Photo credit: CNTB
The Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB) and the Croatian Meeting Professionals Association (CMPA) have implemented the Croatian Convention Ambassadors (CCA) national program to further promote Croatia as a congress destination. The program is managed by the Council of the CCA program, which consists of two representatives of CNTB, a representative of CMPA and one representative each of the convention bureaus of the tourist boards of the cities of Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Opatija. Thus, one of the members of the Council is Romana Vlašić, head of the Convention bureau of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.The goal of this program is to find, support, educate and motivate leading Croatian experts from various fields of science, business and sports, who are recognized for their work and activities in the international environment and who have the desire and opportunity to bring international meetings to Croatia.
During 2022, work was done on collecting nominations and building a contact database, as well as preparing a new website, hka.hupkt.hr, where all information related to the program can be found. After two challenging pandemic years, the successful second half of last year, regarding the organization of live international congresses, led to the reactivation of work on the CCA program.
Support in the organization of international events from candidacy to holding
The CCA program provides free support to ambassadors from the stage of candidacy to the stage of holding a meeting in the destination. Support includes education and familiarization of ambassadors with the meetings industry and the process of organizing a business meeting, getting to know destinations and their offers, connecting with representatives of local self-government in case of need, but also help when making a candidacy and presentation, proposals for activities and programs before and after the business meeting itself, advice and contacts regarding potential locations and halls for holding meetings and professional PCO agencies for organizing conferences and DMC agencies of individual destinations.
Support includes the use of various available marketing and PR tools of destinations, but also partial financial support when lobbying for a certain international congress to be held in Croatia or promoting an already won congress in order to motivate as many participants as possible to participate.
Who are the Croatian congress ambassadors?
This title is intended for representatives of the academic community, public institutions, organizations and associations who are active in international institutions, corporations and associations, and are interested in bringing and organizing international business meetings to Croatia. One of the most important points for choosing an ambassador is a positive attitude, an emotional connection with Croatia and the desire to promote it.
Currently eight ambassadors and six alumni ambassadors are active in the program, i.e. ambassadors who do not have a current congress in preparation, but still contribute to the promotion of Croatia as a meetings destination and with their experience are support and motivation for their colleagues and active ambassadors. In 2022, four new ambassadors were selected - Sanjin Rački, Tanja Lupieri, Zoran Krupka and Jasmina Huskić, and the remaining active ambassadors are Snježana Dotlić, Saša Missoni, Robert Trotić and Zoran Bahtijarević.
The third Annual Dinner of the Croatian Convention Ambassadors was held
As part of the CCA program, among other things, a joint dinner is organized once a year with the aim of networking ambassadors, exchanging knowledge and experiences. Thus, on January 12, 2022, the third Annual Dinner of the Croatian Convention Ambassadors was held at the Westin Hotel in Zagreb.
At the very beginning of the dinner, Slavija Jačan Obratov, director of the Sector for the Tourist Board network and Product Development, addressed the participants, and Mirjana Resner, the head of the CNTB Convention bureau, explained to the ambassadors in what ways they can expect support from the CNTB and local convention bureaus. This was followed by news related to meetings hotels in two of Croatia's most important destinations - Zagreb and Dubrovnik. Thus, Zlatan Muftić from the Convention bureau of the Zagreb Tourist Board announced the start of a thorough renovation of the Westin Hotel, which is why it will be closed for about a year and a half, but in May 2023 the Zonar Hotel, a completely renovated former Panorama Hotel, is expected to open. Romana Vlašić from the Convention bureau of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board emphasized that the Rixos (which is now the Rixos Premium) and Hilton Imperial hotels were completely renovated during the pandemic, and the Hotel Grand Villa Argentina was closed from the end of the 2022 season, whose renovation is expected to be completed at the beginning of the 2024 season.
Also present at the dinner were Goran Pavlović from the Opatija Tourist Board and the representatives of CMPA, Ranko Filipović, Aleksandra Uhernik Đurđek and Debora Petrović.
