Kaunas is a city that is not the administrative capital of the country, but at the same time a significant academic center (10 universities, over 30,000 students) in Lithuania.
Recognizing the needs of participants of international conference meet- ings, especially scientific ones, seems to be important for improving the process of tourist services in the city.
The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of the removal of NTBs in trade between the EU and its selected CIS partners: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan (CIS5). The report includes a discussion of methodologies of measurement of non-tariff barriers and the impact of their removal, including a review of previous studies focusing on CEE and CIS regions. Further, we employ a computable general equilibrium model encompassing the following three pillars of trade facilitation: legislative and regulatory approximation, reform of customs rules and procedures and liberalization of the access of foreign providers of services. We conclude that a reduction of NTBs and improved access to the EU market would bring significant benefits to the CIS5 countries in terms of welfare gains, GDP growth, increases in real wages and expansion of international trade. The possible welfare implications of deep integration with the EU range from 5.8% of GDP in Ukraine to sizeable expected gains in Armenia (3.1%), Russia (2.8%), Azerbaijan (1.8%) and Georgia (1.7%).
Authored by: Maryla Maliszewska, Irina Orlova, Svitlana Taran
Published in 2009
The CIS region is of vital importance for the EU countries considering that both are interconnected through cooperation or membership in supranational political and economic institutions (OSCE, WTO, OECD, NATO, etc.), through transport and energy corridors, through investment, trade and migration trends.
The interests of EU member states in the region are very diverse and are sometimes pursued in contradiction to one another. The overarching interest is of an economic nature, given the large reserves of natural resources (particularly gas and oil) and due to the size of the CIS market of 277 million consumers. Security and immigration issues also rank high on the list, whereas EU countries are less concerned with democratisation trends in the CIS. Russia is the most important CIS partner for a majority of EU countries. Energy plays a disproportionally high role in EU member states (MS) - Russia relations and is also a strong determinant of the overall heterogeneity of EU MS policies towards Russia. The type of bilateral relations which the EU MS maintain with one sub-region of the CIS (particularly the EENP, but increasingly also Central Asia) also affects their relations with Russia. Cultural closeness and a common history still play a large part in the development of bilateral relations. The accession to the EU of Central and Eastern European states has altered the existing relations between them and their eastern CIS neighbours, thereby also modifying their interests in the region. Regrettably, the EU's policies towards Russia and the EENP region have not yet been able to provide a playing field able to compensate for this alteration.
Thus, the present report studies the various interests (political, security, economic, cultural) which underpin relations between the EU member states and the CIS countries and also discusses the latest developments in EU policies towards a specific CIS sub-region (Russia, the Eastern ENP and Central Asia), thereby providing a broad picture of the type of interests, how they are pursued by the EU member states and where these intersect or clash.
Authored by: George Dura
Published in 2008
This study seeks to determine the extent to which countries of the former Soviet Union are "infected" by the Dutch Disease. We take a detailed look at the functioning of the transmission mechanism of the Dutch Disease, i.e. the chains that run from commodity prices to real output in manufacturing. We complement this with two econometric exercises. First, we estimate nominal and real exchange rate models to see whether commodity prices are correlated with the exchange rate. Second, we run growth equations to analyse the possible effects of commodity prices and the dependency of economic growth on natural resources.
Authored by: Balazs Egert
Published in 2009
Institutional harmonization is an important part of European integration, and its effects are more far reaching than the effects of trade liberalization. In its policy towards neighbors (the European Neighborhood Policy, ENP), the EU puts a lot of stress on the desirability of institutional harmonization, at least in certain areas. In particular, the free trade agreements that the EU envisages concluding with its Eastern neighbors will involve substantial harmonization of product standards, competition policy and a range of other policies and processes. At the very least, the harmonization will have to focus on the areas that relate to improvement of market access, i.e. removing restrictions to trade, harmonizing product standards and the systems of quality control etc. But in order to implement the new standards and rules, the EU neighbors will have to reform many related areas, so that the harmonization will encompass the whole system of economic governance. Not only will such a revamp help attaining better access to the EU markets, but also (and probably more importantly) it will stimulate modernization of the neighbors' economies and bring much needed efficiency gains.
In measurement of benefits of harmonization we refer to two methods: one based on the computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling of welfare effects of better market access, and the other employing a growth model to estimate the wider effects of European institutions on growth. The estimation of costs of harmonization bases on extrapolation of the analogous costs in other countries, in particular CEE. These costs include expenses by a public sector on introduction of harmonization measures, as well as private sector expenses and investments related to their implementation.
Authored by: Anna Kolesnichenko
Published in 2009
George Bogachevsky is seeking a professional position utilizing his research, analytical, and creative skills. He has extensive education and experience in accounting, finance, and economic analysis. He is currently an accountant at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, where he performs financial analysis and research on international economic relations.
