One of the highlights of this week's Conventa in Ljubljana was the award ceremony of the Meeting Star Awards, which are considered the Oscars or "Michelin stars" of the meetings industry. Among the most notable award recipients are also Slovenian hotels, venues and destinations.
This year, a remarkable 129 destinations across 33 countries, alongside 279 hotels and convention centres from 20 countries in New Europe, received a Meeting Star Award. Among them, 124 venues received three, 103 two and 52 one. Additionally, 25 venues stood out with the prestigious Green Star recognition. Among the hotels and convention centres, 32 have joined anew.
Esteemed by event organizers, this award and certification holds significant visibility, as it is granted on meticulously developed criteria and standards. Judges evaluate destinations using the Meeting Experience Index Matrix, comprising 75 evaluation criteria. Meanwhile, hotels and venues receive a visit from the so-called Hidden Guest, who evaluates them across 654 criteria. The most exceptional awards were unveiled during a gala event held on February 21 at Cankarjev dom.
For the 2023/2024 season, Meeting Star Awards were presented in three main categories:
A. Best Congress Destination 2023/2024
129 destinations participated and winners were announced in four destination categories (XL, L, M, S destinations) and a special regional category New Europe.
B. Best Convention Hotel and Convention Centres 2023/2024
Among the 279 certified hotels from 20 New Europe countries, winners were announced in five categories (city, resort, spa, boutique hotels and convention centres). This year, the organisers also awarded two special prizes for the most sustainable and creative venue.
C. Congress Influencers 2023/2024
The Influencers were selected from 279 nominees from 24 countries, recognising destination leaders, congress agencies, hoteliers, catering companies, technology solution providers, innovators, event marketing agencies and sustainable event professionals.
More information will soon be available onThe Meeting Star Awards website, but it is important to highlight that several Slovenian companies, hotels, destinations, and venues were among the notable recipients of the awards. Ljubljana secured the top spot in the Category L for destinations hosting up to 2,000 congress participants, while Goriška Brda claimed victory in Category S for destinations accommodating up to 600 participants. Noteworthy Slovenian hotels and venues such as Vila Planinka, Sunrose 7, Intercontinental Ljubljana, Kempinski Palace, Wellness Hotel Sotelia and Brdo Congress Centre were also celebrated for their excellence in various categories, showcasing Slovenia's remarkable achievements in the meetings industry.
Idejni oče metodologije Gorazd Čad je pojasnil: “Naša ocena je predvsem orodje za izboljšanje konkurečnosti posameznih destinacij. Destinacijam ponuja zunanji pogled na njihovo ponudbo z namenom stalnega izboljševanja in doseganja odličnosti. Ker gre za sistematičen in kontinuiran proces, se lahko skozi čas spremlja tudi napredek posameznih ocenjenih kriterijev. Destinacije uporabljajo našo metodologijo predvsem zato, ker želijo postati ali ostati svetovno konkurenčne.”
Organizatorji so na dogodku poudarili še, da so Kongresne zvezde priznanje za trdo delo, ustvarjalnost in inovativnost. Vsem izrekamo iskrene čestitke.
Conventa priznanje za življenjsko delo je prejela Tatjana Radovič, ex Ljubljana Turizem / Kongresni urad Ljubljana. priznanje Conventa Hall of Fame pa Mojca Gobina Mravlje, Sava Turizem.
The organisers highlighted that the Meeting Star Awards are a recognition of hard work, creativity and innovation, while Gorazd Čad, the mastermind behind the methodology, explained: "Our assessment is primarily a tool to improve the competitiveness of individual destinations. It provides destinations with an external view of their offer in order to continuously improve and achieve excellence. As it is a systematic and continuous process, the progress of the individual criteria assessed can also be monitored over time. Destinations use our methodology primarily because they want to become or remain globally competitive."
The Conventa Lifetime Achievement Award went to Tatjana Radovič, ex Ljubljana Tourism / Ljubljana Congress Bureau, and the Conventa Hall of Fame Award to Mojca Gobina Mravlje, Sava Turizem.
Be up to date about what’s happening in Slovenian tourism. By subscribing to our newsletter you will receive the latest trade news in the field of tourism and other current information on a monthly basis.
The form contains errors
Please verify the marked fields and try again.
Share with friends
Scroll down until you see the heart icon on the left.
Click on the icon and the content will be added to favourites.
When you revisit the page (in the same browser), the content will still be saved in your favourites.
The General Terms and Conditions determine the conditions and manner of using the Slovenian Tourist Board’s Media Library services. In the Media Library, users have at their disposal high-resolution photos and audio-visual recordings of the products and services offered by Slovenian tourism, which are to be used solely for non-commercial purposes as defined below.
General rules of application
Registration is required to use the Media Library’s services. Registration is available to any legal entity in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad, regardless of their legal form, whose activities involve marketing, promoting and presenting Slovenia as a tourist destination.
Photos and audio-visual recordings (hereafter: materials) may be used free of charge for all non-commercial publications that constitute promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination, abroad or in the Republic of Slovenia, in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions.
The right to use the materials is not limited in terms of time or place (the use is permitted in Slovenia and other countries) unless a restriction relating to location and duration of use is specifically provided for an individual item of material.
The Slovenian Tourist Board reserves the right to revoke a user’s right to use certain materials at any time.
The rights acquired based on these General Terms and Conditions may not be transferred to third parties.
Citing the source and authorship
Photos and audio-visual recordings may only be used with consistent citation of author/co-authors and source: www.slovenia.info.
Rights of use
A registered user of the Media Library shall obtain the following non-exclusive economic rights to use the downloaded photos and audio-visual recordings:
the right of reproduction and distribution,
the right of making available to the public,
the right of public presentation,
the right of including photos in other copyright work.
