Budapest, Hungary
decisive factors in meeting planners’ choice of venues? Amanda Hanlin, director of global sales for HRG Meetings, Groups and Events, says: “Being in the EU provides greater protection for clients, particularly if something unexpected happens. Many clients also feel safer and more familiar when travelling within the EU.” Mike Leeson, senior events manager at Chambers Travel Events, says there are also VAT advantages for companies hosting events within the EU. But what about the impact of whether the country uses the euro or not? After all, two of the most popular destinations in the region for meetings and events are Prague and Budapest, which are both in EU countries (the Czech Republic and Hungary) but still have their own currencies. Talk to meetings buyers about these
EASTERN EUROPE
DOES EU MEMBERSHIP HAVE AN IMPACT ON MICE PLANNING? BBT LOOKS AT EMERGING MARKETS AND UPCOMING DESTINATIONS IN EASTERN EUROPE
AS THE DEBATE ABOUT THE UK’S MEMBERSHIP of the European Union (EU) gets into gear ahead of the ‘in/ out’ referendum to be held by the end of 2017, there are still plenty of countries in eastern Europe queuing up to join the EU club of nations. Serbia (see the Belgrade destination
report in BBT May/June 2015) and fellow Balkan states Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia are currently ‘candidate’ countries to join the EU, although no date has been given for when they are likely to become members. Others, including Bosnia and Herzegov- ina, are classed as ‘potential’ candidates.
76 BBT JULY/AUGUST 2015
The former Yugoslav countries of Croatia and Slovenia are already EU members. This year has also seen Lithuania
become part of the eurozone, joining its two Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia, which began using the currency in 2011 and 2014 respectively.
BENEFICIAL EFFECTS
But does EU membership and using the euro as a currency have any ben- eficial effect for eastern European des- tinations in attracting more events and conferences to their major cities? Or are more practical issues, such as cost, facilities and accessibility, the
JOINING THE CLUB
cities’ appeal and the main reasons for their popularity are value-for-money, good flight access (particularly to Prague), strong local organisation and high-quality facilities. Jennie Bryant is team leader for CWT Meetings and Events, UK and Ireland. She says having the euro does not seem to play a major part in clients’ choice of destination in the region. She adds: “None of the eastern European destinations we have booked this year have the euro, and it hasn’t affected the clients’ decisions to hold events in eastern Europe – the benefits far outweigh any non-euro complexities.”
FLIGHT ACCESS Prague is often stated as being the most popular city for meetings in eastern Europe and was last year ranked as tenth most popular conference desti- nation in the world by members of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). Budapest, which was ranked 17th, was the only other city in the region to make the top 20. Flight access is seen as being key to
Prague’s attractiveness, as Click Travel’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) manager Amanda Jardine says: “Prague’s competitive prices, easy access routes from key locations, and its central European position, straddling western and eastern Europe, make the city a great choice, particularly if there are delegates attending from all over the continent.”
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