International conference on tourism in Vietnam 2017 Huyen Mecghi
The document announces an international conference on tourism in Vietnam to be held from October 13-14, 2017 at the National Economics University in Hanoi. The conference aims to discuss contemporary issues in tourism development in Vietnam, ASEAN, and worldwide. Scholars, practitioners, and policymakers are invited to submit papers on topics related to tourism industry structures, challenges, regional cooperation, tourism management, and implications for Vietnam's tourism industry. Abstracts and full papers in English or Vietnamese must be submitted by August 30, 2017. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings.
This paper reviews the published literature on the definition and measurement of the administrative and compliance costs of taxation, with special reference to VAT (including evasion and fraud) in the European Union.
Written by Luca Barbone, Richard M. Bird, and Jaime Vasquez-Caro. Published in March, 2012.
See more on our website: http://www.case-research.eu/en/node/57573
Tourism is an activity that can improve main macroeconomic indicators. The opportunities for sustainable tourism development and the preservation of its competitiveness is largely influenced by the quality of the environment and the preservation of goods and resources. The paper will examine the impact of the number of international arrivals and receipts from international tourism on the GDP per capita for 2009-2015 and its impact on unemployment and the human development index as the selected component of sustainable development. Based on the relationship between these values, the basic relations between the selected indicators will be identified. The results will include all aspects, establish priorities, concrete proposals - strategic projects that can be realized in the coming period in order to increase the number of tourists and tourism revenues, which would affect the economic growth and development of the Republic of Serbia.
The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of the removal of NTBs in trade between the EU and its selected CIS partners: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan (CIS5). The report includes a discussion of methodologies of measurement of non-tariff barriers and the impact of their removal, including a review of previous studies focusing on CEE and CIS regions. Further, we employ a computable general equilibrium model encompassing the following three pillars of trade facilitation: legislative and regulatory approximation, reform of customs rules and procedures and liberalization of the access of foreign providers of services. We conclude that a reduction of NTBs and improved access to the EU market would bring significant benefits to the CIS5 countries in terms of welfare gains, GDP growth, increases in real wages and expansion of international trade. The possible welfare implications of deep integration with the EU range from 5.8% of GDP in Ukraine to sizeable expected gains in Armenia (3.1%), Russia (2.8%), Azerbaijan (1.8%) and Georgia (1.7%).
Authored by: Maryla Maliszewska, Irina Orlova, Svitlana Taran
Published in 2009
The CIS region is of vital importance for the EU countries considering that both are interconnected through cooperation or membership in supranational political and economic institutions (OSCE, WTO, OECD, NATO, etc.), through transport and energy corridors, through investment, trade and migration trends.
The interests of EU member states in the region are very diverse and are sometimes pursued in contradiction to one another. The overarching interest is of an economic nature, given the large reserves of natural resources (particularly gas and oil) and due to the size of the CIS market of 277 million consumers. Security and immigration issues also rank high on the list, whereas EU countries are less concerned with democratisation trends in the CIS. Russia is the most important CIS partner for a majority of EU countries. Energy plays a disproportionally high role in EU member states (MS) - Russia relations and is also a strong determinant of the overall heterogeneity of EU MS policies towards Russia. The type of bilateral relations which the EU MS maintain with one sub-region of the CIS (particularly the EENP, but increasingly also Central Asia) also affects their relations with Russia. Cultural closeness and a common history still play a large part in the development of bilateral relations. The accession to the EU of Central and Eastern European states has altered the existing relations between them and their eastern CIS neighbours, thereby also modifying their interests in the region. Regrettably, the EU's policies towards Russia and the EENP region have not yet been able to provide a playing field able to compensate for this alteration.
Thus, the present report studies the various interests (political, security, economic, cultural) which underpin relations between the EU member states and the CIS countries and also discusses the latest developments in EU policies towards a specific CIS sub-region (Russia, the Eastern ENP and Central Asia), thereby providing a broad picture of the type of interests, how they are pursued by the EU member states and where these intersect or clash.
Authored by: George Dura
Published in 2008
This study seeks to determine the extent to which countries of the former Soviet Union are "infected" by the Dutch Disease. We take a detailed look at the functioning of the transmission mechanism of the Dutch Disease, i.e. the chains that run from commodity prices to real output in manufacturing. We complement this with two econometric exercises. First, we estimate nominal and real exchange rate models to see whether commodity prices are correlated with the exchange rate. Second, we run growth equations to analyse the possible effects of commodity prices and the dependency of economic growth on natural resources.
