibilities of the electronic exchange of information havealready called the traditional pattern ofwork into question but,at the same time, we can see growth of globalevents that bring peopletogether due to theircommon knowledge or professions. From a social viewpoint, the need for meetingsand direct contact isgreater than ever before.

Sir Norman Foster, a renownedBritish architect from the Foster& Partners studio, created,among other things, a meetingsvenue project in Valencia and theScottish Exhibition and ConventionCentre in Glasgow.

This is also happening in our regionContemporary communicationtechnology is leading us more andmore towards work in isolationbut, contrary to this, inquiries for new venues for direct ‘face-to-face’ discussions are gettingmuch stronger. Conferences and

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prevent the expansion of the ideas of the French Revolution. The interesting aspect of the event was that it lasted four and a halfmonths, with representatives of ten nations attending it. Nobody would object to such a congress even today, for it not only left politicalagreements in its wake, but also a number of streets, larger squaresand inns bearing its name – the latter in memory of the emperor’s love.To focus on central towns in Slovenia, while future issues of the magazine will focus on the coast and the Alps, only three meeting destinations really stand out. In addition to Ljubljana (I can't help myself,the city is in my blood), there is also Maribor, the second largest city inSlovenia, and booming Nova Gorica near the Italian border, arising afterWorld War II and which could in jest be called the Slovenian Las Vegas for its strongly developed casino and entertainment activities.

A strike into the essence?

It is not my intention to list all the conference facilities, advantages ordeficiencies of these places in detail for each has its own attributes andfeatures. Ljubljana is certainly the most recognised internationally, whichentered the arena in 1981 with the construction of Cankarjev dom as itscentral cultural and meeting venue. In this period it managed to create avery solid image for itself as a destination for international scientific andexpert meetings, though with a partial halt in the years after Slovenianindependence. Through events in 2004, it managed to win a place for thefirst time among the 50 ‘top international cities’ in the lists of the ICCAand UIA international congress associations. The construction of newerhotel conference venues has made the offer inviting for an increasingnumber of corporate meetings. The market positioning of the renovatedGospodarsko razstavišče (Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre) hasgiven the city another meeting venue with a different functionality alsosuitable for larger inter-governmental events such as those hosted byCankarjev dom, which has also been partially ‘rejuvenated’.Slovenia has so far hosted international congresses with over 2,000 participants, which about represents its upper limit and it breathes

contemporary and versatile venues for a variety of events anda wide selection of three to fivestar accommodation, a culturalexperience, varied cuisine, easyaccess – including from abroad,experienced meeting planners,interesting shopping possibilitiesand good entertainment, all for areasonable price... Among citiespossessing at least a few of thesecharacteristics we find suchnames as Amsterdam, Bergen,Trondheim, the Hague, Valencia,Leipzig, Gothenborg, Glasgow,Turin, Basel, Helsinki, Bilbao,Reykjavik, Geneva … andLjubljana.

A quick look at conferencetowns in Slovenia – in the past and todayWe put our capital among thethree pioneers of Slovenian conference tourism, with Bled andPortorož. Ljubljana, of course, hasthe status of veteran, for the firstimportant event the city hostedwas the Ljubljana Congress of theHolly Alliance back in 1821, whenkey European leaders made theirpolitical settlement after thedefeat of Napoleon I, aiming to

Globtour je podjetje za destinacijskimanagement in »incentive«

agencija, ki ima več kot osemintridesetletne izkušnje v turizmu. Visoko strokovno in inovativno osebje prijazno

pomaga in strokovno usmerja vsak segment dogodka.

Kontakt: Matjaž TriplatGlobtour Bled (04) 574 18 21

E-mail: globtour.bled@globtour.si

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hotels, companies and the Narodni dom (a first-rate venue for culturalevents) round off the offer. The revival of Maribor airport with regular connections to European cities, as well as its proximity to the air-port across the Slovenian-Austrian border in Graz, is also increasinglyopening this area up to foreign clients. The intertwined history in the preserved old city centrealong the Drava River, its superior culture, attractive winter sports ven-ues and the green Pohorje, the excellent thermal and wellbeing products,the food and drink (with emphasis on the wine roads) – all enclosed in acompact region – can be seen as several of the distinctive features of thisStyrian metropolis.Nova Gorica is another distinctive town – a young place that bears arose in its coat-of-arms and has extensive flowery areas where themain engine of tourist development is the HIT Group, one of the largestEuropean entertainment providers. HIT is an entertainment-tourismgroup present in numerous areas around Slovenia. One of their guidelines is to create a high quality offer for its guests’ leisure time and, through an innovative approach in Europe, supplement a significant share of the gaming, entertainment and tourist markets.In its hotel and Perla conference centre, with the largest plenary facility offering capacities for 280 to 350 people, it has already hostednumerous corporate meetings for both domestic and foreign clients,with Italians prevailing. The numerous water sports possibilities of thenearby Soča River, the World War I history of these areas, the shortdistance to the picturesque Karst region and the culinary and wineoffer with emphasis on the excellent Goriška Brda wine-producers,wonderfully supplement the city's offer, which is well-connected tomore distant areas via Ronchi Airport near Trieste.

Smaller towns in the shadow of the big cities

So how can relatively small towns, or even entire countries, that clientsof meetings often overlook, prove themselves in the sphere of sharpcompetition from global meeting centres? First, there must exist in aplace and its inhabitants not only the desire to set up the infrastructurenecessary, but also a lively pulse and pleasant ambience of which theyare proud and that visitors wish to experience. Natural beauty or cultural heritage are advantages, but local authenticity is also a necessity. Finally, there should also be a good balance between priceand quality, which planners gladly ascribe to us in Slovenia. Once the infrastructure exists, a solid approach to marketing bothmeetings and the basic tourism offers of the city or town is required. A balanced development of offers, from accommodation to traffic (airport) connections, increases an individual place’s competitivenesson the international market. We consider those able to make a holisticapproach as winners in the development of the destination.This serves only as a guide to those areas in Slovenia forecastinginvestments in new conference infrastructure. We should also beaware that the domestic market is very important for meeting plannersand, while that is limited, the route to foreign clients is more difficultand takes longer. In this sense, we cannot compare ourselves to larger countries, where national congresses of specialised medicalprofessions often exceed the European congress of the same association in the number of participants.As often mentioned, the chances for Slovenia and its conference townsare reflected in foreign clients’ persistent searches for new locations,often those less stressful than large cities. In short, more friendly,manageable and intimate urban spaces that can offer, among otherthings, a better price and a more genuine experience of the area,things that we certainly possess.

Tatjana Radovič, Congress Manager, Ljubljana Tourist Board

easier if there are actually severalhundred fewer. Once there are agreater number of hotels in thecity, as close to the centre as possible – including three starhotels, perhaps one deluxe hoteland perhaps also a strong international hotel chain – anincreased number of direct flightconnections, inclusive of discountfares, and a larger airport, ourchances against our strong inter-national competition will improveconsiderably. The tourist offer itselfhas improved over the years, withnew products initiated, and no lackof plans and ambitions or a variedmenu of events. The number ofopen-air activities and the closeproximity of numerous attractiveareas that could be the scene of social events accompanyingmeetings only add to the value ofthe city, which numerous foreignvisitors like to describe as ‘cosy’. Maribor began especially to proveitself as a conference town withthe help of initiatives from the private sector of tourism. TermeMaribor’s investment in the construction of a contemporaryconference centre in the HotelHabakuk and smaller conferencecapacities in its other propertieshas given it an opportunity to really develop these activities. The largest hall in this centre isextremely functional and canaccommodate up to 430 participants. Smaller facilities, in specific faculties, smaller city

Foto: Zavod za turizem Ljubljana Photo: Ljubljana Tourist Board

Štihova ulica 4,1000 Ljubljana, T+386 (0)1 430 51 03, F +386 (0)1 430 51 04, info@go-mice.eu, www.go-mice.eu

Mi to znamo. Smo mednarodno uveljavljeno podjetje za podroËje svetovanja, trženja in managementa v poslovnem turizmu.

Imamo reπitve za uspeπno trženje kongresnih centrov in destinacij ter komuniciranje vaπih kongresov in poslovnih dogodkov. Pridobi-vamo in organiziramo mednarodne kongrese, poslovne dogodke, motivacijska sreËanja, razstave in sejemske prireditve, pri Ëemer uporabljamo najsodobnejπa znanja in tehnologije sreËanj.Pomagamo vam pri upravljanju in vodenju strokovnih inznanstvenih združenj.

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Zavod – Kongresnoturistični urad

Kongresna Slovenija

Urad je neprofitna organizacija, ki zainteresirani javnosti brezplačnonudi strokovne in nepristranske informacije o možnih krajih dogodkovin ponudnikih storitev. Med našimi dvainpetdesetimi člani so kongresnicentri in hoteli, profesionalni kongresni organizatorji (t.i. PCO) in stro-kovne kongresne turistične agencije (t.i. DMC), Zavod za turizem Lju-bljana ter drugi ponudniki storitev. Slovenska turistična organizacija jenaš strateški partner.Slovenija ima na področju kongresne dejavnosti raznolike možnosti zaizvedbo dogodkov. Naše prednosti so lahka dostopnost, geografska raz-novrstnost in bogata kulturna dediščina, odlična ponudba kongresnihzmogljivosti, okusna kulinarika, podprta z vrhunsko ponudbo vin, pri-stna gostoljubnost in dobro razmerje med kvaliteto in ceno.Ponudnike kongresnih zmogljivosti (kongresni centri, hoteli s konferen-čnimi zmogljivostmi in prizorišča za posebne dogodke) razvrščamo vnaslednje geografsko – vsebinske sklope: • srečanja v mestih,• srečanja na obali in krasu,• srečanja v alpskem svetu in• srečanja v termalnih centrih.

Ponudniki kongresnih storitev (PCO, DMC, Event agencije, prevozniki,ponudniki tehnične opreme, catering in drugih storitev) so zelo po-memben člen pri planiranju dogodka. Vabimo vas, da si ogledate našospletno stran in se obrnete direktno na ponudnike storitev. Če bo odlo-čitev pretežka, vam bomo z veseljem svetovali. Za vprašanja nam pošljite e-mail na info@slovenia-convention.com Podrobnejše informacije lahko najdete na www.slovenia-convention.com

Miha Kovačič, direktor Zavoda – Kongresnoturistični urad

Zavod – Kongresnoturi-stični urad deluje kotprofesionalni posrednikmed organizatorji dogod-kov in ponudniki storitevter podpornimi organiza-cijami, katerim skupnicilj je najti čim ustreznej-šo rešitev za organizacijoin izvedbo dogodka.

Terme Olimia

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Slovenian Convention Bureau

Congress Slovenia

The Bureau is a non-profit organisation offering expert and impartialinformation to the interested public free of charge regarding event venues and service providers. Our fifty-two members include meetingvenues and hotels, professional conference organisers (PCO's) anddestination management companies (DMCs), the Ljubljana TouristBoard and other service providers. The Slovenian Tourist Board is ourstrategic partner.In the field of meeting activities, Slovenia has a range of opportunitiesto implement events. Our advantages are accessibility, diverse geography and rich cultural heritage, our excellent offer of meetingvenues, our savoury cuisine supported by a superior offer of wine, oursincere hospitality and a good relationship between quality and price.Meeting venue providers (meeting venues, hotels with conferencecapabilities and venues for special events) can be classified into the following geographical-contextual groups:• meetings in cities,• meetings at the coast and in the Karst region,• meetings in the Alpine area and,• meetings at thermal resort centres.

Meeting services providers (PCOs, DMCs, event agencies, transportcompanies and suppliers of technical equipment, catering and otherservices) are an important link in the planning of events.We cordially invite you to take a look at our website or to contact one of the service providers directly. We will be happy to help you with adifficult decision. For further information, please send an email withyour inquiry to: info@slovenia-convention.com.More information is available at: www.slovenia-convention.com.

