Conventa: quality instead of quantity

# tags: Events , Conventa , Exhibitions , Meetings Industry , Ljubljana

The 18th edition of Conventa reaffirmed Ljubljana as a meeting point for the so-called "New Europe"—the region stretching from Helsinki to Istanbul and from Milan to Baku.

The event brought together 192 hosted buyers (148 international and 44 regional), from 42 countries, and 129 exhibitors from 18 markets.

Always held in the same location, the fair faces a stated challenge: constantly renewing its invited buyers. The goal is to ensure 70% new hosted buyers in each edition. In 2026, for example, 65.78% of applications to become hosted buyers were rejected to safeguard the quality of the program. The profile remained focused on the corporate/incentive and association segments.

Under the theme "The Art of Meetings," this year's edition also introduced a new feature: 11 destinations integrated into post-fair fam trips programs, reinforcing the connection between the event experience and in-depth knowledge of the territory.

Over the years, Conventa has been a strategic tool for positioning Slovenia, and above all Ljubljana, as a leader in the meetings industry. Despite reaching its 18th edition this year, Petra Stusek of Ljubljana Tourism emphasizes that the fair “remains young” and continues to explore new ideas and formats.

For Fredi Fontanot of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, one of the biggest challenges is attracting new generations and understanding how to communicate with them in a transforming market. Petra Stusek highlights the need to maintain the quality of buyers, the authenticity, and the distinctive personality of Conventa.

Gorazd Cad, founder of Conventa, emphasizes that the event maintains a regional identity, but with supranational impact — a positioning based on the rigorous curation of participants and a continuous commitment to quality over quantity.

Conventa Crawl Experience: the city as a stage

The big news of this 18th edition was the Conventa Crawl Experience, a concept that sought to transform the city itself into a venue. This initiative is possible thanks to Ljubljana's compact scale, where it's possible to walk around the city center and integrate different spaces into a single route.

The idea was to provide buyers with an immersive and original experience, giving them access to special venues in the city through unique activities: painting sessions, creating personalized postcards, water tasting, a treasure hunt, a pub quiz, and even a drum circle.

Divided into groups over the two days of the fair, buyers visited the Post Office Building, the Banking Museum, the Neboticnik — the city's first skyscraper —, Place 369, and the Nebo Show Restaurant, in a strategy that combined discovering spaces with moments of interaction.

The Conventa Crawl Experience is part of an ongoing desire to present an event that is “always fresh and different,” says Jan Orsic of Ljubljana Tourism. “It was something we developed to give exhibitors the opportunity to meet a larger number of people and perhaps create a more relaxed environment where they can find something to do together.”

The goal is to maximize networking opportunities. “We are trying to create as many networking opportunities as possible, because as you can see here, all the lunches, all the events, everything is open to everyone. The business opportunities are great when you have 200 good buyers. So it's a matter of knowing how to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Drum circle: communication without words

One of the experiences integrated into the program was facilitated by Franci Krevth, from Tolkalni Krog, who was responsible for the drum circle.

When asked about the contribution of this dynamic to corporate events, he explained: “For corporate events, [drum circles] can function as icebreakers, they can also serve to connect people and help us feel each other — not with words, but with music, with rhythm — a conversation without speaking.”

With experience also in professional orchestras, Krevth draws a parallel between music and events: “There’s always a system, there’s a leader, like in an orchestra there’s a conductor. But the second most important aspect is that they listen to each other and react to each other. We all hear, but we don’t always listen. And that’s what this experience brings to people: the ability to really listen to what others have to say.”

The drum circle can take on different formats, adapted to the client's objectives. "If they just want an icebreaker, we can do 20 minutes. But sometimes they want longer sessions, of one or two hours, or several sessions on different days." In some cases, the facilitator works regularly with companies, "for example, every two weeks," as a way to relieve stress and improve the internal environment.

At the team-building level, the benefits are also clear: "Listening to each other, reacting to each other, feeling each other's emotions, and having a stress-free activity where you simply enjoy the moment."

Although primarily based in Slovenia, Franci Krevth also develops this concept in other countries, reinforcing the idea that participatory and sensory experiences can add value to corporate events.

Objectives achieved

In assessing this year's edition of Conventa, Jan Orsic, from the Ljubljana Tourism Board, believes that the objectives were achieved—and even surpassed. "I think the objectives were met, and I think we even exceeded some of the expectations."

According to Jan Orsic, the fair also functions as an innovation laboratory. “One of the very important things for us at Conventa is being a platform for experimentation. It's the basis from which new products are born. We are learning new things, we are developing new products.”

Orsic emphasizes that Conventa differentiates itself from other trade fairs in the sector: "It's important to understand that Conventa is different from other fairs because it has to offer interesting content and reliable business opportunities for people who come to the same destination."