Authored by: Balazs Egert
Published in 2009
Institutional harmonization is an important part of European integration, and its effects are more far reaching than the effects of trade liberalization. In its policy towards neighbors (the European Neighborhood Policy, ENP), the EU puts a lot of stress on the desirability of institutional harmonization, at least in certain areas. In particular, the free trade agreements that the EU envisages concluding with its Eastern neighbors will involve substantial harmonization of product standards, competition policy and a range of other policies and processes. At the very least, the harmonization will have to focus on the areas that relate to improvement of market access, i.e. removing restrictions to trade, harmonizing product standards and the systems of quality control etc. But in order to implement the new standards and rules, the EU neighbors will have to reform many related areas, so that the harmonization will encompass the whole system of economic governance. Not only will such a revamp help attaining better access to the EU markets, but also (and probably more importantly) it will stimulate modernization of the neighbors' economies and bring much needed efficiency gains.
In measurement of benefits of harmonization we refer to two methods: one based on the computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling of welfare effects of better market access, and the other employing a growth model to estimate the wider effects of European institutions on growth. The estimation of costs of harmonization bases on extrapolation of the analogous costs in other countries, in particular CEE. These costs include expenses by a public sector on introduction of harmonization measures, as well as private sector expenses and investments related to their implementation.
Authored by: Anna Kolesnichenko
Published in 2009
George Bogachevsky is seeking a professional position utilizing his research, analytical, and creative skills. He has extensive education and experience in accounting, finance, and economic analysis. He is currently an accountant at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, where he performs financial analysis and research on international economic relations.
International conference on tourism in Vietnam 2017 Huyen Mecghi
The document announces an international conference on tourism in Vietnam to be held from October 13-14, 2017 at the National Economics University in Hanoi. The conference aims to discuss contemporary issues in tourism development in Vietnam, ASEAN, and worldwide. Scholars, practitioners, and policymakers are invited to submit papers on topics related to tourism industry structures, challenges, regional cooperation, tourism management, and implications for Vietnam's tourism industry. Abstracts and full papers in English or Vietnamese must be submitted by August 30, 2017. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings.
This paper reviews the published literature on the definition and measurement of the administrative and compliance costs of taxation, with special reference to VAT (including evasion and fraud) in the European Union.
Written by Luca Barbone, Richard M. Bird, and Jaime Vasquez-Caro. Published in March, 2012.
See more on our website: http://www.case-research.eu/en/node/57573
Tourism is an activity that can improve main macroeconomic indicators. The opportunities for sustainable tourism development and the preservation of its competitiveness is largely influenced by the quality of the environment and the preservation of goods and resources. The paper will examine the impact of the number of international arrivals and receipts from international tourism on the GDP per capita for 2009-2015 and its impact on unemployment and the human development index as the selected component of sustainable development. Based on the relationship between these values, the basic relations between the selected indicators will be identified. The results will include all aspects, establish priorities, concrete proposals - strategic projects that can be realized in the coming period in order to increase the number of tourists and tourism revenues, which would affect the economic growth and development of the Republic of Serbia.
This paper analyzes the direct and indirect income effects of international labor migration and remittances in selected CIS countries. The analysis is based on computable general equilibrium (CGE) models for Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. All net emigration countries would experience a sharp contraction of private consumption in the absence of remittances. In Russia, the main effect of immigration has been to hold down the real wage (as potential capital stock adjustments in response to immigration are not reflected in the authors comparative-static modeling framework). The paper concludes that because of the important contribution of migration and remittances to stabilizing and sustaining incomes in many CIS countries, enhanced opportunities for legal labor migration should figure prominently in any deepening of bilateral relations between CIS countries and the European Union under the European Neighborhood Policy.
Authored by: Aziz Atamanov, Toman Omar Mahmoud, Roman Mogilevsky, Kseniya Tereshchenko, Natalia Tourdyeva
Published in 2009
Ainura Uzagalieva
Vitaly Vavryschuk
The global food price shock of 2006-2008 has particularly affected poorer strata of populations in several developing countries. In Egypt and some other countries it has put food subsidy schemes to the test. This paper develops two comparable computable general equilibrium models for Egypt and Ukraine which are used to simulate direct and indirect impacts of the food price surge and various policy options on the performance of the main macroeconomic indicators as well as on poverty outcomes. The results illustrate the limited ability of realistic policy responses to mitigate negative social consequences of an external price shock. Food import tariff cuts are a partial remedy faring better than other analysed options. Furthermore, the Egyptian system of food subsidies needs substantial reforms limiting the related fiscal burden and improving the targeting of the poor population.
Authored by: Soheir Aboulenein, Heba El Laithy, Omneia Helmy, Hanaa Kheir-El-Din, Liudmyla Kotusenko, Maryla Maliszewska, Dina Mandour, Wojciech Paczynski
Published in 2010
Labor migration from Eastern Europe and the member countries of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to the Western countries became an important socio-economic issue. Since political systems and the nature of border management in these regions, migrations turned out to be a very complex and unpredictable issue. The purpose of this study is to analyze the region specific actors, practices and policies of migration in the Eastern countries, the possible scenarios and demographic consequences of the future migration flows. In order to address this issue properly, some of the complexities of labor migration phenomenon in the region are uncovered.