Miha Kovačič, Director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau

The SlovenianConvention Bureau is a professional intermediary betweenevent organisers andservice providers, as well as is supportingorganisations whosecommon objective is to find the most appropriate solution for organising and implementing events.

Brdo pri Kranju

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Kolumna: Tony Carey

Dokažite svojo strokovnost

strokovnost in izmeriti donosnost naložbe. Kot mnogi vidiki vodenjakonferenc zajema postopek več logičnih korakov, ki se začnejo že vzgodnjih fazah priprav in se lahko nadaljujejo več tednov po zaključkudogodka. Količinska opredelitev donosnosti naložbe bi zato morala bitivključena že v proces načrtovanja.Prva naloga je opredeliti deležnike sestanka; to so tisti, ki jim je v inte-resu rezultat sestanka. Ker so to organizacije in ljudje, ki so investiralisvoj čas, denar ali ugled, si želijo, da bi imelo njihovo prizadevanje nekdonos. Deležniki so lahko različni, toda med njimi so vedno organizacijastranke, pokrovitelji in prisotni – poleg organizatorja, seveda. Če je do-godek v Sloveniji, želijo biti vsi – tako ponudnik kraja kot vsi dobavitelji,povezani z uspehom, vendar iz različnih razlogov.Zadovoljiti toliko različnih interesov je lahko težko, ker samo deležnikivedo, kaj želijo doseči. Torej jih je treba v drugi fazi to vprašati. V prijav-nico za predstavnike lahko vključite ankete, govornikom lahko pošljetevprašalnike, se srečate s pokrovitelji, da odkrijete, kaj pričakujejo oddogodka. Prisotni so se dogodka udeležili morda zato, da bi pridobili in-formacije ali vzpostavili poslovne odnose; govorniki želijo morda pred-staviti nove ideje ali srečati potencialne stranke; organizacija želi mor-da motivirati, izobraževati ali nagrajevati; manj znano mesto, kot je naprimer Maribor, želi morda izboljšati svoj ugled. Zaslužek je včasih dru-gotnega pomena.Ko razumemo potrebe deležnikov, je naslednji logičen korak oblikova-nje dogodka, katerega cilj je zadovoljitev deležnikov. V ta namen se kotpotrebne lahko pokažejo spremembe zastavljenega programa, na pri-mer obisk veličastne Postojnske jame, kjer bodo vsi skupaj, namestonakupovalnega popoldneva v Ljubljani, kjer se bodo vsi razkropili. Polegtega pa je treba vzpostaviti tudi sisteme merjenja. Za pokrovitelje tolahko pomeni ugotavljanje, v kolikšni meri so predstavniki osveščeni oizdelku, in sicer med dogodkom in po njem. Na primer, za mnenje oSloveniji se jih lahko vpraša, preden prispejo, in ponovno ob odhodu.Raziskava lahko poteka v več oblikah: med sestankom je mogoče izve-sti merjenje na podlagi odziva občinstva ali s pomočjo študentov z vpra-šalniki. Koristno mnenje podajo tudi fokusne skupine. Povratne infor-macije dobimo z naknadnimi anketami.V primeru uvedbe izdelkov in prodajnih konferenc so lahko oprijemljivirezultati izraženi na osnovi naknadnih prodajnih rezultatov, ki pa mora-jo biti izmerjeni in nato tudi posredovani načrtovalcu sestanka. Na kon-cu pa je treba vse te informacije analizirati in obdelati, da so podane vsmiselnem poročilu. Vse to predstavlja dodatno delo za organizatorjakonference, toda prav on je tisti, ki ima največ koristi od merjenja dono-snosti naložbe. Zmožnost, da stranki ali šefu posreduje tiskano poroči-lo, v katerem navede, kateri cilji so bili doseženi, koliko denarja je biloprihranjenega in kako je bila izboljšana celostna podoba, je znak zapravega strokovnjaka, ki si zasluži povišek ... ali pa vsaj nekaj dni dopu-sta ob magičnem Blejskem jezeru!

Tony Carey je učitelj, govornik in svetovalec na področju mednarodnih konferenc. Dosegljiv je na elektronskem naslovu tonycarey@psilink.co.je ali na spletni strani www.tonycarey.info

Ena izmed najtežjih na-log, s katero se sooča or-ganizator konference, je,kako izmeriti vrednostsestanka. Običajno se us-peh meri glede na govori-ce in (pogosto pristran-sko) mnenje: »Ljudje sorekli, da so uživali.« ali»Predsednik je bil zado-voljen.«

Vendar izvršni direktorji vse pogo-steje zahtevajo oprijemljive dokaze,da je dogodek zagotovil dobro dono-snost naložbe, in prav načrtovalecsestanka je tisti, ki mora upravičitičas in denar, ki ju je porabil.Na srečo so zdaj na voljo sistemiza ocenjevanje dogodka, ki načrto-valcem pomagajo dokazati njihovo

Tony Carey

51

By Tony Carey, CMP, CMM

Provingyour Professionalismthat start in the early stages of preparation and may continue forweeks after the event is over. The quantifying of ROI is something that should be threaded into the tapestry of planning.The first task is to identify the stakeholders in the meeting; those who have an interest in its outcome. This is due to the fact that theseare the organisations and people who have invested time, money orreputation and wish to see a return on this commitment. Stakeholders may vary but will always include the client organisation,the sponsors and the attendees, as well as, of course, the organiser.And for an event in Slovenia, the town or city, the venue and all thesuppliers will want to be associated with its success, but for varyingreasons. Satisfying such a range of interests can be difficult because only thestakeholders know what they hope to achieve. Thus stage two is to ask them. You can incorporate surveys into the delegate registration form, sendquestionnaires to speakers and meet with sponsors to discover whateach expects from the event. Attendees may be seeking information orbusiness relationships, speakers may wish to present new ideas or meetpotential clients, the organisation may wish to motivate, educate orreward; a less well-known city, such as Maribor, may wish to enhance its reputation. Sometimes, making a profit is a secondary motive. Once the needs of the stakeholders are understood, it is a logical stepto design an event that aims to satisfy them. This may involve changesto the planned programme, such as for example a visit to the awesomePostojna Caves where everyone will be together, instead of a shoppingafternoon in Ljubljana where they all split up. And systems of measurement should be put into place. On behalf of sponsors, this may mean researching the delegates forproduct awareness before, during and after the event. For example,they can be asked their opinions on Slovenia before they arrive andafter they depart. Research can take many forms. During the meeting measurement may be made via audience response systems or by students with questionnaires. Focus groups will also furnish useful opinion. Follow-up surveys provide feedback. For product launches and sales conferences, tangible results may be expressed through the subsequent sales figures, but these must be measured - and conveyed to the meeting planner. Finally, all thisinformation should be analysed and processed into a digestible report. All this is extra work for the conference organiser, but it is he or shewho stands to benefit most from measuring ROI. To be able to presenta client or a boss with a printed report which shows that objectiveswere achieved, money saved and the corporate image enhanced is themark of a true professional deserving of a pay rise, or at least a fewdays holiday at magical Lake Bled!

Tony Carey is a trainer, presenter and consultant to the internationalconference industry. He can be reached at tonycarey@psilink.co.je. or via www.tonycarey.info

One of the most difficulttasks facing a conferenceorganiser is how to measure the value of a meeting. Traditionally,success has been basedon hearsay and (oftenbiased) opinion: “Peoplesaid they enjoyed it.” or“The chairman waspleased.”

But, increasingly, CEOs aredemanding tangible proof that anevent achieved a good return oninvestment (ROI) - and it is themeeting planner who must justifythe time and the money he or shehas spent. Fortunately, there are now systems for evaluating an event,which help planners prove theirprofessionalism and measure ROILike many aspects of conferencemanagement, the procedureinvolves a series of logical steps

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Primeri dobre prakse

Kako nam lahko vabilo pripelje več udeležencev?

je udeležencem predstavil sistem storitveno organizirane arhitekture (SOA). Rdeča nit vabila je bila SOA; slive, orehi, ananas. V zaporedju treh dni (dvameseca pred dogodkom) je vsak potencialni udeleženec prejel škatlico s sli-vami prvi dan, z orehi drugi dan in s suhim ananasom tretji dan, nepovezano.Četrti dan so prejeli še vabilo s podrobnejšimi informacijami o celotnemdogodku; kaj, kdaj in kje.Vodilo dogodka je bilo spreminjanje miselnosti od neorganizirane do orga-nizirane strukture. Začeli smo z nepovezanim vabilom, nadaljevali pa sposameznimi delci sistema puzzle. Različne storitve v poslovnih procesih(posamezne delce puzzla) smo prikazali kot nesmiselno razporejene delce poprostoru. Udeležence smo vodili po različnih prostorih, kjer so postopomadobivali informacije o povezljivosti procesov po sistemu SOA. Na koncu smosmiselno povezljivost različnih storitev, ki je bila hkrati glavno sporočilodogodka, prikazali kot enoten proces, kot sestavljen puzzle. Dogodek je dobil s strani korporacije IBM (EMEA) posebno priznanje kotnajbolj inovativen dogodek v Evropi.

Naslov dogodka: SOA event 2006Avtorji: Klemen Dragar, IBM;Irena Jelen, Boris Vrhovec,AuditoriaNaročnik: IBM Slovenija Izvajalec: Auditoria El. naslov nosilca:boris.vrhovec@auditoria.siKljučne besede: SOA, event,dogodek, IBM, Auditoria

Najprej izberemo pravo ciljnoskupino glede na vsebino dogodka.Nato pripravimo kreativno indomiselno vabilo, ki vzpodbudidodatno zanimanje za dogodek. Nadogodku poskušamo rdečo nit vabilanadaljevati in sporočilo prenestitako, da udeleženci vsebino povezu-jejo z vabilom. Takšno vabilo smo pripravili nadogodku, ki je bil namenjen vod-stveni strukturi slovenskih podjetij.IBM Slovenija, kot naročnik dogodka,

Kako v natrpan kongresni urnikvnesti nekaj aktivnosti in svežegazraka, se obenem zabavati in skozinovo doživetje spoznati tradicijo,lepote in znamenitosti Bleda? Zamednarodno podjetje HewlettPackard smo našli izvirno rešitev– iskanje potopljenega zvona jeteam spirit program, ki temelji nalokalni legendi, ki je močnopovezana z Blejskim jezerom, nje-govim edinstvenim otočkom inzvončkom želja.

