Conference tourism: challenging conventions at EU Dialogue 2024 with ENIT
PRESS RELEASE
CONFERENCE TOURISM: CHALLENGING CONVENTIONS AT EU DIALOGUE 2024 WITH ENIT
ITALY IS ON THE EUROPEAN PODIUM FOR NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, WITH ROME AND MILAN IN THE LEAD
ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION AND INNOVATIVE DESIGN ARE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES FOR THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY
PRIANTE: “LET US INNOVATE AND CHANGE THE RULES OF THE GAME: EVERY EVENT MUST BE A STATE-OF-THE-ART EXPERIENCE”
Italy is ranked second in Europe for number of international conferences, thanks to its top destinations: Rome and Milan. Growth advocates development of other destinations that have historically hosted large conferences and meetings, such as Florence, but also of Italy’s lesser-known locations like the well-equipped and attractive Lake Como and Lake Garda.
Survey data on the meetings industry, with projections for 2023, show a significant increase in events and conferences organised in Italy. The country is therefore establishing itself as a first-rate destination for conference tourism thanks to its blend of innovation, creativity and winning strategies.
To guide the sector, ENIT is participating in EU Dialogue, a leading event on innovative marketing strategies in the meetings and conference tourism industry. This is a unique opportunity to analyse the emerging trends and revolutionary approaches that are reshaping the business tourism landscape.
ENIT’s Chair, Alessandra Priante, representing Italy at EU Dialogue, stresses "the importance of adopting cutting-edge, strategic marketing approaches focusing on sustainability and customer experience in order to ensure successful positioning within the competitive meetings and conference tourism market. Partnership and networking with operators in the sector are key to seizing the opportunities and addressing the challenges the future has in store. At EU Dialogue, ENIT aims to champion sustainable and innovative tourism by sharing ideas and best practices in order to lead the way towards increasingly dynamic, engaging and profitable conference tourism. Transforming the universal concept of sustainability into practical actions in tourism means working in two key dimensions, applicable to both leisure tourism and the meetings industry. The first is time, which, in tourism, means focusing on the seasonal nature of tourism over a 12-month period. The second is space, focusing on lesser-known locations.