Authored by: Xavier Chojnicki, Ainura Uzagalieva
Published in 2008
This paper analyzes the costs of (partial) institutional harmonization with the EU acquis which countries of the former USSR are expected to conduct under their Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with the EU and European Neighborhood Policy Action Plans. The public sector will have to take an effort of the transposition and adaptation of EU norms, as well as ensuring that they are complied with. Yet, the major part of the adjustment costs will fall on the private sector, as enterprises will have to make substantial investments to comply with new product requirements and business practices.
In this study we used the method of extrapolation of average costs for CEE countries’ harmonization with acquis to estimate the potential harmonization costs for the neighboring countries based on internationally comparative macroeconomic indicators like sectoral and total value added. This involved estimating the EU pre-accession support for the CEE countries by main areas as a percentage of the total or sectoral value added, determining the expected degree of limited harmonization in the ENP countries and estimating “coefficients of limited harmonization”, which was subsequently used for adjustment of the estimated cost of full harmonization.
Authored by: Veliko Dmitrov
This paper studies costs and benefits of institutional harmonisation in the context of EU relations with its neighbors. The purpose of this paper is to outline the likely forms of institutional harmonisation between the EU and its Eastern neighbors and provide an
overview of the methodologies that can be used in measuring its effects (costs and benefits). This paper serves as a background for two measurement exercises – one on benefits and another on costs – that are to be undertaken during the second stage of research.
Authored by: Veliko Dimitrov, Vladimir Dubrovskiy, Anna Kolesnichenko, Irina Orlova
Published in 2007
The paper discusses possible directions and magnitudes of the relationship between the social security driven tax wedge, employment and shadow employment in Russia and Ukraine. The first section presents a summary of the economic and institutional background for development of the current size and structure of the socially driven tax wedge in both countries. The second section presents some theoretical considerations on the relationship between the social protection system, tax wedge, non-employment and finally, shadow employment. The third section contains an attempt to econometrically estimate the magnitude of the possible relationship between the tax wedge and total employment rates in both countries. In the fourth section, the authors try to discover the mechanism of influence of the last reform of the Ukrainian payroll tax system on the structure and size of shadow employment in the country. The last analytical section closes the circle leading the reader back from shadow employment to wages and finally to the issue of access to social security institutions. The last section concludes.
Authored by: Marek Gora, Oleksandr Rohozynsky, Irina Sinitsina, Mateusz Walewski
Published in 2009
Tourism is one of leading economic activities in the EU, which significantly contributes to economic development. In order to achieve a sustainable, responsive and high-quality tourism development, it is necessary to plan a strategy that will efficiently use and intensify the processes of tourism development in the EU. The variations in the types and needs of the tourists and the tourist industry impose a multi-dimensional approach to the study of the tourism market. This paper implements a simple methodology for measuring the performance of the EU tourism market using an integrated model for ranking-PROMETHEE model. Based on the eight criteria defined in relation to the performance of the tourist market, the ranking of the 28 EU countries will be carried out. The results of the model will point to the evaluation of the tourism market performance and will define the recommendations and strategies for the tourism market development in relation to the countries that have the best rank.
This paper analyses the impact of exchange rate regimes on the real sector. While most studies in this field have so far concentrated on aggregate variables, we pursue a sectoral approach distinguishing between the tradable and nontradable sectors. Firstly, we present a survey of the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. This demonstrates that evaluations of exchange rate regimes and their impact on the real economy are largely dependant on specific assumptions concerning, in particular, the parameters of a utility function, the nature of the price adjustment process and the characteristics of analysed shocks. Secondly, we conduct an empirical analysis of the behaviour of the tradable and nontradable sectors under different exchange rate regimes for seven Central and Eastern European countries. We find no firm evidence of a differential impact of given exchange rate regimes on the dynamics of output and prices in the two sectors. We proffer a conceptual and technical interpretation of this.
Authored by: Przemyslaw Kowalski, Wojciech Paczynski, Łukasz Rawdanowicz
Published in 2003
In this paper the authors undertake an ex-post evaluation of whether the special economic zones (SEZs) introduced in Poland in 1994 have been successful in meeting regional development objectives. They evaluate the policy of as many of its objectives as possible: employment creation, business creation (which includes attracting foreign direct investment), income or wage effects, and environmental sustainability. They use different panel data methods to investigate this question at the powiat and gmina levels in Poland during the 1995-2011 period. It is also possible to include numerous controls to reduce the problem of the omitted variables bias such as education level, dependency rates, state ownership, general subsidies and whether the area is urban or rural. The results indicate that SEZs in Poland have been successful in a number of their objectives such as private business creation. The positive effect of the policy however mainly comes through foreign direct investment (FDI), whereas the effects on e.g. investment and employment are small or insignificant. In other areas, such as securing higher income levels and locking firms into the sustainability agenda through the adoption of green technologies and reduced air pollution, the authors find only a small positively moderating effect of the policy on what are traditionally economically disadvantaged areas in Poland that used to be dependent on the socialist production model. Hence, despite high levels of FDI, the zones policy has not managed to overcome the legacy of backwardness or lagging regions. The main policy implication of the paper is that SEZs may be successful in stimulating activity in the short run but the policy must be seen as one of necessary temporality and can therefore not stand alone. Before launching SEZs, policymakers must have plans in place for follow up measures to ensure the longer term competitiveness and sustainability implications of such an initiative. There is a need to understand the connection between the specific incentive schemes used (in this particular case tax incentives were used) and the kinds of firms and activities they attract, including the behavioral models that those incentives promote.