Iskanje potopljenega zvona na Bledu

Udeleženci kongresa so želeli popoldansko animacijo z zmerno aktivnos-tjo in poudarkom na sproščenem druženju. Ponudili smo jim aktivnodoživetje Bleda skozi izviren scenarij in lokalno zgodbo. Iskanje potop-ljenega zvona je neke vrste lov za zakladom, kjer udeleženci s kolesar-jenjem, veslanjem, hojo ali kako drugače napredujejo od točke do točke,kjer nabirajo delčke sestavljanke, vmes rešujejo uganke, spoznavajolokalne znamenitosti (ste si že kdaj privoščili kremšnito med veslanjempo zelenem jezeru?), hkrati pa se v sproščenem vzdušju poglabljajo vezimed njimi in krepi komunikacija. Program podjetja HP se je zaključil naBlejskem gradu, kjer je udeležence pred večerjo čakalo še kreativno pre-senečenje – skozi daljnogled so morali poiskati začetnice podjetja … injih našli na stavbi Park hotela (PH-HP). Bled je uspešna kongresna desti-nacija, kjer pa je opazno pomanjkanje produktov, ki bi povezali kongrese

53

Primeri dobre prakse

Vodenje projektaUspešna izvedba tako zahtevnega projekta z naše strani ne bi bila mogoča,če ne bi bil naročnik strokovno tako podučen o projektnem vodenju in takodobro projektno organiziran, kot je bil v tem primeru. Prva ugotovitev: o temprimeru ne bi mogli govoriti kot o primeru dobre prakse, če ne bi bil naročniktako dobro organiziran in ne bi do podrobnosti definiral pričakovanj in zahtev.Od faze ponudbe in pogajanja do končne pogodbe so projektni timBernardina predstavljali štirje nosilci, in sicer: vodja projekta – odgovoren zanamestitev, področje hrane in pijače ter pogajanja; tehnični direktor – odgov-oren za tehnične zadeve; vodja kongresnega centra – odgovoren za delovneprostore in opremo, vodja IT – odgovoren za področje informacijsketehnologije. V fazi izvedbe se je tim razširil na nosilce posameznih področjipo rednih procesnih funkcijah, npr. namestitve po posameznih hotelih, sektorhrane in pijače po posameznih restavracijah, zunanji pogodbeni izvajalci …

Posebnost projektaGre za prvi tako obsežen in kompleksen projekt, kjer je naročnik zahtevalod Bernardina inženiring vseh elementov, ki so bili vezani na prostor kom-pleksa Hotelov Bernardin. Obseg storitev, ki jih je Bernardin posredoval vprimerjavi s storitvami, ki jih je sam izvajal, je bilo v razmerju ena protiena. To je bila izjemna izkušnja, ki smo jo zelo uspešno prestali in si pris-lužili najvišje pohvale nad učinkovitostjo in strokovnostjo, kar nedvomnododatno prispeva k ugledu Hotelov Bernardin. Ob pomembnem komercial-nem učinku smo si pridobili neprecenljive izkušnje.

Win – Win Čeprav win – win v naši družbi predstavlja najpomembnejše načelo, še nikolini prednost spoštovanja tega načela tako izrazito prišla do izraza kot prav vtem primeru. Transparentnost ponudbe in pričakovanj Hotelov Bernardin vfazi pogajanj je bila nepogrešljiva in je olajšala postopek zelo težkih poga-janj, predvsem kot posledica zahteve po zapiranju prodaje rednim strankam.Odstopanje med končnim obračunom in pogodbenim zneskom je bilo podenim odstotkom in dokazuje natančnost skupnega načrtovanja in učinkovi-tost izvedbe, na kar smo ponosni mi in naš naročnik.

Avtor: Matjaž Žnidaršič(matjaz.znidarsic@h-bernardin.si) Izvajalec: Hoteli Bernardin d.d.,Portorož, Portorož 28. – 29.9.2006Naročnik: Ministrstvo za obramboRepublike SlovenijeKljučne besede: Vladno srečanje

Neformalno srečanje obrambnihministrov zveze NATO je zahtevalo:• Celovit prevzem vseh kapacitet

kompleksa Hotelov Bernardin(complete take-over)

• Začasno vzpostavitev pisarniškihprostorov v skupaj 150 hotelskihsobah

• Vzpostavitev začasnihpisarniških prostorov na več kot700 m2 površin

• Postrežbo od 1000 do 1500 hotel-skih obrokov dnevno v dnevih od27.9. do 30.9., skupaj približno6000 obrokov

• Organizacijo vrhunskega spreje-ma za 800 gostov

• Brezhibno podporo informacij-ske tehnologije in energetike

• Arhitekturo projekta in signali-zacijo

• Celotni inženiring za vse, kar seje odvijalo v prostoru HotelovBernardin (on-site)

Neformalno srečanje obrambnih ministrov zveze NATO

in poslovna srečanja z dogodki, kipovežejo udeležence in jih aktivnoanimirajo. Iskanje potopljenegazvona je unikaten team spiritdogodek in je dodana vrednostkonferenčne ponudbe na Bledu.Primeren je za vse strukture gos-tov, vsebinsko prilagodljiv in cen-ovno dostopen. In nenazadnje,združi različne ponudnike turis-tičnih storitev na Bledu.

Ana Peskar

54

Case Studies

How can an Invitation attract more Participants?

First, we need to select the right target group for the event. Then we haveto prepare a creative invitation that will arouse additional interest for theevent. Elaboration on the primary point of the invitation must be attemptedto the event itself, and the message communicated in a way that participants link the content of the event with the invitation. We prepared exactly such invitation for the event hosting managers ofSlovenian companies. IBM Slovenija, as the event’s client, presented aservice oriented architecture (SOA) system to the partcipants. The main idea of the invitation was SOA: sslive (plums), oorehi (walnuts)and aananas (pineapple). Two months prior to the event and over thecourse of three days, each potential participant received a box of plumsthe first day, a box of walnuts the next day and dried pineapple on thethird day, without any explanation or indication. On the fourth day theyreceived an invitation with detailed information about the event, withvenue and time information.The event’s guiding principle consisted of a change in thought processes, from disorganisation to an organised structure. We beganwith unrelated invitations, followed by the individual pieces of a puzzlesystem. Various services from business processes (the individual puzzle pieces) were displayed as absurdly arranged pieces in venue.Participants were guided through various spaces, gradually obtaininginformation regarding the association of the processes according to theSOA system. Finally, we associated the various services in a logicalmanner, which also represented the key message of the event, shownas a standardised process – a completed puzzle.The IBM corporation received special recognition, an EMEA award, forthe event as the most innovative event in Europe.

Event Title: SOA Event 2006Authors: Klemen Dragar, IBM;Irena Jelen, Boris Vrhovec,AuditoriaClient: IBM SlovenijaContracter: Auditoriae-mail contact:boris.vrhovec@auditoria.siKey words: SOA, event, happening, IBM, Auditoria

How can one join several activities and fresh air into a busymeeting schedule and at the sametime have fun and, through newexperiences, get to know the traditions, beauty and sights ofBled? We found an ingenioussolution for Hewlett Packard. ‘Thesearch for the sunken bell’ is ateam-building programme basedon a local legend, strongly connected with Lake Bled, itsunique island and its wishing bell.Participants at the meeting expressed the wish to have after-noon entertainment comprising idle activity and an emphasis on arelaxed gathering. We offeredthem the opportunity to activelyexperience Bled through an

The Search for the Sunken Bell at Bled

original scenario, based and a local tale. The search for the sunken bellis a type of a treasure hunt in which participants by cycling, rowing,walking or other means advance from point to point, collecting parts ofa puzzle by solving riddles. They learned local sights (have you everoffered yourself “kremšnita” (cream pastry) while rowing along a greenlake?) while at the same time strengthening ties and improving communication in a relaxed atmosphere. The program for HP finished at Bled Castle, where before dinner, yet another creative surprise awaited the participants – a quest to findthe initials of the company using binoculars ... and finding them on thePark Hotel building (PH-HP).Bled is a successful meeting destination visibly lacking products,connecting congresses and conferences with events, bringing togetherparticipants and actively entertaining them. The search for the sunken bell is a unique team-building event and gives added valueto conference offers in Bled. It’s suitable for all structures of guests andcomprises adaptable contents at an affordable price. Last, but not least,it combines the efforts of various tourist service providers at Bled.

Ana Peskar

55

Case Studies

director, responsible for technical matters; the conference centre manager, responsible for working areas and equipment; the IT manager, responsible for information technology. During implementation, the team expanded its pillars to include individualareas of regular process functions such as accommodation amongindividual hotels, the food and beverage sector with individual restaurants, external contractors and so on.

Project CharacteristicsThis was an extremely large and complex project in which the clientdemanded from the Bernardin engineering team all the elements of the Hotel Bernardin complex. The services contracted out byBernardin, in comparison with services it implemented itself, had aratio of one to one. This was an extraordinary experience, which wesuccessfully mastered, earning the highest praise for our effectivenessand expertise, and this has undoubtedly positively contributed to the Hotel Bernardin complex’s reputation. We acquired invaluableexperience as well as significant commercial benefits.

Win-Win Although the ‘win-win’ scenario is one of the most important principlesin our society, never before has an opportunity to observe this principlein practice been as marked as in this case. The transparency of theoffer and the expectations of the Hotel Bernardin complex during thenegotiation phase were indispensable, facilitating the extremely difficult negotiation process, especially as the result of the necessity of closing sales with regular customers. Deviations between the final and contractual amounts remained below 1%, showing accuracy of joint planning and efficiency of implementation, something that we and the client are both immenselyproud of.

Author: Matjaž Žnidaršič(matjaz.znidarsic@h-bernardin.si) Venue: Hotel Bernardin, Portorož,28 – 29 September 2006 Client: Slovenian Ministry ofDefence Key words: Governmental meeting

This informal meeting of NATOdefence ministers required:• the complete use of all the

facilities of the Hotel Bernadincomplex,

• the temporary establishment of office space in a total of 150hotel rooms,

• setting-up temporary officespaces with a surface area ofover 700 m2,

• catering for 1000 to 1500 hotelmeals a day on 29 and 30September, totalling approximately 6000 meals,

• the organisation of a high-levelreception for 800 guests,

• faultless information technologyand energy support,

• project architecture and signalisation

• complete engineering of allonsite activities in the premises ofthe Hotel Bernardin complex.

Project ManagementThe successful execution of sucha demanding project would nothave been possible on our partwithout the client’s expertise inproject management and its effective project organisation.Initial findings: In this case, we could not speak about good practice, if the client had not beenso well-organised, having precise-ly defined its expectations andrequirements in detail.From the offer and negotiationphase to the final contract, theBernardin project team had fourpillars: the project manager,responsible for accommodation,food and beverages and negotiations; the technical

Informal Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers

56

Načrtovanje korporativnih dogodkov

Pravočasno izberimo lokacijo!

nočitvah in morda celo aktivnostih za udeležence (»team buildingi«,športne aktivnosti ...), se število primernih kapacitet nenadoma zmanj-ša, nekatere so že rezervirane in podjetje je prisiljeno spreminjati ter-mine dogodkov ali prestavljati dogodke na lokacije, ki jih prvotno nisovključili v ožji izbor. Največkrat prav lokacija vpliva na celoten preostalidel dogodka (velikost prostorov, kulinarika, možnosti nočitev, parkira-nje za udeležence, športne aktivnosti ob mestu dogodka itd.).Pogosto se zgodi, da na lokacijo vpliva tudi vsebina dogodka. Takrat ješe toliko težje poiskati lokacijo za želeni termin, saj mora podjetje, kidogodek organizira, pretehtati, kaj so prednosti in kaj slabosti lokacije.Zato v agencijah, kjer dobro poznamo dobršen del lokacij, dvoran inostalih kapacitet na trgu, lažje svetujemo in se dogovarjamo s konfe-renčnimi ponudniki, ki imajo primeren prostor za planirani dogodek.Največkrat je za rezervacijo lokacije potreben ogled, saj podjetja, ki or-ganizirajo dogodke zase, vseh lokacij ne poznajo. Fotografije na inter-netu pa tudi niso tisto, kar prepriča. To pomeni, da se mora nekaj ljudiiz podjetja (ponavadi to ni le ena oseba) podati na več lokacij in si jihogledati ter nato pretehtati, če jim ustrezajo. To zahteva kar nekaj ur, kibi jih v podjetju lahko pametneje porabili za delo. Tudi ponudniki kapa-citet nenehno spreminjajo svojo ponudbo (večajo centre, izboljšujejoponudbo ipd.) in te spremembe agencije ves čas spremljamo. Vsak tre-nutek lahko ponudimo atraktivnejše lokacije in prostore, ki so za podje-tje, ki dogodek organizira, primernejše.Če imamo pri rezervacijah lokacij več časa, imamo večje možnosti izbi-re. S tem bo podjetje – organizator dogodka dobil tisto, kar zares želi.Podjetja tudi poznajo svoje udeležence in vabljene goste, ki bodo zaradinjim primerne lokacije toliko bolj zadovoljni z dogodkom.Na uspešno izpeljan korporativni dogodek pa ne vpliva samo lokacija,ampak še veliko drugih dejavnikov, o katerih bomo še pisali. Prav zatoje načrtovanje tako zelo pomembno!

