Successful presentation of Zagreb in Washington

The European Network of City Tourist Offices and Convention Bureaus (European Cities Marketing) organized the first ever workshop ´Meet Europe” in the USA. The participants included the Convention Bureau of the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb, along with representatives from a total of 11 other European cities.

The European Network of City Tourist Offices and Convention Bureaus (European Cities Marketing) organized the first ever workshop ´Meet Europe” outside of the Old Continent. The event took place in Washington at the end of January. The 11 European cities that participated in the workshop included the   Convention Bureau of the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb. This event attracted a total of some 30  different associations and organizers of European and international gatherings who expressed interest in organizing business gatherings in Europe.

The workshop was organized in Newseum,   a museum dedicated to journalism, and it completely fulfilled the expectations of the organizers. ´The US market is extremely important for us because for a number of years now, the Americans have held second place in terms of the number of tourist arrivals and overnights in Zagreb. Their share in the overall number of guests has been constantly on the rise and all of our activities are aimed at reducing the effects of the crisis that has taken hold of the global market, said the Convention Bureau Manager of the Zagreb Tourist Board, Zlatan Muftić. According to Muftić, the participation in the ´Meet Europe” workshop in Washington was very successful; meetings were held with numerous representatives of associations who expressed interest in Zagreb as a potential congress destination. All the ´Meet Europe” participants agree that holding the first European Cities Marketing Workshop in the USA was a mutually beneficial business decision, particularly in view of the fact that Europe is the strongest regional tourist market in the world. According to data from the Convention Bureau of the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb, the 448 business gatherings held last year were attended by 52,938 participants.

The European Network of City Tourist Offices and Convention Bureaus has 134 members in 32 countries. The main goal of their operation is to promote city-tourism related activities.