Authored by: Camilla Jensen
Published in 2014
This paper examines the motives behind foreign direct investment (FDI) in a group of four CIS countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan) based on a survey of 120 enterprises. The results indicate that non-oil multi-national enterprises (MNEs) are predominantly oriented at serving local markets. Most MNEs in the CIS operate as 'isolated players', maintaining strong links to their parent companies, while minimally cooperating with local CIS firms. The surveyed firms secure the majority of supplies from international sources. For this reason, the possibility for spillovers arising from cooperation with foreign-owned firms in the CIS is rather low at this time. The lack of efficiency-seeking investment poses further concern regarding the nature of FDI in the region. The most significant problems identified in the daily operations of the surveyed foreign firms are: the volatility of the political and economic environment, the ambiguity of the legal system and the high levels of corruption.
Authored by: Malgorzata Jakubiak
Published in 2008
Internationalization of Russian Universities: The Chinese VectorRussian Council
This Report was prepared by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) as a part of the project “The Development of Russian—Chinese Relations”, based on research of the practical experience accumulated by several leading Russian universities. The Report contains a number of particular recommendations aimed at reinforcing Russia’s positions in the education market of China and the Asia-Pacific region in general, as well as developing Russia’s innovation potential through the expansion of mutually beneficial scientific and educational cooperation between the two countries.
The report reviews key issues in energy trade and cooperation between the EU and CIS countries. It describes historical trends of oil and gas demand in the EU, other European and CIS countries and offers demand forecasts until 2030. Recent developments in oil and gas production and exports from Russia and Caspian countries are covered in detail leading to the discussion of the likely export potential of these regions. The key factors determining the production outlook, trade-offs and competition related to energy resources transportation choices are also discussed. The report also covers the interests and role of transit countries in relations between producer and consumer regions. The analytical section leads to policy recommendations that focus mainly on the EU.
Authored by: Sabit Bagirov, Leonid Grigoriev, Wojciech Paczynski, Vladimer Papava, Marcel Salikhov, Michael Tokmazishvili
Published in 2009
In recent years, the EU has assumed a greater role in dealing with security concerns
within the EU. In response to nation states’ decreasing capabilities to deal effectively
with problems at the national level, domestic policy fields such as asylum and migration
have been at least partially transferred to supranational responsibility (Scharpf, 2003;
Zürn, 2000). One of the issues that receives increasing attention at the supranational
level is irregular migration. Every year, an estimated 30 million people cross an
international border irregularly, of which, according to Europol, between 400,000 and
500,000 enter the EU. The stock of irregular residents in the EU is currently estimated
to be around three million (Council of Europe, 2003). In recent years, EU members
have come to the conclusion that they are no longer able to properly react to the
phenomenon of irregular migration on the domestic level and instead need to combine
their efforts regarding return policies on the European level. Measures against irregular
immigration thus became a focal point in the EU’s efforts to establish an ‘area of
freedom, security and justice’.
At the same time, the EU’s role in the outside world has changed. With the Eastern
enlargement, new regions and countries became neighbours of the EU. New
frameworks of cooperation, such as the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP)
and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) were set in motion to closely affiliate
neighbouring states with the EU (Emerson, 2005; Emerson & Noutcheva, 2005;
Emerson et al., 2007; Landaburu, 2006; Tassinari, 2006). The EU tried to assume a
greater responsibility in the stabilisation of the neighbourhood and sought to “promote a
ring of well governed countries to the East of the European Union and on the borders
of the Mediterranean with whom we can enjoy close and cooperative relations”
(European Security Strategy, 2003, p. 8). A major challenge in the EU’s efforts to
stabilise the neighbourhood was to find a proper balance with the internal security
concerns. Whereas the EU’s foreign and security policy was interested in advancing
regional integration and good neighbourly relations, the EU justice and home affairs
ministers were primarily guided by their interest in keeping problems out and the
external border closed.