Maša Pentek, Auditoria

Na področju organizacijedogodkov se srečujemo zdvema segmentoma cilj-ne publike. Prvi, večji innajvečkrat dolgoročnonastavljeni dogodki sokongresi, namenjeni stro-kovni javnosti, drugi seg-ment pa so korporativnidogodki, ki so namenjenipredstavitvam, izobraže-vanjem in promocijampodjetij.

Za korporativne dogodke je značil-no, da se le redko načrtujejo zaveč kot pol leta vnaprej. Seveda sotudi izjeme, ko podjetja pričakuje-jo nek produkt in imajo tudi pred-viden termin njegove predstavitvejavnostim. Ali pa gre za konferen-ce, ki imajo kontinuiteto in se do-gajajo v istih terminih že nekaj letzapored. Največkrat pa podjetja dogodkeplanirajo za dva, tri mesece vna-prej. Zato imajo težave z rezerva-cijami dvoran, prostorov, namesti-tev, saj pogosto potrebujejo karnekaj časa, da pridejo do pravegaprostora. Če ob tem načrtujejo ve-čje število udeležencev in imajoposebne zahteve pri dvoranah, Bohinj • Lake Bohinj (Foto/Photo: M. Pentek)

57

Planning Corporate Events

Choose your Location in Due Time!

tion which was not initially included in their preferred lists. Often it isexactly the location which influences the overal remaining part of anevent (size of spaces, cuisine, overnight capacities, parking for participants, sports activities at the event location, etc.).Often, the contents of the event also influence the choice of location,making it much more difficult to find a location on the desired date as the company organising the event must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each location. Thus the agencies, which are familliarwith the majority of locations, halls and other facilities on the market, can better advise and negotiate with conference providerswho possess adequate venues for a planned event. Many times an on-site check is required to reserve a location since the company organising an event for itself is not familiar with all the locations. Besides, photographs on the internet are not the convincingfactor. This means that company stuff (frequently several employees)must set off to a number of locations to check them and afterwards decide on their suitability. This requires quite some time which the company could utilise more efficiently. Facility providers very oftenchange their offers (increase centres, improve their offers, etc.) something, which agencies monitor on an ongoing basis. We are capableof offering perhaps a more attractive location and venue at any moment,which would be more suitable for a company organising an event.If more time is available for the reservation, we have a better selectionat our disposal. Thus the company – event organiser will receive what itactually desires. The company knows its participants and invited guestswho will, having a more suitable location, be more satisfied with theevent.Not only the location affects the succesful execution of a corporateevent, but also a number of other factors, about which we will write inthe future. This is precisely why planning is so very important.

Maša Pentek, Auditoria

We meet two segments oftarget groups in the areaof event organisation.The first, consisting oflarger and often long-term planned eventsincludes congresses orconferences designed forexperts, while the secondsegment covers corporateevents directed at company presentations,training and promotions.

It is characteristic that corporateevents are only rarely plannedmore than six months in advance.Of course, there are exceptions,when a company is launching acertain product, and thus has alsoforeseen the date of its presenta-tion to the public. Or perhapsthere may be a conference heldon an ongoing basis, held on thesame dates several years in arow. Most often, companies planevents two or three months inadvance. Thus, they encounterproblems with reservations ofhalls, spaces or accommodationas they frequently require quitesome time to find the right venue.If they are planning an event for alarger number of participants withspecific requirements regardinghalls, overnight stays and perhapseven activities for participants(team building programmes,sports activities, etc.) the numberof suitable facilities suddenly goesdown. Some have already beenreserved and companies areforced to change the dates of theirevents or hold the event at a loca- Bled • Lake Bled (Foto/Photo: M. Pentek)

58

Tehnološki trendi

Komunikacija in tehnologija na konferencah

Zaradi današnje tehnologije, ki nam omogoča komuniciranje na daljavo,lahko tudi v manjših centrih organiziramo najzahtevnejše konference.Internet nam s svojo zmožnostjo prenosa podatkov, zvoka in slike omo-goča, da lahko virtualno povežemo udeležence z vsega sveta s prisotni-mi v dvorani. Ta možnost je uporabna predvsem za izobraževanje nadaljavo, na primer za prenos videoslike zahtevnih predavanj, predvsemv medicini. Tehnologija omogoča tudi predavanja pomembnih predava-teljev, ki so praviloma prezasedeni, da bi obiskovali konference po sve-tu. Pred kratkim je bilo čutiti zelo močne trende v smeri tovrstne ko-munikacije »na daljavo«, zaradi katerih so se snovalci konferenc žespraševali, če bomo v prihodnosti sploh še potrebovali srečanja. Nasrečo ni tako, saj tehnologija ne more nadomestiti človeškega stiskarok in izmenjave izkušenj. To pomeni, da je potrebno tehnologijo uporabiti le kot pomoč pri orga-nizaciji konferenc. Naj na kratko omenim razvoj zadnjih dvajsetih let.Starejši profesorji se z nostalgijo spominjajo grafoskopskih folij, diapo-zitivov in table »piši-briši«. Takratna organizacija predavanj je zahtevalakar dobro logistiko; predavatelji so s strahom predajali svoje materialetehničnemu osebju, saj niso bili nikoli prepričani, da bo prava slika napravem mestu, ali, da bodo svoje diapozitive sploh dobili nazaj. Na sre-čo so prišli računalniki in kmalu za njimi tudi projektorji. Danes so pro-jektorji že tako poznani, da si predavatelji ne belijo več glave s tem, ka-ko se bo prezentacija projicirala. Lahko se mirno posvetijo vsebini, lah-ko jo popravljajo tik pred predavanjem, na različnih pomnilniških medi-jih pa ustvarijo rezervo.Razvoj tehnološke opreme teži k temu, da bi predavatelje še bolj raz-bremenil odgovornosti za prikaz njihove predstavitve. To pomeni, da soprojektorji tako zanesljivi in vsestransko uporabni, da ne potrebujejo ni-kakršnih predhodnih nastavitev in so sposobni projicirati sliko s katere-gakoli medija. Poleg projekcijske tehnologije je napredek hiter tudi vkomuniciranju med udeleženci in predavateljem, komuniciranju medcelotno konferenco in zunanjim svetom, skratka, tehnologija omogočaširše komuniciranje. V tej rubriki se bomo skušali dotakniti novosti, kiso že na trgu in splošno uveljavljene, kakor tudi novih trendov, ki mogo-če nikoli ne bodo v uporabi. Na kratko naj ponudimo nekaj tem, ki jihbomo predstavili v naslednjih številkah:

Komunikacijska tehnologija

• avdiokonferenčni in prevajalski sistemi,• IP – tehnologija, internet, • projekcijska in druga AV – tehnologija,• programska oprema za organizacijo konferenc in dogodkov,• interaktivnost pri konferencah,• videokonferenčni sistemi prenosa slike na daljavo,• tehnologija za obveščanje udeležencev,• zanimivosti iz sveta komunikacijskih »igračk«.

Proizvajalce in zastopnike vabimo, da v tej rubriki objavijo svoje novostiin s tem prispevajo svoj delež.

Boris Vrhovec, Auditoria

Povsod po svetu, pa tudipri nas, nastajajo novikonferenčni in kongresnihoteli, saj se v zadnjemčasu povečuje število sre-čanj vseh vrst. Kljub več-nim finančnim težavam,povezanih z izgradnjo inobratovanjem, mora vsakkonferenčni center ustre-zati določenim standar-dom za kakovostnoizvedbo konferenčnihsrečanj.

59

Technological Trends

Communications and Technology at Conferences

Modern technology enables us to organise the most complex conferences in smaller venues with the aid of remote communicationtechnology. The internet and its capacity to transfer data, sound andimages, allows us to virtually connect participants all over the worldwith those in a hall in real time. This option is predominantly used fordistance learning, for example the transmission of lectures, especiallymedical ones. Technology also allows important lecturers, who are, as a rule, over-booked, to give virtual lectures at conferences aroundthe world. A short time ago, one could feel an exceedingly strong trend towards such ‘distance’ communications leading to conference designers asking themselves whether meetings would still be necessary. Luckily, this is not the case, for technology cannot replacethe human handshake and the exchange of experience. This means thattechnology must only be used as an aid in organising conferencćs. Letme just ˇriefly cover the last twelve years. Older professors rememberthe overhead transparencies, slides and dry-wipe boards with nostalgia.The organisation of lectures at that time required good logistics and lecturers handed their material over to the technical personnel withfear, never sure if the right picture would appear in the right place or if they would even get their slides back. Luckily, computers appearedand, with them, digital projectors. Projectors are so user-friendly today that lecturers no longer need to worry about how to project their presentations. They can calmly devote themselves to the content,which can now be corrected just before the lecture, and they can quickly create back-ups on various media just in case.Advances in technological equipment are reducing the lecturers’ responsibility for the display of their presentations as far as possible. Thismeans that projectors can be used reliably and in a versatile manner. Theydo not require advance setup and they are capable of projecting picturesfrom any type of media. In addition to projection technology, progress isalso being made in communication between participants and lecturers and communication with the outside world throughout the conference. In summary, technology enables wider communication. In this column, we will endeavour to touch on novelties that are recognised on the marketas well as new trends that may perhaps never be used. In short, we willcover several topics, which will be presented in future issues:

Communications technology

• audio conferencing and translation systems,• IP technology and the internet,• projection and other AV technologies,• software for organising conferences and events,• interaction during conferences,• video conferencing systems for transmitting live pictures,• technology for informing participants,• interesting news from the world of communication ‘toys’.

We cordially invite manufacturers and representatives to publish theirnovelties in this column, contributing their share.

Boris Vrhovec, Auditoria

In Slovenia and throughout the world the number of the various types of meetingshas been growing inrecent years and newconference and congresshotels are springing up.Despite increased financial problems linkedto their construction and operation, each conference centre mustmeet defined standardsfor the quality executionof conference meetings.

60

Srečko Koklič

Kulinarični trendi

Zaposlen je na Gospodarski zbornici Slovenije kot svetovalec na Turisti-čnogostinski zbornici, Združenju za turizem in gostinstvo. Je sekretarDruštva gostinskih delavcev in njegovih sekcij. Je tudi ustanovni član insekretar Društva kuharjev in slaščičarjev Slovenije. Posebno čast mu jeizkazala svetovna kuharska organizacija WACS, ki ga je izvolila za konti-nentalnega direktorja južne Evrope. Sedaj predseduje članicam WACSza južno Evropo, kamor sodijo tudi kuharske velesile Francija, Italija,Španija, Portugalska, Hrvaška, Ciper, Grčija, Malta, Romunija, Srbija,Črna Gora, Turčija in Slovenija. In ne nazadnje je gospod Srečko Koklič človek, ki ob vsaki priložnosti s ponosom pove, da je v prvi vrsti kuhar. Poglejmo, kaj nam je zaupal o smernicah trenutnih kulinaričnih trendov v svetu.