The above rights refer to all forms of non-commercial and free-of-charge online posts, print media, audio-visual media services and other communication channels, regardless of the type of media (print, digital), which includes:
Digital catalogues, e-magazines, newsletters (solely for the purposes of free distribution);
Publication in print and other media that report on the Slovenian tourism products and services or promote Slovenia as a tourist destination;
Use on social media as part of organic posts (reporting on an event, press releases (solely unpaid posts);
Printed promotional materials, prospectuses, leaflets, brochures (solely for the purposes of free distribution);
Promotional events in the Republic of Slovenia and abroad (e.g., tourism fairs, exchanges, workshops, presentations, etc.) that are exclusively or predominantly intended to promote Slovenia as a tourist destination.
The above forms of use include solely a free-of-charge form of using materials for the purposes of promoting tourism activities and services in the Republic of Slovenia or presenting Slovenia as a tourist destination.
Prohibited forms of using materials/commercial use of materials
Using materials for commercial purposes, such as reproduction on postcards, T-shirts, books, magnets, embedding audio-visual inserts in one’s own promotional materials, all forms of external advertising (stationary billboards, digital advertising, etc.), use in advertisements unrelated to the promotion of Slovenia as a tourist destination, use on websites that are not intended to present Slovenian tourism products and services and similar activities, is not included in these General Terms and Conditions and is prohibited.
It is strictly prohibited to use materials on media and distribution channels that are marketed or sold to users (books, school textbooks, other commercial publishing, calendars, postcards, fast-moving consumer goods (clothes and other products), advertising of non-tourism products and services, reproduction of materials on vehicles, etc.).
Using audio-visual materials is allowed only in the unchanged form available in the Media Library. Transformations, adaptations, clips, embeddings, and instances of using individual shots in one’s own audio-visual works, even if intended for promotional purposes, is prohibited.
Breaches of General Terms and Conditions
Any breach of economic and/or moral rights of the authors of photographs or audio-visual recordings may constitute a criminal offence and may result in substantive and damage liability of the user.
The entity breaching copyright pertaining to the material shall reimburse the Slovenian Tourist Board for all the damage incurred to it due to the breach of rights.
The Slovenian Tourist Board shall not be liable for any use of photos and video recordings that is contrary to these rules. The user of the material shall be entirely responsible for the content and manner of use.
General provisions
These Media Library General Terms and Conditions shall apply for all instances of using the material unless the Slovenian Tourist Board and user agree on special terms of using the material in advance and in writing for a specific instance of using the material.
These General Terms and Conditions shall be subject to occasional amendments. Upon the user’s publication of the material, the version of the General Terms and Conditions that is current at that particular time shall apply for the use of materials. If the user disagrees with the amendments made to these General Terms and Conditions, they shall immediately cease using the material and remove it from all media and other communication channels.
Alma is a ChatGPT-based virtual travel guide designed to help you find information and inspiration for your next visit to Slovenia. She is full of ideas for great experiences, knows Slovenian destinations and the variety of activities you are particularly interested in, so she can offer you personalised content and inspiring stories available on the official slovenia.info tourism portal.
Our virtual advisor was inspired by the intrepid world traveller Alma M. Karlin; therefore, we named her ALMA.
For an optimal experience, we suggest talking to Alma as a real interlocutor, mentioning the destination you are interested in, the activities you want to experience and when you want to visit Slovenia.
All information provided by Alma is for information purposes only and may contain limitations and errors.
The solution is based on ChatGPT technology, which is owned by OpenAI, and programming upgrades from our partner, Creatim d.o.o.. The content of conversations is retained for 30 days. Access to the content of conversations is limited to authorised persons of the Slovenian Tourist Board and the company Creatim d.o.o., who may process this content solely for the purpose of user support, optimisation, statistical analysis and further development of the Alma service. For the purpose of formulating Alma`s responses, user queries are forwarded to OpenAI servers located outside the EU. The data are encrypted before transmission and when saved to OpenAI servers. OpenAI guarantees compliance with GDPR standards and global best practices in data protection when processing data. Please do not enter your personal information (name, surname, email, phone number, etc.) in the chat window.
I give my consent to the Slovenian Tourist Board to use cookies that enable the display of content (e.g.: audio clips, video clips, images) from other online sources (YouTube, Spotify, etc.) and remember my language selection on the www.slovenia.info website. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record and store anonymised data about my activity on the website, which will be used to provide a better user experience for visitors to the portal in the future. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana,
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
E-mail: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record my activities on the website regarding my visits to individual types of content in order to produce and display better quality content that is of interest to me.
As the Slovenian Tourist Board strives to display high-quality and interesting content on the website, it wishes to measure responses to the displayed notifications and content, track user activity on the website, and create user profiles for targeted advertising, and therefore automatically processes and analyses personal data and assesses user interest in displaying and receiving notifications. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with my rights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
I give permission for the Slovenian Tourist Board to record and store information about my interests, displays, and clicks on advertising content for the purpose of providing specific, topical, high-quality, and targeted advertising content, as well as for the purpose of measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and limiting the repetition of advertisements. These settings apply to advertisements displayed by the Slovenian Tourist Board via advertising on social media platforms (e.g.: Meta, LinkedIn, etc.), international search engines (e.g.: Google), as well as through online applications and activities that directly address the user. Such cookies allow us to track our campaigns online. I also confirm that I have been acquainted with myrights related to the provided personal data.
Personal data controller:
Slovenian Tourist Board, Dimičeva ulica 13, Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 5898 550
Email: info@slovenia.info
Privacy settings