This paper is concerned with an EU foreign policy instrument that is a case in point for
this struggle: EC visa facilitation and readmission agreements. These agreements aim
at fostering good neighbourly relations by easing the tight visa regime with
neighbouring countries in order to externalise a restrictive migration policy. By
elaborating on the EU’s strategy on visa facilitation and readmission, this paper aims at
offering a first systematic analysis of the objective, substance, and political implications
of these agreements. When was the link between visa facilitation and readmission
made? What are the target
This document provides a summary of various eResources that can be used for research, including scholarly databases, survey reports and datasets, and useful links. It describes several databases like JSTOR, Project Muse, World Development Indicators, and EbscoHost that provide access to academic journals, publications, and statistics. It also lists survey datasets from the CRRC Data Initiative and other organizations on topics like corruption, labor migration, and demography in Armenia. Finally, it provides links to resources on research methodology.
The empirical analysis of the determinants of institutional development in transition countries as well as the qualitative country studies summarized in this publication allow for some optimism concerning a potential impact of the EU on institution building and governance quality in CIS countries. Regression analysis reveals a positive impact of EU cooperation agreements below a membership perspective. Alternatively to the EU, entry into the NATO accession process also exerts incentives for better institutions which are often overlooked. In contrast, WTO membership is not found to have any impact on institution building in CIS countries. While there is room for some EU-related optimism given the results from the regression analysis it depends on the country-specific ENP action plans and programs whether or not ENP cooperation actually leads to Europeanization or institutional convergence towards EU standards in the CIS. The case studies on the effectiveness of Neighborhood Europeanization through ENP in Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan reveal that current EU policies towards these countries can be, at best, seen as a catalyst but not as a main driver of institutional convergence. A perspective for a stake in the internal market is on the long horizon for Ukraine only. ENP mechanisms for conflict resolution in Georgia and Azerbaijan have been rather weak before the recent clash in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The top-down institutional convergence, i.e. an EU-first strategy, worked well for Enlargement Europeanization but implemented in the ENP it significantly reduces the leverage of the EU to create a ring of well-governed neighbour states.
Authored by: Thorsten Drautzburg, Andrea Gawrich, Inna Melnykovska, Rainer Schweickert
Published in 2008
This paper provides the results of analyses of key problems related to pension systems and their reforms in Russia and Ukraine. The pension systems and their reforms in both countries are compared. They are also compared with the general picture observed in the OECD or selected countries belonging to that area. The analysis focuses on long-term trends rather than short-term shocks. The recent economic crisis is not covered since the analysis was mostly completed by 2008.
Authored by: Marek Gora, Oleksandr Rohozynsky, Oksana Sinyavskaya
Published in 2010
This document analyzes knowledge-based entrepreneurship (KBE) in Poland by examining case studies of several Polish firms. It finds that the firms studied rely primarily on in-house knowledge resources and innovation, with little evidence of open or distributed innovation. The firms have achieved success with minimal help from the Polish state and have relied mainly on networks of families and friends, including local industrial clusters. In general, the document concludes that Poland appears to be a relatively poor location for knowledge-based entrepreneurship.
This working document offers a conceptual framework for understanding the processes underpinning the external dimension of EU Justice and Home Affairs (ED-JHA). Practically, it defines how the export of JHA principles and norms inform the geopolitical ambitions of the EU, i.e. the use of space for political purposes, or the control and management of people, objects and movement. The author begins by investigating how the ENP reconfigures the ED-JHA, and then goes on to discuss various conceptual stances on governance, specifically institutionalism, constructivism, and policy instruments. To conclude he traces the evolution of this external dimension, emphasising, whenever possible, its continuities and bifurcations. Overall, the aim is to ascertain the extent to which conceptual designs clarify or advance our knowledge of the contents and rationales of the ED-JHA.
Authored by: Thierry Balzacq
Published in 2008
Exploring the separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine from outer spaceDonbassFullAccess
The document provides an overview of the founding history of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) in 1973. It discusses how the idea for establishing an East-West economic research institute in Vienna emerged in the 1960s from WIFO Director Franz Nemschak and the Ford Foundation. Key events that moved this idea forward included an economic conference in 1965 and the Prague Spring in 1968, which led Czechoslovak and Polish economists to take up positions at WIFO. With financial support from the Ford Foundation, wiiw was established in 1973 as an independent institute focused on research between Eastern and Western economies during the Cold War period.
2nd Annual International Conference on Communication and Management (ICCM2016), 9 -12 May 2016, in Athens, Greece. organised by the Communication Institute of Greece (COMinG)
Business travel is an important sector of tourism which includes tourists who attend congresses, conferences, exhibitions, incentive travels, events and business corporate travels.
Many countries have realized the significance of this part of tourism development and thus influence on its organization, promotion and realization. Business travel includes meetings, incentive travels, congresses, conventions and exhibitions. Because of that, both domestic and foreign literature more increasingly use the acronym MICE for these types of travel. This part of the tourist market is an extremely important part of business, especially when it comes to the extension of the tourist season, which increases the attractiveness of the tourist destination and the economic effects achieved by the development of this part of the tourist market.