»Aktualne so manjše porcije, kombinacija hladno-toplo, nežni okusi,uporaba svežih zelišč in dišav, manj pikantnih začimb, reducirane oma-ke, peneče omake nenavadnih okusov kot dodatek na krožniku ... Tak-šni so na kratko opisani trendi v kulinariki.Predjedi so sestavljene iz različnih skupin živil, komponiranih v celoto,pomembna je barvna usklajenost kot enotna jed ali sestavljena v hla-dno-topli kombinaciji.Na menije se vračajo čiste, dvojno močne juhe z zanimivimi jušnimivložki, ki so lahko že vloženi v juho ali dodani naknadno.Glavna jed je sestavljena iz osnovne, glavne sestavine (različne vrstemesa) v kombinaciji s termično obdelano zelenjavo (kuhana, gratinira-na, sotirana) in svežo zelenjavo, ki predstavlja tretji del glavne jedi naenem krožniku.Solate, kot jo poznamo Slovenci, v tujini skoraj ni, sveža zelenjava jevključena v predjed in tudi v glavno jed.Omake različnih okusov (pomarančna, karamelna, vaniljeva, šampanj-ska) se morda za naš okus pripravljajo nekoliko nenavadno z osnovami,pridobljenimi z dolgotrajnim kuhanjem (reduciranjem). Ob tem se upo-rabljajo kakovostna živila in nato dodelajo okusi z omenjenimi dodatki,zelišči. Seveda ne smemo pozabiti na vrhunska vina, ki zaokrožijo celo-to okusa omake, ki se nato popelje v meni z izbranim vinom.Sladice prihajajo v kombinaciji z različnim testom, sadjem, kremami insladoledom, ki dopolnijo okus in hkrati osvežijo zaključek obeda. Slado-ledi niso kremasti, bolj so podobni sorbetom ali zmrzlini različnih, vča-sih zelo nenavadnih okusov in kombinacij.Tempo dela pa nam žal pogosto omejuje izvedbo opisanega obroka, zakaterega si je potrebno vzeti čas in temu primerno pripraviti tudi mizo.Na pohodu so kombinacije hladno-toplih lahkih obedov in prigrizki(snacks), ki zamenjujejo malice in kosila. Vse jedi so pripravljene v obli-ki, ki nam omogoča, da jih lahko zaužijemo stoje in brez pribora, potre-bujemo le krožnik in papirnato servieto. Čeravno se sliši kot »sendvičvarianta«, so ti prigrizki pripravljeni izredno domiselno in okusno. Kotosnova služijo kruhki različnih oblik in iz različnega testa, nanje pa sonaloženi sveža ali popečena zelenjava, pečeno meso ali morski sadeži.

Pri postrežbi obroka, če ta ni med delovnim odmorom, seveda velja iz-postaviti tudi kozarec izbranega vrhunskega vina, katerega kultura pitjav Sloveniji je na zavidljivem nivoju.«

Težko bi našli boljšegasogovornika na temo ku-linaričnih trendov domain v svetu. Redno se ude-ležuje kulinaričnih raz-stav in tekmovanj po sve-tu. Je eden od gonilnihorganizatorjev Gostin-skoturističnega zboraSlovenije.

Foto: Vivo Catering

61

Srečko Koklič

Culinary Trends

The World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS) bestowed a specialhonour upon him by electing him Continental Director of SouthernEurope. He now presides over WACS members in southern Europe,which includes cooking moguls such as France, Italy, Spain, Portugal,Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkeyand Slovenia. And, last but not least, Mr. Srečko Količ is a person who says with pridethat above all he is a chef at every opportunity. Let's take a look at whathe shared with us regarding the directions being taken by the currentculinary trends in the world.

»Smaller portions, hot-cold combinations, milder tastes, the use offresh herbs and scents, less spicy herbs, fewer sauces, foamy sauceswith unusual tastes acting as a supplement on the plate - that's how, in a few words, I would describe the current trends in cuisine. Appetisers consist of various groups of foods, combined to produce a whole where colour co-ordination plays an important role, served as a single dish or as a hot-cold combination dish. Clear, double strength soups are returning to the menu, with interesting southern additions already included in the soup or ready to add as a supplement. The main dish consists of basic key ingredients (various types of meat),in combination with ‘thermally treated’ vegetables (cooked, au gratin or sautéed) and with fresh vegetables on the same plate as the thirdpart of the main dish. Salads, in forms familiar to us Slovenes, arepractically non-existent abroad; but fresh vegetables are included inboth the appetisers and main dishes. Sauces of various types (orange, caramel, vanilla or champagne), perhaps somewhat unusually for us, are prepared from a baseacquired through hours of cooking (over a low heat). Quality foodstuffsare used, to which the additives and herbs mentioned above are addedlater. Of course, we shouldn’t forget a superior wine that will round off the final taste of the sauce, selected from a choice menu. Desserts appearing on the horizon are a combination of different pastries, fruit, cream and ice cream, supplementing the taste and alsobringing a freshness to the conclusion of the meal. Ice creams are lesscreamy and are more reminiscent of sorbets, with variations creatingquite unusual flavours and combinations at times. Unfortunately, the pace of work frequently restricts those meals forwhich more time is required, along with a well-set table. Thus, hot-coldcombinations of light meals and snacks are on the march, replacinglunch or morning and afternoon snacks. All dishes are prepared informs that we can enjoy standing up and without the need for eatingutensils, requiring only a plate and paper napkin. Although they maysound like the ‘sandwich variation’, these snacks can be prepared withextraordinary creativity and are quite delicious. Bread, in variousshapes and made from a variety of dough, serves as the base, which isthen stacked with fresh or fried vegetables, roasted meat or seafood.

When serving meals other than during a break from work, the ruleapplies, of course, that a glass of superior wine is also served – whichis a custom at an enviable level in Slovenia.«

It would be hard tofind a better expert onthe topic of culinarytrends, both at home andaround the world. SrečkoKoklič regularly attendsculinary exhibitions andcompetitions around theworld. He is one of thepivotal organisers of theCatering and TourismConvention held inSlovenia.He is employed at the SlovenianChamber of Commerce andIndustry as a consultant in theCatering and Tourism Section and the Tourism, Hotels andRestaurants Association. He isalso Secretary of the Associationof Catering Employees and itssections. Mr. Koklič is also afounding member and Secretaryof the Association of SlovenianChefs and Confectioners.

Photo: Vivo Catering

62

Splet in organizacija dogodkov

Že imate dobro spletno ime za svoj dogodek?

omenjenih je, da naj bo domena čim krajša. Prednost kratkih domen jetudi v tem, da obstaja manj možnosti napake pri vnosu v naslovno vrstico.

Nekaj koristnih napotkov

Velikokrat pa zaradi dolgega naziva dogodka, ki je sestavljen iz več besed,nimamo možnosti izbire kratke domene. V tem primeru se ponavadi poja-vi vprašanje, ali v domeni za deljenje besed uporabimo vezaj (dogodek-z-vec-besedami.si) ali zapišemo vse skupaj brez ločil (dogodekzvecbeseda-mi.si). Vsaka izmed različic ima svoje prednosti. Ločevanje besed z vezajipomaga pri boljši uvrstitvi spletne strani v iskalnikih. Različica brez veza-jev pa je lažje izgovorljiva, kar nam precej olajša komuniciranje. Najboljšarešitev v tem primeru je registracija obeh različic domen ter uvedba preu-smeritev z ene domene na drugo. Ob strošku manj kot 15 eur za enoletnoregistracijo domene s to potezo pridobimo prednosti obeh možnosti.Veliko obiskovalcev si domene niti ne poskusi zapomniti, ampak spletnostran poišče preko iskalnikov. Prav zato je potrebno upoštevati, daiskalniki nadgrajujejo spletne strani z nazivi domen, ki vsebujejo iskaneključne besede. To pomeni, da je pri določeni vrsti dogodkov smiselno vdomeno vključiti tudi naziv kraja ali leto dogodka. V okviru tega se je potrebno dotakniti tudi vključevanja kratic v nazivdomene. Slednje je priporočljivo le, če je kratica uveljavljena v strokov-ni srenji, ki se bo udeležila srečanja. V tem primeru obstaja možnost,da bodo kratico obiskovalci vpisali v iskalnik, v nasprotnem primeruobiskovalcu le otežujemo delo tako pri poskusu, da si zapomni domeno,kot pri njenem vpisu v naslovno vrstico.Pojavlja se tudi vprašanje, kakšno končnico izbrati za svojo domeno.Odgovor je spet v obiskovalcih. Če je dogodek mednaroden, je primernaizbira domene s končnico .com ali .org, v primeru le slovenskega do-godka pa je primerna izbira končnice .si

Da nam domene ne bi ukradli

Za konec še opozorilo glede ugrabljanja domen. V primeru dogodkovobstajata dve osnovni možnosti. Zavedati se moramo, da domene v bi-stvu nikoli ne kupimo, ampak jo najamemo za določeno časovno obdob-je. Ko to časovno obdobje preteče, je domena spet na voljo za registra-cijo, kar v primeru, ko je na tej domeni veliko obiska, dobro izkoristijonepridipravi. Tako so leto dni po koncu svetovnega kongresa čebelarjevv Ljubljani domeno apimondia2003.com registrirali ponudniki porno-grafskih vsebin in objavili spletno stran s svojimi vsebinami. Druga možnost »ugrabitve« domen pa je, da nepridipravi izkoristijosvojo priložnost z dobrim predvidevanjem. Če se dogodek ponavlja venakih intervalih in uporablja obliko domene, ki vključuje ime dogodkater leto, lahko nekdo registrira domeno z namenom, da jo bo kasnejedražje prodal naprej. Vse zgoraj našteto nam kaže, da je smiselno do-meno registrirati takoj na začetku projekta, čeprav morda še ne potre-bujemo spletne strani. Nekaj vloženega truda in razmislek glede dome-ne na samem začetku lahko kasneje prihrani marsikatero težavo tertudi poveča obisk naše spletne strani.

Uroš Čimžar, RSKLAN.com

Vsaka spletna prisotnostdogodka se začne z izbirospletnega naslova oziro-ma domene. Izbira dobredomene bo lahko poveča-la obisk vaše spletne stra-ni in s tem prepoznav-nost dogodka. Toda kak-šna je dobra domena zadogodek? Kaj je boljše:slovfestmodelarjev.si, slovenski-festival- modelarjev.si ali slovenskifestivalmodelarjev.si?

V vsakem poslu se je potrebno po-svetiti potrebam stranke in spletne predstavlja nobene izjeme. Naspletu stranko predstavlja obisko-valec spletne strani. V nadaljeva-nju bom poskusil podati nekajsmernic, kako se s pravilno izbirodomene lahko čimbolj približamoobiskovalcu.Pri organizaciji uveljavljenega do-godka je delo večinoma lahko.Obiskovalcu se bomo najbolj pri-bližali, če bomo uporabili isto do-meno, kot je bila uporabljena zapretekli dogodek. Velik delež obi-skovalcev si namreč spletni na-slov shrani med zaznamke. V pri-meru, da to ni mogoče, pa posku-simo slediti vzorcu poimenovanja,ki se je uveljavil pri organizacijidogodka v preteklih letih. Glavno vodilo pri izbiri nove dome-ne naj bo, da si jo je lahko zapo-mniti. To lahko dosežemo na večnačinov. Eden izmed največkrat

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The Web and Event Organisation

Is Your Web Address Effective Enough?

In every business, it is necessary to focus on the needs of your customers, and the Web is no different. The Web host presents our website to visitors. We will endeavour to provide some guidelines on how to get as close as possible to visitors through the correct choice of domain name. The organisation of an established event is easy, to a large extent. We can reach visitors as closely as possible by using the same domainused for previous events. A large percentage of visitors simply save ourwebsite addresses among their bookmarks. If this is not possible, thenwe should attempt to follow a sample of the name used in organising the event in previous years. The chief guideline in the choice of a new domain should be to make it one that is easy to remember. We can do this in a number of ways. One of the most frequent is to select as short a domain name as possible, which also reduces of the likelihood of mistakes occurringwhen typing the name into the address bar.

