ASSESMENT OF CONVENTION PARTICIPANTS' SATISFACTION TOWARDS THE IMPROVEMENT OF BUSINESS TOURISM OFFER: A CASE STUDY OF ISTRIA, CROATIA

Abstract

Purpose – of this paper is to analyze participants’ profiles (characteristics) and level of their satisfaction with the offer provided in a destination. Convention tourism is extremely useful and has a number of impacts on the economy of a particular destination as well as the country. Methodology – The empirical research was concerned with exploring trends in convention tourism. The research was conducted in two convention hotels in Poreč using the survey method from 24 to 27 April 2019 and 120 properly filled questionnaires were collected. Findings – Most of the subjects were satisfied with the audiovisual equipment of the hall, quality of the exhibitors at the convention, convention program and the comfort of the hall, accessibility of the destination, the attractions in the destination, the additional content and the value for money. Participants were not satisfied with the schedule of the event and level of use of technology during the convention, which certainly points to necessary changes in the convention itself. Contribution – Conventions have an impact on the development of tourism by increasing offseason movements and creating a new image of Istria so the results of this paper could be valuable to the Istrian tourism board but also to the hotels and other facilities who are trying to profit from the convention tourism.