This paper analyzes the direct and indirect income effects of international labor migration and remittances in selected CIS countries. The analysis is based on computable general equilibrium (CGE) models for Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. All net emigration countries would experience a sharp contraction of private consumption in the absence of remittances. In Russia, the main effect of immigration has been to hold down the real wage (as potential capital stock adjustments in response to immigration are not reflected in the authors comparative-static modeling framework). The paper concludes that because of the important contribution of migration and remittances to stabilizing and sustaining incomes in many CIS countries, enhanced opportunities for legal labor migration should figure prominently in any deepening of bilateral relations between CIS countries and the European Union under the European Neighborhood Policy.
Authored by: Aziz Atamanov, Toman Omar Mahmoud, Roman Mogilevsky, Kseniya Tereshchenko, Natalia Tourdyeva
Published in 2009
Ainura Uzagalieva
Vitaly Vavryschuk
The global food price shock of 2006-2008 has particularly affected poorer strata of populations in several developing countries. In Egypt and some other countries it has put food subsidy schemes to the test. This paper develops two comparable computable general equilibrium models for Egypt and Ukraine which are used to simulate direct and indirect impacts of the food price surge and various policy options on the performance of the main macroeconomic indicators as well as on poverty outcomes. The results illustrate the limited ability of realistic policy responses to mitigate negative social consequences of an external price shock. Food import tariff cuts are a partial remedy faring better than other analysed options. Furthermore, the Egyptian system of food subsidies needs substantial reforms limiting the related fiscal burden and improving the targeting of the poor population.
Authored by: Soheir Aboulenein, Heba El Laithy, Omneia Helmy, Hanaa Kheir-El-Din, Liudmyla Kotusenko, Maryla Maliszewska, Dina Mandour, Wojciech Paczynski
Published in 2010
Labor migration from Eastern Europe and the member countries of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to the Western countries became an important socio-economic issue. Since political systems and the nature of border management in these regions, migrations turned out to be a very complex and unpredictable issue. The purpose of this study is to analyze the region specific actors, practices and policies of migration in the Eastern countries, the possible scenarios and demographic consequences of the future migration flows. In order to address this issue properly, some of the complexities of labor migration phenomenon in the region are uncovered.
Authored by: Xavier Chojnicki, Ainura Uzagalieva
Published in 2008
This paper analyzes the costs of (partial) institutional harmonization with the EU acquis which countries of the former USSR are expected to conduct under their Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with the EU and European Neighborhood Policy Action Plans. The public sector will have to take an effort of the transposition and adaptation of EU norms, as well as ensuring that they are complied with. Yet, the major part of the adjustment costs will fall on the private sector, as enterprises will have to make substantial investments to comply with new product requirements and business practices.
In this study we used the method of extrapolation of average costs for CEE countries’ harmonization with acquis to estimate the potential harmonization costs for the neighboring countries based on internationally comparative macroeconomic indicators like sectoral and total value added. This involved estimating the EU pre-accession support for the CEE countries by main areas as a percentage of the total or sectoral value added, determining the expected degree of limited harmonization in the ENP countries and estimating “coefficients of limited harmonization”, which was subsequently used for adjustment of the estimated cost of full harmonization.
Authored by: Veliko Dmitrov
This paper studies costs and benefits of institutional harmonisation in the context of EU relations with its neighbors. The purpose of this paper is to outline the likely forms of institutional harmonisation between the EU and its Eastern neighbors and provide an
overview of the methodologies that can be used in measuring its effects (costs and benefits). This paper serves as a background for two measurement exercises – one on benefits and another on costs – that are to be undertaken during the second stage of research.
Authored by: Veliko Dimitrov, Vladimir Dubrovskiy, Anna Kolesnichenko, Irina Orlova
Published in 2007
The paper discusses possible directions and magnitudes of the relationship between the social security driven tax wedge, employment and shadow employment in Russia and Ukraine. The first section presents a summary of the economic and institutional background for development of the current size and structure of the socially driven tax wedge in both countries. The second section presents some theoretical considerations on the relationship between the social protection system, tax wedge, non-employment and finally, shadow employment. The third section contains an attempt to econometrically estimate the magnitude of the possible relationship between the tax wedge and total employment rates in both countries. In the fourth section, the authors try to discover the mechanism of influence of the last reform of the Ukrainian payroll tax system on the structure and size of shadow employment in the country. The last analytical section closes the circle leading the reader back from shadow employment to wages and finally to the issue of access to social security institutions. The last section concludes.