As many exhibitors return year after year, the challenge lies in renewing demand: “Conventa has to guarantee 70% new buyers are hosted every year.” Regarding this goal, Orsic downplays the difficulty. “They [the buyers] are finite, but when you look around you see quite a few young faces. The new generation is entering the job market.”

According to him, this generation works differently: "They are young, they do things differently, their events are different, they look at the business differently. We have to adapt to that."

With around 200 buyers per edition, he considers the goal "more than feasible." In the association segment alone, considering events for 300 participants, "for Ljubljana alone there are more than 14,000 events available per year." The global economic dynamics reinforce this confidence: "We have many startups, we have companies, there is so much economic activity at a global level that I am not afraid that we will not be able to attract 200 new buyers every year."

In a context where trade shows compete for market attention, Orsic argues that Conventa's differentiation lies in the consistency of its positioning. "Conventa's unique value proposition is to come to the same place and do business with new opportunities."

And he reinforces: “We are not focused on attracting more and more, which dilutes the quality of buyers and repeats the same old business, just adding new names. We filter, we offer quality. And quality over quantity is the main idea.”

Regarding the destination's performance, Jan Orsic points out that 2024 was a record year for the Slovenian capital, entering the top 40 of the ICCA global ranking for the first time. “For a small city like Ljubljana, it's a huge achievement. These numbers, of course, fluctuate, but it's proof of concept. It works.”

After a similarly positive 2025, 2026 is expected to be strong, with two major conferences at the end of March, starting the conference season earlier than usual. "This helps us reduce seasonality."

Incentives are "growing" and the destination is practically fully booked a year in advance: "We are practically fully booked a year in advance, which is great."

In an unstable international landscape, Orsic emphasizes stability as a competitive argument. “Stability is absolutely an argument. We are one of the safest places in the world. We are very stable as a society. We are one of the most egalitarian societies.”

This predictability is crucial in a sector that operates on a long-term perspective: “We are competing for deals that could happen in eight years. And we have to be able to deliver, within eight years, what we promised. And that’s what we do.”

Hosted buyer from Portugal highlights good organization

Nélia Marques da Fonte, Business Manager of the Congress Unit at AIM Portugal, was one of the Portuguese hosted buyers present at Conventa. She gave Event Point a very positive assessment of her participation in the fair.

Organization, the intensity of the agenda, and the relevance of the contacts established are three of the strengths of the 18th edition of Conventa, according to Nélia Marques da Fonte, who was attending the fair and visiting Ljubljana for the first time.

“From an organizational point of view, I think it was well organized,” she said, highlighting the attention given to communication with buyers. One of the aspects she valued most was the possibility of pre-selecting the exhibitors she wanted to meet, and “sometimes this doesn’t happen at other fairs and other events like this, and I think it was quite positive.”

The professional came with clear objectives: "to get to know new destinations, hotels, and venues, and it was very, very interesting." The result translates into a strengthened portfolio of contacts to be able to respond to client requests.

The networking experience was also positive. "I think in terms of networking it was also very positive, also with other buyers, with other entities," she said, adding that the environment was "very engaging, it was very interactive," with the organization planning the event "in a way that people could talk and connect."

The intensity of the schedule was another highlight: "It was very intense because in that day and a half I had 26 meetings, so it was very intense."

The meeting duration — 15 minutes — sometimes proved too short: “In some cases, the 15-minute meeting was a bit short, because if one meeting is delayed, it becomes almost like a train, it's like dominoes, they all get delayed.” Even so, she considers that there were some particularly relevant meetings.

After the official programme, the buyer chose to remain at the destination to deepen her knowledge of what it has to offer: "Now I'm going to stay to get to know the destination better, to see the venues and understand a little more about the destination."

Ljubljana surprised

Among the destinations represented at the fair, the Slovenian capital stood out. "Ljubljana surprised me because, although it is a very small city, it also has many advantages because of its small size," she explained.

Sustainability and the city's compact scale were key arguments: "This sustainability factor, this factor of being able to do everything on foot without having to worry about transportation or parking, is very positive."

The hotel and congress infrastructure also received praise: “The hotel offerings are also very good, and once again, we have a large network of hotels around the congress centers, and I was actually quite impressed with the congress centers that exist.”

Conventa positions itself as a platform for the so-called "New Europe," a geography that stretches from Milan to Baku, from Helsinki to Istanbul. Regarding what Portugal can 'learn' from this region, Nélia Marques da Fonte gives the concrete example of sustainability. "Just yesterday we saw that they had ways of measuring food waste; this is something I think we still need to improve."

She also cited concerns about mobility and air quality: "These environmental concerns, for example, with traffic and pollution, of always measuring air quality," are an added value and an inevitable path for the sector.