Several useful tips

Due to an event having a long name, perhaps several words, we frequently do not have the option of choosing a short domain. In thiscase, the question often arises whether dashes should be used to separate the words (event-word-word-word.si) or if all the words shouldbe written together without separators (eventwordwordword.si). Eachversion has its advantages. The separation of words with separa- 3 torsimproves its ranking in the result pages of search engines.

The Web presence ofeach event begins withthe selection of a websiteaddress or domain name.The choice of a gooddomain can increase thevisits to your website and,thus, the awareness ofthe event. However, whatmakes a good domainname? Which of thefollowing is better:slovfestdesigners.si,slovenian-festival designers.si or slovenianfestivaldesigners.si?

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Beekeepers’ Congress in Ljubljana, the domainprimondia2003.com wasregistered again by a provider offering pornographic content, publishingtheir website and its contents under that domain name. The second possibility of ‘hijacking’ a domain consists of hijackersexploiting opportunities provided by good forecasting skills. If an eventappears at regular intervals and uses a domain that includes the nameand year of the event, then people can register that domain in advancewith the intention of reselling it at a higher price. All this indicates that itis wise to register the domain as early as possible, even if the websitemight not be needed immediately. A bit of investment of effort andthought regarding domains from the start may save quite a bit of troublelater and also increase the number of visits to your website.

Uroš Čimžar, RSKLAN.com

Versions without separators, however, are easier to pronounce,making it easier to communicatethem to others. The best solutionin this case is to register both versions of the domain and set one up as a parked domain for the website. At an annual cost ofunder €15 for the registration of a domain, this option allows us toenjoy the advantages of both. Many visitors do not even attemptto remember domains, but simplysearch for a website using searchengines. For this reason, one mustrealise that search enginesrespond well to websites withdomain names containing thesought after key search terms.This means that, for specific typesof events, it is sensible to includethe name of the place or the yearof the event in the domain name. It is also necessary to cover theuse of an acronym in the domainname. This is only recommended if the acronym is a recognisedterm in the expert community whowill be attending the event. If thisis the case, then it is possible thatvisitors will enter the acronym as a search term; if not, we onlyinterfere with peoples’ ability toremember the address, as well as its entry in the address bar.Another question arising is thechoice of suffix of one's domainname. Again, the answer dependson the visitors. If the event is aninternational one, a domain ending.com or .org should be chosen; if it is only a Slovenian event, the ending should be a .si suffix.

How to prevent someone stealing your domain name?Finally, a word of caution regard-ing the hijacking of domains: twothings may occur in the case ofevents of this sort. We mustremember that domains, inessence, are not purchased. Theyare simply leased for a definedperiod of time. When this periodexpires, the domain becomesavailable for registration onceagain and, if it was highly visited,that would make it sensible to takeadvantage of this traffic. For example, a year after the World

Organizacija kongresnih in incentive dogodkov je velik logistični izziv.

Adria Airways, slovenski nacionalni prevoznik, omogoča zanesljiv, hiter in udoben prevoz na svojih rednih linijah, skaterimi povezuje Ljubljano s 24 evropskimi mesti ter vas večkrat dnevno popelje do glavnih evropskih letalskih stičišč.

S pridružitvijo največjemu globalnemu letalskemu združenju Star Alliance vam zagotavljamodostop do svetovne mreže poletov 17 letalskih prevoznikov, ki z več kot 16.000 leti dnevno povezujejo 855 destinacij v

155 državah. Ob usklajenih voznih redih, prijavi na let do končne destinacije in udobju letaliških salonov je pot do ciljaprijetno doživetje.

Z bogatimi dolgoletnimi izkušnjami uspešno organiziramo charter prevoze za najzahtevnejše domače in tuje kupce.

Za udeležence in spremljevalce kongresnih in incentive dogodkov nudimo prevoz na rednih linijah po ugodnejših pogojih.

Prodaja redni promet + 386 1 3691317Prodaja charter letov + 386 1 3691252

E-mail: events@adria.si

www.adria-airways.com

Kako prepeljati številne udeležence do kraja vašega dogodka ?

Poiščite nas, veselimo se sodelovanja z vami !

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Trženje v kongresnem turizmu

MICE-marketing: kako se ga lotiti?

znem in stalnem večanju obsega ponudbe kongresnih kapacitet in sto-ritev tudi v slovenskem prostoru, kar po eni strani stopnjuje konkuren-co, po drugi strani pa povečuje potrebo po sodelovanju in skupnem na-stopu na mednarodnem trgu.

Tri ciljne skupine organizatorjev srečanj

Kot zanimivo izhodišče za razmišljanje o možnostih trženja MICE-stori-tev bi lahko vzeli rezultate raziskave, ki jo je leta 2004 v okviru kongres-ne borze IMEX izvedla revija CIM. Ti so med drugim pokazali, da večina(68,46 odstotka od 1000 vprašanih) prirediteljev najraje sodeluje s svoji-mi izbranimi partnerji – z uveljavljenimi in preverjenimi kongresnimihoteli ter z nekaterimi agencijami oziroma PCO-ji. Zanimiva je tudi ugo-tovitev, da 61,54 odstotka vprašanih organizatorjev sprejme višjo cenostoritev po načelu »raje izberem lokacijo (hotel, kongresni center), kiga poznam in mu zaupam«. Ni presenetljivo, da je 78,48 odstotka prire-diteljev pritrdilo, da sta poleg stroškov odločilnega pomena prav zaupa-nje in zvestoba (Zidanski, 2005, str. 38).Trženjskega komuniciranja s potencialnimi organizatorji srečanj se jetorej potrebno lotevati segmentirano in zlasti slediti zakonitostim nepo-srednega trženja, ki temelji na odnosih, ter osebne prodaje. Osnovavsakega trženjskega pristopa je v prvi vrsti skrbno načrtovanje ciljnihsegmentov, ki se razlikujejo po mnogih specifičnih značilnostih, zato jihje potrebno na trgu obravnavati posamično ter k njim pristopati na ra-zlične načine. V MICE-industriji pri tem lahko pomagamo s tematskorazvrstitvijo kongresnih prireditev. Tako lahko govorimo o treh ciljnihskupinah potencialnih organizatorjev srečanj. Prva skupina so organi-zatorji znanstveno-strokovnih prireditev, ki so praviloma člani različnih

Ali bi želeli zasloveti kotgostitelj mednarodnekonference in udeležences celega sveta s ponosompovabiti v katerega odčudovitih slovenskih kon-gresnih središč? Mislim,da je odgovor na to vpra-šanje za večino potenci-alnih organizatorjev sre-čanj jasen. Vendar – alito vprašanje slovenskikongresni ponudniki žeznamo postaviti pravimosebam, ob pravem časuin na učinkovit način?

Kongresna ali MICE (Meetings –sestanki, Incentives – motivacij-ska potovanja, Corporates – po-slovna srečanja, Exhibitions –razstave, sejmi) dejavnost pomeniorganizacijo komunikacije. Nagelgospodarski razvoj, širitev med-narodnih integracij, razvoj znano-sti in sama globalizacija so ključnidejavniki, ki so aktivno sprožilipotrebe po hitri izmenjavi infor-macij in utrjevanju mednarodnihodnosov med državami ter medposameznimi poslovnimi subjekti.Motivi in razlogi za srečanja sorazlični. Lahko so povezani s šir-jenjem znanja, z izmenjavo izku-šenj, z urejanjem pravic in obve-znosti, z oblikovanjem zakonov, sširitvijo političnih programov alitudi z zabavo (Peterlič, 2003). MI-CE-dejavnost je torej izrednokompleksna in raznolika veja turi-stične panoge. Zaradi hitre rasti,donosnosti in širših gospodarskihučinkov slovi kot zelo privlačna.Rezultati tega se kažejo v opa-

V Sloveniji imamo veliko novih kongresnih kapacitet: dvorana Jupiter, Sava Hoteli Bled. • A num-ber of new meeting venues are available in Slovenia: the Jupiter Hall, the Sava Hotel Group in Bled.

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organizacij so vedno zelo natančno in strogo načrtovana, povezana stogim državnim protokolom, medijsko odmevna ali velikokrat tudi taj-na, predvsem pa operativno in izvedbeno zelo zahtevna. Za pridobiva-nje tovrstnih prireditev so pomembni stiki z različnimi uslužbenci vjavni upravi, katerih kontaktne podatke lahko zelo enostavno poišče-mo tudi na internetu.Posebna ciljna skupina, ki ni povezana s klasifikacijo kongresnih prire-ditev, pa so t.i. PCO-ji (Proffesional Congress Organizer), AMC-ji (Asso-ciation Management Company) in DMC-ji (Destination ManagementCompany). To so posredniki med prireditelji srečanj in kongresnimi ho-teli ali kongresnimi centri. Velikokrat so v odnosu do kongresnega na-ročnika odločilen vmesni člen pri iskanju in izbiri lokacije prireditve.Tudi s to skupino poslovnih partnerjev je smiselno vzdrževati pristne indolgoročne poslovne odnose. Velika podpora celovitemu neposrednemutrženju so seveda kakovostne baze podatkov o kupcih, ki naj bi bile pomožnosti podprte z informacijsko tehnologijo CRM.

Kako do informacij o potencialnih strankah?

Informacije o potencialnih strankah in dogodkih je možno pridobivatitudi s pomočjo spremljanja vrste množičnih medijev (obvestila, oglasi invabila k udeležbi na različnih konferencah, prispevki iz gospodarstva,članki v strokovnih revijah, internet itd.). Lastno prodajno osebje je po-trebno motivirati k učinkovitemu in ažurnemu zbiranju notranjih podat-kov o potencialnih naročnikih, s katerimi imajo kakršenkoli kontakt. Ve-liko informacij je mogoče pridobiti tudi preko predstavništev STO v tuji-ni in tudi preko članstva v mednarodnih združenjih, ki razpolagajo z ba-zami podatkov o mednarodnih dogodkih in njihovih organizatorjih.

strokovnih, gospodarskih ali inte-resnih združenj. Velikokrat so topredstojniki, profesorji in razisko-valci na fakultetah, inštitutih ali vbolnišnicah. Po navedbah medna-rodne organizacije ICCA je zaznanstveno-strokovna srečanjaznačilno, da prav vsako interesnozdruženje organizira srečanja, dase srečanja ponavljajo in da se de-stinacije menjajo. Čeprav destina-cijo izbere mednarodna organiza-cija, pa mora pobudo za organiza-cijo srečanja v določeni državi ve-dno podati lokalen član. Pri prido-bivanju znanstveno-strokovnihprireditev je tako pomemben stiks slovenskimi strokovnjaki, zlastis tistimi, ki so včlanjeni v različnamednarodna združenja. Drug segment so organizatorjigospodarsko-podjetniških priredi-tev. Po določilih mednarodne or-ganizacije ICCA je zanje značilno,da se večkrat vračajo na isto loka-cijo, da podjetja sama izbirajo de-stinacijo in da so srečanja manjša,na razpolago pa je več finančnihsredstev. Organizatorji takšnihsrečanj so največkrat oddelki tr-ženja in kadrovske službe. Karpetdeset odstotkov podjetij nikoline organizira srečanj v državah, vkaterih nimajo predstavništva.Ravno zato je ključnega pomenavzpostaviti stik s predstavništvi tu-jih podjetij v državi in preko njihpridobiti kontakte v matičnem po-djetju oziroma v drugih predstav-ništvih, predvsem v državah, ki zakongresnega ponudnika predstav-ljajo ciljne trge. Takšen pristop boomogočal pridobivanje regijskihsrečanj in motivacijskih potovanj. V tretjo skupino lahko uvrstimoorganizatorje prireditev vladnih inpolitičnih organizacij. To so pred-stavniki različnih ministrstev, dr-žavnih uradov, tujih veleposlaniš-tev, mednarodnih političnih inte-gracij, inštitucij Evropske unijeipd. Srečanja vladnih in političnih

Kako napolniti vse kongresne stole preko celega leta? • How to have every seat occupied throughout the year?

