15th anniversary of Conventa marks the sustainable transformation of the meetings industry

The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday at the Grand Plaza Hotel, where the organisers presented the "Conventa Hall of Fame" and "Conventa Ambassador" awards. The Conventa Hall of Fame Award for 2023 was presented to Umanotera (Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development) and ClimatePartner. Both companies were involved in the sustainable transformation of Conventa and helped to win the BEAWorld Award for the best sustainability event in the world. Natascha Ringerthaler from the Salzburg Convention Bureau was selected the Conventa Ambassador. She is a great supporter of Conventa and has been promoting the need for regional integration for years. At Conventa she is responsible for one of the largest group presentations of the Salzburg region.

At the awards ceremony, Miha Kovačič, co-founder of Conventa, emphasised: "This year, the award celebrates fifteen years together with Conventa. Every year we are surprised by new stories of excellence from the individuals and organisations that shape the Conventa story. Without their help and their belief in the mission of Conventa would have been difficult to carry out."

The guests were welcomed at the award ceremony by the Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board, MSc. Maja Pak, who emphasised: "Slovenian tourism in 2022 is already close to pre-pandemic levels in terms of tourist arrivals and overnight stays, and has even surpassed them in terms of travel export inflows. We are delighted that live events are back. The 15th anniversary Conventa brought back to Ljubljana many of the most important representatives of the region's meetings industry, an important segment that contributes significantly to increasing added value in tourism, especially outside the main tourist season. Conventa facilitates networking and the creation of top-class events. At the same time, it is a standard-setting event. Sustainability, which is the red, or should I say the green thread of Slovenian tourism, also permeates Conventa. This year, the STB, together with Ljubljana Tourism and ClimatePartner shares good sustainable practices on the so-called Green Island, with a view to ensuring that the wider meeting industry will increasingly reduce its environmental footprint and increase value for all tourism stakeholders in the future."

Since Conventa is committed to sustainability, the organisers have again measured the carbon footprint of the event together with ClimatePartner. Last year, the measures showed that 88% of the event's emissions are transport-related. This is why the organisers have paid a lot of attention to this area this year. Among other things, they managed to divert 29.5% of hosted buyers to sustainable forms of transport (train, shared transport, bus). According to Conventa co-founder Gorazd Čad, positive communication can make a difference. Among other things, he pointed out: "Measuring our carbon footprint every year allows us to measure progress and focus our sustainability activities on the most pressing areas. The key is to follow up on the steps set out in the Green Guide, which we build on every year."

This year's edition of Conventa was also marked by a number of innovations:

Conventa Green Handbook

The organisers have introduced a whole range of small and large measures that contribute to preserving our environment. They have compiled their recommendations in a comprehensive handbook, which can be downloaded for free at the following link.

Conventa Green Island

In partnership with the Slovenian Tourist Board, Ljubljana Tourism and ClimatePartner, a Green Island was set up where participants learned about good sustainable practices and how to reduce the carbon footprint of events in practice.

Measuring the carbon footprint of an event

This year, the carbon footprint of the event has also been measured. The organisers have entrusted ClimatePartner with the task. An accurately measured carbon footprint enables the planning of priority improvement steps in line with the project's sustainability criteria.

Conventa Trend Bar Live

The Conventa education and networking platform, which ran online throughout the year, went live at Conventa. The programme brought news on event organisation, information on interesting locations, trends and useful tips from experts.

Expanded network of Conventa partners

Two new partners joined the Conventa partnership in 2022: Four Points by Sheraton Ljubljana Mons, one of Ljubljana's leading congress hotels, and Visual Group Adriatic, a high-tech company in the field of multimedia technologies and technical support.

In fifteen years, Conventa has hosted 3,479 guests from 47 countries and 1,844 exhibitors from 18 countries. 46,263 meetings have been concluded through the meeting system.

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Photo: Marko Delbello Ocepek

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