In position. Convention bureaus are responding with new strategies to tougher competition and increasing numbers of competitors. Different concepts are effective depending on the strength of the location.

Firmly established near the top of the ICCA rankings, Vienna is a pioneer of professional destination marketing. “The further development of the city with the meetings industry in mind is a key part of the Visitor Economy Strategy 2025, which WienTourismus is currently working on and will be presenting in the autumn of 2019,” says Christian Woronka. The destination strategy is being deve‧loped together with stakeholders from the meetings industry and the tourism industry as well as the city’s districts, retailers, transport providers, property developers, universities and various initiatives. An international advisory board is in place to ensure that the broader picture is taken into account, explains the new Director of the Vienna Convention Bureau. “I want to combine Vienna’s traditional strengths with assets such as a spirit of innovation, internationalism and a modern approach,” says Woronka. Since March 2019 he has also been Director of the Department for Market Management at WienTourismus. He plans to boost the strategic thrust of WienTourismus in 19 source markets around the world.

The Salzburg Convention Bureau, managed by Gernot Marx, developed a strategy together with all its stakeholders in 2017. The bureau aims to “define successful moments for people in order to connect event planners all over the world with providers in the province of Salzburg.” Sustainability is demonstrated in Salzburg by the Austrian Ecolabel for Green Meetings and Green Events. “The slogan ‘Togetherness in Diversity’, which we launched in 2019, demonstrates our commitment not just to economic and environmental sustainability but to social sustainability as well,” emphasises Marx.

The Carinthian CVB has adopted the slogan “Change Your Perspective” and is working together with social projects in the region. Austria’s southernmost province is also attracting attention as the world’s first Slow Food Travel Region as well as an incentive destination offering beautiful scenery.

The aim of the new digital campaign “Next Stop Glasgow” is to position incentives more centrally in the city’s destination marketing efforts. With expenditure of 1,730 euros per participant, incentive trips are a strong earnings generator in Scotland, causing the Glasgow Convention Bureau to promote what this city of 600,000 has to offer through its “Next Stop Glasgow” campaign. The “City of Architecture & Design” wants to be welcoming an additional million overnight visitors by 2023. The Conference Ambassador Programme of the Glasgow Convention Bureau contributes to this: ambassadors appointed for life help to attract events to the city.

The This is Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau is planning to launch an official ambassador programme in mid-2019. Athens’ knowledge economy is strongly associated with well-known Athenian figures, and the city is now seeking to professionalise its approach. “Athens benefits from 300 days of sun a year, excellent convention centres and an award-winning international airport, which will be welcoming 134 flights from all over the world from the summer of 2019,” says Anna-Maria Chatzidaki of the This is Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Good international travel links and a smart campaign have put the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the meeting industry’s world map. “With over 85 business events and 31,000 delegates in 2018, we generated almost 22 million euros,” says Datuk Abang Abdul Karim, Chairman of the Sarawak Convention Bureau, which is running the Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) campaign. “To strengthen Sarawak in the global market, we are working with the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and its “Sarawak – More to Discover” campaign in order to be successful in the global market,” says Datuk Karim.

Jan-Philipp Schäfer, the new Director of the Cologne Convention Bureau, can look back with satisfaction on the 2018 financial year. “Cologne saw growth in meetings in 2018, hosting over 50,000 events attended by over four million delegates. Of the 1.3 billion euros of revenue generated in 2018, 720.1 million euros remained in Cologne,” says Schäfer, who has a network of over 160 partners. The Koelnmesse 3.0 programme of improvements to the city’s trade fair centre will be completed by 2030. The foundation stone for the new Hall 1plus was laid on 10 January 2019. The new exhibition, convention and event venue Confex will have a capacity of up to 5,500.

Chemnitz is also building new capacity at its C3 event centres. The Carlowitz Congresscenter is scheduled to open in mid-2020, offering 11 to 16 conference rooms and direct access to the adjacent Dorint Kongresshotel.

Dresden has lighthouse status among Germany’s convention destinations, not least due to its potential as a tourist destination. “The convention and meetings department of Dresden Marketing (DMG) serves as a one-stop office. We aim to provide all organisers with the help they need to run their convention successfully in Dresden,” says Dr Jürgen Amann, Managing Director of DMG. Planners have been able to convince themselves of the capabilities of the city’s MICE industry at events such as Dresden.Fit4Congress and the Dresden Congress Award ceremony and gala evening as well as at organised site inspections (Dresdener Kongresstage), explains Amann. One of the highlights of 2019 is a Daimler presentation that will bring dealers from all over the world to Dresden over a period of ten weeks.