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Avtorica Elvira Krupič, 27 let, je doma na Bledu, zaposlena v službi zaprodajo in marketing v Sava hotelih Bled kot vodja kongresnega trže-nja, po izobrazbi univerzitetna diplomirana ekonomistka – diplomiralaje na Ekonomski fakulteti v Ljubljani leta 2006 na temo »Možnosti trže-nja MICE-dejavnosti v Sava hotelih Bled«.»Pred nekaj leti sem se še kot študentka udeležila ene od diskusij o tu-rizmu, ki jih večkrat na leto organizira dr. Tanja Mihalič na Ekonomskifakulteti v Ljubljani. Tema je bil kongresni turizem, o katerem takrat ni-sem vedela še čisto nič. Predavala sta nam gospod Srečo Peterlič ingospod Gorazd Čad, dva izmed vodilnih slovenskih strokovnjakov s tegapodročja. Radovedno sem ju poslušala, niti slučajno pa takrat nisemvedela, da bom o tej temi kasneje celo pisala v svoji diplomski nalogi inda se mi bo kmalu ponudila priložnost, da svojo kariero začnem ravno vtej t.i. kongresni industriji. Vendar me je prav kongresna industrija zelohitro povsem zasvojila. Ena od prelomnic je bila zame gotovo tudi ude-ležba na lanski poletni kongresni šoli EFCT v Berlinu, kjer sem ugotovi-la, da je delo na tem področju v Sloveniji za vsakogar ogromen izziv.Nešteto je še neizkoriščenih možnosti in ravno to je tisto, kar privlači.«

Članstvo v mednarodnih združen-jih vpliva na prepoznavnost posa-meznega MICE-ponudnika v tujini,prinaša pa mu tudi možnost dodat-nega izobraževanja kadrov. Najpo-membnejši dve organizaciji sta IC-CA (International Congress & Con-vention Association) in MPI (Mee-ting Proffessionals International).V prvi vrsti je predvsem nujno tudičlanstvo v nacionalnem kongre-snem uradu, ki je pomemeben virinformacij in pomeni povezavo zakterji doma in v tujini.Največji kongresni ponudniki sepod pokroviteljstvom kongresnihuradov praviloma udeležujejo tudispecializiranih MICE-borz in sej-mov v tujini, ki so idealna prilo-žnost za navezovanje poslovnihkontaktov, omogočajo osebna sre-čanja s potencialnimi kupci in tudikoristne stike s konkurenti. Glavnievropski sejemski dogodki te vrsteso IMEX Frankfurt (The WorldwideExhibition for Incentive Travel,Meetings and Events), EIBTM Bar-celona (Eeuropean Incentive Busi-ness Travel and Meetings), BTCFirence (Borsa internazionale delsistema Congressuale ed Incenti-ve) in EMIF Bruselj (European Me-eting Industry Fair). Podpora neposrednemu trženjumora biti seveda tudi dejavnostoglaševanja in odnosov z javno-stmi. Oglaševanje kongresnih ka-pacitet je priporočljivo zaradiustvarjanja prepoznavnosti in po-dobe blagovne znamke destinaci-je. Organizator srečanja pa je vkončni fazi tisti, ki je z vidika MI-CE-ponudnika najpomembnejši inpri katerem je poleg začetnegazanimanja potrebno vzbuditi pred-vsem zaupanje. Kongresni organi-zator si želi, da bi bil njegov dogo-dek odmeven in uspešen ter da biudeleženci odšli zadovoljni. Seve-da je to v končni fazi prva in naj-boljša reklama.

Uporabljeni viri in literaura:1. Elvira Krupič: Možnosti Trženja MICE de-

javnosti v Sava Hotelih Bled. Diplomskodelo. Ljubljana: Ekonomska fakulteta,2006.

2. Srečo Peterlič: Prosojnice predavanja oKongresni dejavnosti, 2003.

3. Majda Zidanski: Kongresna dejavnost –Organizacija kongresov. Bled: Albatros,2005.

Elvira KrupičKongres je organizacija komunikacije med ljudmi.

• A meeting is the organisation of communications among people.

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Marketing in the Meetings Industry

MICE Marketing:How to go about it?

MICE activities are thus an extraordinarily complex and varied line oftourism. Due to their rapid growth, profitability and wider economiceffects, they are considered quite attractive. The results are reflected in avisible and ongoing increase in the scope of offers for meeting capacitiesand services in Slovenia, which steps up competition on the one hand and,on the other, increases the need for co-operation and a joint approach onthe international market. As an interesting starting point for thought on the possibilities of marketing MICE activities we could use the results of a study carriedout by CIM magazine in 2004 within the scope of the IMEX meetingsexchange. Among other things, the results show that the majority(68.46% of 1000 surveyed) of organisers prefer to co-operate with theirchosen partners – namely with validated and verified hotels and withseveral agencies, or PCOs. The discovery that 61.54% of the organiserssurveyed will pay a higher price for services following the rule that “I'd rather choose a location (hotel, meeting venue) that I know andtrust” is also quite interesting. It is not surprising that 78.48% of theorganisers confirmed that, in addition to costs, it is trust and loyaltythat prove to be of key importance (Zidanski, 2005, p. 38).

Three target groups of meeting organisers

Marketing communications with potential congress organisers musttherefore be handled by segment, especially following the principles ofdirect marketing, which is based on relationships and personal sales.The basis of each marketing approach firstly consists of the carefulplanning of the target segments, which differ in numerous specificcharacteristics, making it necessary to treat them individually andutilise various approaches. In the MICE industry, we can aid ourendeavours by thematically ranking meeting events, and so we can

'Would you like to beknown as a host ofinternational meetings,proudly welcoming participants from all overthe world to one of thewonderful Slovenianmeeting venues?' I amcertain that the answerto this question is clear tothe majority of potentialorganisers. Nevertheless,the question is whetherproviders of Slovenianmeeting venues knowhow to contact the rightpeople, at the right timeand in the right way.

Meetings or MICE activities(Meetings - meetings, Incentives –incentive travel, Corporates – business gatherings, Exhibitions –exhibitions, fairs) cover the organisation of communications.Rapid economic development, the expansion of international integration, the development of science and globalisation are keyfactors that have actively triggereda need for rapid informationexchange and a reinforcement of international relations betweennations and individual businessbodies. The motives and reasonsfor meetings vary. They can bedirected towards expansion of knowledge, the exchange ofexperience, the arrangement ofrights and obligations, the shapingof legislation, the broadening ofpolitical programmes or evenentertainment (Peterlič, 2003). Domina Grand Media Hotel

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meetings industry. Such an approach will enable the acquisition of regional meetings and incentive trips. We can classify the organisers of events for state and political organisations as the third group. These are the representatives of various ministries, state administrations, foreign embassies, international political integrations, European Union institutions and soon. Meetings of state and political organisations are always extremelyprecise and strictly planned and associated with rigid state protocols.They either have wide media coverage or are often in secret, and theyare especially demanding in terms of operatives and implementation.To obtain such events, contacts with various civil servants in publicadministration are of extreme importance, and those contact detailscan quite easily be found on the internet. Special target groups, not associated with this classification of meetingevents are the so-called PCOs (Professional Meeting Organisers), AMCs (Association Management Companies), and DMCs (DestinationManagement Companies). These serve as intermediaries between congress organisers and congress hotels or meeting venues. Theyoften represent an excellent go-between in the relationship with theclient in the search and selection of event locations. It is also advisableto maintain genuine and long-term business relationships with thisgroup of business partners. Of course, quality databases on customersare a good support for your entire direct marketing activity, whichshould be supported using CRM information technology if possible.

How to acquire information on potential customers

Information on potential clients and events can also be obtained bymonitoring the numerous varieties of media available (announcements,advertisements and invitations to participate in various conferences,

speak of three target groups ofpotential congress organisers.The first group are the organisersof scientific/expert events whoare, as a rule, members of variousexpert economic or interestgroups. Often these are heads,professors and researchers atfaculties, institutes or hospitals.According to information from theinternational organisation ICCA, a distinguishing feature of scientific/expert meetings is thateach interest group organisesmeetings and that these meetingsare held on a repetitive basis, withchanges of destination. Althoughan international organisationchooses the destination, the offerfor the organisation of the event ina specific country should alwaysbe entrusted to a local member.When acquiring scientific/expertevents, contact with Slovenianexperts is important, particularlythose who are members of various international associations. The second segment consists of the organisers of economic/corporate events. ICCA definesthese as events that frequentlyreturn to the same location,where companies themselveschoose the destination and wherethe meetings are smaller and withmore financial funding available.Organisers of these meetings areoften marketing departments andpersonnel offices. Fifty per cent ofcompanies decline to organisemeetings in countries where theydo not have a representativeoffice. This is why it is of primaryimpor- 6 tance to establish contact with the representativeoffices of foreign companies within countries and, throughthem, obtain contact with theirparent companies or other representative offices, particularlyin countries representing targetmarkets for suppliers of the Predsedniški apartma, Grand Hotel Toplice • Presidential suite, Grand Hotel Toplice

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of a MICE provider, the congress organiser is the most important factor in the final phase, in whom one must also awaken trust as wellas initial interest. The meeting organiser wants their event to be aresounding success and wants participants to leave pleased. Of course,this is ultimately the best form of advertising.

Literary sources: 1. Krupič Elvira: Možnosti Trženja MICE-dejavnosti v Sava Hotelih Bled (Possibilities of

Marketing MICE Activities at the Sava Hotel Group in Bled). Diploma thesis. Ljubljana:Faculty of Economics, 2006. 47 pages.

2. Peterlič Srečo: Prosojnice predavanja o Kongresni dejavnosti (Transparencies from a lecture on Meeting Industry Activities), 2003.

3. Zidanski Majda: Kongresna dejavnost – Organizacija kongresov. Bled (Meeting Industryactivity – Organisation of Congresses in Bled): Albatros, 2005. 115 pages. 9 April.

Elvira Krupič

(Author: Elvira Krupič, 27, from Bled, worked in the Sales andMarketing Office of the Sava Hotel Group in Bled as CongressMarketing Manager. She has a BSc in Economics and graduated fromthe Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana in 2006 with the thesis: 'Možnostitrženja MICE-dejavnosti v Sava Hotelih Bled' (Possibilities of MarketingMICE activities at the Sava Hotel Group in Bled). Several years ago, as astudent, I attended an EF discussion on tourism organised by Dr TanjaMihalič at the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana. The topic consisted ofthe meetings industry, a topic that I had no knowledge whatsoever of atthe time. Mr Srečo Peterlič and Mr Gorazd Čad, two of the leadingSlovene experts in this field, gave lectures. I listened with great interest, not knowing then that I would later write my diploma thesis on this topic and that I would soon be given an opportunity to begin mycareer in precisely this field, the so-called meetings industry.Nevertheless, it was precisely the meetings that quickly took me over.One of the turning points for me was surely my participation in lastyear's EFCT summer congress school in Berlin, where I establishedthat work in this field in Slovenia was a great challenge for everyoneinvolved. Numerous possibilities remain that are not yet exploited andthis is what I find so enticing.

economic contributions, articles in professional journals, the internet, etc.). One must motivateone's own sales people to theeffective and concurrent collectionof internal data on all potentialclients with whom one has any contact. A great deal of information can also be • A meeting is the organisation ofcommunication among people. 7obtained from STO representativeoffices abroad and through membership of internationalassociations who possess databases on international eventsand their organisers. Membershipof international associations isbeneficial for raising the standingof an individual MICE providerabroad, as well as providing thepossibility of additional trainingfor personnel. The two mostimportant international associations are ICCA (theInternational Congress &Convention Association) and MPI (Meeting ProfessionalsInternational). Membership of a national convention bureau is also important, providing animportant source of informationand connections with active entities both at home and abroad. As a rule, the largest meetingvenue providers also participate in the sponsorship of conventionbureaus in specialised MICEexchanges and in fairs abroad,which are an ideal opportunity toestablish business contacts andpersonal meetings with potentialcustomers – as well as givinguseful contact with competitors.The main European fair events ofthis type are IMEX Frankfurt (TheWorldwide Exhibition for IncentiveTravel, Meetings and Events),EIBTM Barcelona (EuropeanIncentive Business Travel andMeetings), BTC Florence (Borsainternazionale del sistemaCongressuale ed Incentive) andEMIF Brussels (the EuropeanMeeting Industry Fair). Support to direct marketing must,naturally, include advertising andpublic relations activities.Advertising meeting venues is recommended to create awareness and brand name destinations. From the viewpoint Mestni muzej Ljubljana • Ljubljana City Museum

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Kongresna statistika

Slovenska industrija srečanj 2005

Glede na strukturo v Sloveniji prevladujejo prireditve gospodarsko – po-djetniškega značaja (51 %), sledijo znanstvene in strokovne prireditve z29 % in prireditve mednarodnih in političnih organizacij, ki so dosegle12-odstotni delež. Manjši del prireditev predstavljajo motivacijska sre-čanja, ki so zastopana v višini 8 %.

Tabela 1: Število in delež dogodkov glede na število udeležencev

Vrsta dogodka Število dogodkov Delež v %

do 50 udeležencev 4.190 64,41 %

50 – 99 udeležencev 1.117 17,17 %

100 – 249 udeležencev 791 12,17 %

250 – 499 udeležencev 287 4,42 %

500 – 999 udeležencev 78 1,20 %

1000 – 1999 udeležencev 34 0,53 %

Nad 2000 udeležencev 7 0,11 %

Skupaj 6.505 100 %

Vir: Kongresni urad Slovenije, 2006

Iz tabele je razvidno, da je več kot polovica dogodkov manjših od 50udeležencev, medtem ko je slaba tretjina dogodkov gostila med 50 in250 udeležencev in samo dobra polovica odstotka dogodkov več kot1000 udeležencev. V Ljubljani se je odvila več kot polovica dogodkov, natančneje 3.719, zveč kot dvema tretjinama udeležencev, natančneje 346.500. Na Obali inKrasu je bilo v letu 2005 organiziranih in izvedenih manj kot 10 % do-godkov (513) s 14 % vseh udeležencev. V alpskem svetu je bilo izvedenihskoraj 15 % dogodkov oz. 953, s 7 % vseh udeležencev. V wellness inspa hotelih so bili izvedeni slabi 4 odstotki dogodkov (239), z 2 % ude-ležbo oz. 11.161 udeleženci.V kongresnih centrih je bilo izvedenih dobrih 7 % dogodkov, natančneje480, medtem ko je bilo v hotelih s kongresnimi oz. konferenčnimi kapa-citetami izvedenih preko 92 % dogodkov oz. preko 6.000.Z nestrpnostjo pričakujemo rezultate statistike za leto 2006.

10 najbolj perspektivnih destinacij

1. Estonija

2. Kitajska

3. Hrvaška

4. Indija

5. Litva

6. Oman

7. Vietnam

8. Abu Dhabi

9. Namibija

10. Slovenija

Na podlagi statistikeKongresnega urada Slo-venije, pridobljene odglavnih ponudnikov kon-gresnih kapacitet v letu2005 (brez univerz, ipd.),je bilo v Sloveniji organi-ziranih 6.505 dogodkov,od tega 21 % mednarod-nih oz. slovenskih dogod-kov z mednarodno ude-ležbo. Upoštevajoč to dej-stvo, vrsto dogodka(združenje, podjetje, poli-tično), trajanje dogodkain število udeležencev jekongresna dejavnostustvarila prihodek v viši-ni 225 milijonov eur (ali16,07 % skupnih turistič-nih prihodkov v višini 1,4milijarde eur).

Vir: C&I C&I Agents’ Survey 2007Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine, UK

75

Meeting Statistics

Slovenian Meeting Industry 2005

In terms of the structure in Slovenia, corporate events prevail (51%),followed by association events (29%) and events of governmental and political organisations (12%). Incentives were a smaller share of events (8%).

Table 1: The number and share of events by participants

Type of Event Number of Events Share in %

up to 50 participants 4,190 64.41 %

50 – 99 participants 1,117 17.17 %

100 – 249 participants 791 12.17 %

250 – 499 participants 287 4.42 %

500 – 999 participants 78 1.20 %

1000 – 1999 participants 34 0.53 %

over 2000 participants 7 0.11 %

Total 6,505 100 %

Source: The Slovenian Convention Bureau, 2006.

From the table, it is evident that over half of the events had fewer than50 participants, while slightly under a third hosted between 50 and 250participants. Only slightly over a half of a per cent hosted over 1000participants.Over a half (3,719 to be precise) took place in Ljubljana, more than twothirds of the participants, or 346,500 people. Less than 10% (513 events)were organised on the coast or in Karst in 2005 and comprised 14% ofall participants. Almost 15% of the events (or 953), comprising 7% of allthe participants, were held in the Alpine area. Slightly less than 4% (or 239), consisting of 2% or a total of 11,161 participants, were held atheath centres and spa resort hotels.A good 7% of all events (480) were held at meeting venues, whilearound 92% (over 6,000) were in hotels with meeting or conferencecapabilities.We are impatiently awaiting statistical results for 2006.

Top 10 Overseas Destinations to watch

1. Estonia

2. China

3. Croatia

4. India

5. Lithuania

6. Oman

7. Vietnam

8. Abu Dhabi

9. Namibia

10. Slovenia

Based on statistics from the SlovenianConvention Bureau,obtained from keyproviders of meeting venues in 2005 (excluding universities),there were 6,505 eventsin Slovenia, of which 21% were international events or Slovenian events with an internationalattendance. Taking intoaccount the type of event(association, corporateor political), the durationof the event and thenumber of participants,this meeting activity created revenue exceeding eur 225 million(or 16.07 % of totaltourist revenues totallingeur 1.4 billion).

Source C&I Agents’ Survey 2007Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine, UK

76

Kako prepeljati udeležence do kraja vašegadogodka po ugodnih cenah?

Tel.: + 386 1 36 91 317Fax: + 386 1 23 01 325

kongresi@adria.sievents@adria.si

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telefon: 01 2006 151 • congressesakompas.si • www.kompas.si

Kompas CorporateKONGRESI, POSLOVNA POTOVANJA, LETALSKE VOZOVNICE

Kompas Corporate je Kompasovablagovna znamka za vrhunske celostnestoritve za vse poslovne uporabnike –podjetja, razli~ne ustanove in vladneinstitucije iz Slovenije in tujine.

Ne glede na to, kaj želite – letalskovozovnico ali celotno organizacijokonference kjerkoli na svetu –je Kompas Corporate tu zato,da poskrbi za vse.

77

Hotel

Ferrarska ul. 306000 KoperSlovenija

Tel.: +386 5 61440 00Fax: +386 5 61440 40Gsm: +386 51 347231E-mail: hotel@luka-kp.siMarketing:mojca.rojc@luka-kp.siwww.pristan-koper.si

Ko udobjepomeniposlovnost!Ko udobjepomeniposlovnost!

Robotrade je vodilni dobavitelj opreme za simultano tolmačenje (do 31 jezikov) in konferenčno-diskusijskihmikrofonov v Sloveniji. Trenutno predstavlja edinega ponudnika IR prenosov v digitalni tehnologiji (IR digi-tal) ter kabin, ki ustrezajo ISO 4043 standardu za mobilne kabine v Sloveniji. Paleta njihovih storitev vklju-čuje tudi najem sistemov za vodenje (tour guide systems), sistemov za šepetanje, ozvočenj ter projekcijsketehnike (LCD projektorji, platna, plasma zasloni ...), osebnih in prenosnih računalnikov. Od leta 2006 jeRobotrade tudi predstavnik/član CRN (Congress Rental Network-a) za Slovenijo. Robotrade sodeluje s profe-sionalnimi tolmači ter nudi popolne strokovne storitve najvišje kakovosti na katerikoli destinaciji v Sloveniji.

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• Skupna kapaciteta kongresnega centra: 2.600 sedežev• Kapaciteta največje dvorane: 1.100 sedežev

• 767 hotelskih sob v treh hotelih • Sodobna tehnična oprema• Izkušeno tehnično osebje n destinacijski management

• Motivacijska srečanja in prireditve

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• Total seating capacity: 2.600 • Largest convention hall seating capacity: 1.100 • Total hotel rooms: 735 in 3 hotels

• State of the art technical equipment • Experienced technical and destination management Breathtaking event locations

• Teambuilding’s and incentives

HOTELI BERNARDIN d.d., St. Bernardin, Adriatic Resort & Convention CentreObala 2, SI – 6320 Portorož • www.h-bernardin.si

LIFETREK d.o.o., Partizanska cesta 18, 4000 Kranj • T: 00 386 4 20 14 875 • F: 00 386 4 20 14 878 • M: 00386 40 50 88 35 • E: info@zmagovalec.si •www.zmagovalec.si / www.lifetrek.si • Kontaktna oseba: Ana Peskar

Organizacija dogodkov, butična korporativna srečanja in motivacijska potovanja.

Agencija LIFETREK je eden vodilnih ponudnikov korporativnih team building in team spiritdogodkov, ki jih izvajajo v vseh letnih časih. Programi so unikatni , vedno usmerjeni k novimizkušnjam in izvedeni z visoko stopnjo motivacije. Podjetje odlikuje tudi organizacija butičnihkorporativnih srečanj in kongresov, ki temeljijo na dobri ideji in efektu presenečenja. Velikpoudarek dajejo tudi motivacijskim potovanjem, ki jih za poslovne skupine organizirajo na vse celine sveta. LIFETREK trži in izvaja programe pod znamko zmagovalec.si inspiritowin.com na trgu EU. Odlikujejo jih strokovna izvedba, celostni servis in dobre ideje.

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Terme SPA Rogaška d.d., Stritarjeva 1, 3250 Rogaška SlatinaT: +386 3 811 2794 • F: + 386 3 811 2790 •

E: marketing@terme-rogaska.si; www.terme-rogaska.si

Zavod za turizem Ljubljana je vaš profesionalni partner in najboljši vir informacij o turistični in kongresni ponudbi slovenskeprestolnice. • The Ljubljana Tourist Board is your professionalpartner and best source of information on the leisure tourism

and convention offer in the Slovenian capital.

www.ljubljana-tourism.si

www.slovenia-convention.com

Gospodarsko razstavišče d.o.o., kongresni in razstavni center, Dunajskacesta 18, 1000 Ljubljana, T: 01/300 26 11, F: 01/300 26 28, E: info@gr-sejem.si;www.gr-sejem.si, kontaktna oseba: Rastko Aleš (rastko.ales@gr-sejem.si)

Zakaj GR?• na‰e kapacitete: 14 do 17 multifunkcijskih dvoranin sejnih sob• najveãja kongresna dvorana v Sloveniji za 2.200udeleÏencev• najveãja banketna dvorana za 1.200 udeleÏencev• najsodobnej‰a tehniãna oprema

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Plečnik`s Watergate (detail).

A COOL CAPITAL FOR GREAT MEETINGSLJUBLJANA is celebrating the year of famous architect Jože Plečnik in 2007. For this occasion numerous events are taking place throughout the year.

Read more on: www.ljubljana-tourism.si

HOW DO LJU DO?

www.slovenia.info

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