Authored by: Marek Gora, Oleksandr Rohozynsky, Irina Sinitsina, Mateusz Walewski
Published in 2009
Tourism is one of leading economic activities in the EU, which significantly contributes to economic development. In order to achieve a sustainable, responsive and high-quality tourism development, it is necessary to plan a strategy that will efficiently use and intensify the processes of tourism development in the EU. The variations in the types and needs of the tourists and the tourist industry impose a multi-dimensional approach to the study of the tourism market. This paper implements a simple methodology for measuring the performance of the EU tourism market using an integrated model for ranking-PROMETHEE model. Based on the eight criteria defined in relation to the performance of the tourist market, the ranking of the 28 EU countries will be carried out. The results of the model will point to the evaluation of the tourism market performance and will define the recommendations and strategies for the tourism market development in relation to the countries that have the best rank.
This paper analyses the impact of exchange rate regimes on the real sector. While most studies in this field have so far concentrated on aggregate variables, we pursue a sectoral approach distinguishing between the tradable and nontradable sectors. Firstly, we present a survey of the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. This demonstrates that evaluations of exchange rate regimes and their impact on the real economy are largely dependant on specific assumptions concerning, in particular, the parameters of a utility function, the nature of the price adjustment process and the characteristics of analysed shocks. Secondly, we conduct an empirical analysis of the behaviour of the tradable and nontradable sectors under different exchange rate regimes for seven Central and Eastern European countries. We find no firm evidence of a differential impact of given exchange rate regimes on the dynamics of output and prices in the two sectors. We proffer a conceptual and technical interpretation of this.
Authored by: Przemyslaw Kowalski, Wojciech Paczynski, Łukasz Rawdanowicz
Published in 2003
In this paper the authors undertake an ex-post evaluation of whether the special economic zones (SEZs) introduced in Poland in 1994 have been successful in meeting regional development objectives. They evaluate the policy of as many of its objectives as possible: employment creation, business creation (which includes attracting foreign direct investment), income or wage effects, and environmental sustainability. They use different panel data methods to investigate this question at the powiat and gmina levels in Poland during the 1995-2011 period. It is also possible to include numerous controls to reduce the problem of the omitted variables bias such as education level, dependency rates, state ownership, general subsidies and whether the area is urban or rural. The results indicate that SEZs in Poland have been successful in a number of their objectives such as private business creation. The positive effect of the policy however mainly comes through foreign direct investment (FDI), whereas the effects on e.g. investment and employment are small or insignificant. In other areas, such as securing higher income levels and locking firms into the sustainability agenda through the adoption of green technologies and reduced air pollution, the authors find only a small positively moderating effect of the policy on what are traditionally economically disadvantaged areas in Poland that used to be dependent on the socialist production model. Hence, despite high levels of FDI, the zones policy has not managed to overcome the legacy of backwardness or lagging regions. The main policy implication of the paper is that SEZs may be successful in stimulating activity in the short run but the policy must be seen as one of necessary temporality and can therefore not stand alone. Before launching SEZs, policymakers must have plans in place for follow up measures to ensure the longer term competitiveness and sustainability implications of such an initiative. There is a need to understand the connection between the specific incentive schemes used (in this particular case tax incentives were used) and the kinds of firms and activities they attract, including the behavioral models that those incentives promote.
Authored by: Camilla Jensen
Published in 2014
This paper examines the motives behind foreign direct investment (FDI) in a group of four CIS countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan) based on a survey of 120 enterprises. The results indicate that non-oil multi-national enterprises (MNEs) are predominantly oriented at serving local markets. Most MNEs in the CIS operate as 'isolated players', maintaining strong links to their parent companies, while minimally cooperating with local CIS firms. The surveyed firms secure the majority of supplies from international sources. For this reason, the possibility for spillovers arising from cooperation with foreign-owned firms in the CIS is rather low at this time. The lack of efficiency-seeking investment poses further concern regarding the nature of FDI in the region. The most significant problems identified in the daily operations of the surveyed foreign firms are: the volatility of the political and economic environment, the ambiguity of the legal system and the high levels of corruption.
Authored by: Malgorzata Jakubiak
Published in 2008
Internationalization of Russian Universities: The Chinese VectorRussian Council
This Report was prepared by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) as a part of the project “The Development of Russian—Chinese Relations”, based on research of the practical experience accumulated by several leading Russian universities. The Report contains a number of particular recommendations aimed at reinforcing Russia’s positions in the education market of China and the Asia-Pacific region in general, as well as developing Russia’s innovation potential through the expansion of mutually beneficial scientific and educational cooperation between the two countries.
The report reviews key issues in energy trade and cooperation between the EU and CIS countries. It describes historical trends of oil and gas demand in the EU, other European and CIS countries and offers demand forecasts until 2030. Recent developments in oil and gas production and exports from Russia and Caspian countries are covered in detail leading to the discussion of the likely export potential of these regions. The key factors determining the production outlook, trade-offs and competition related to energy resources transportation choices are also discussed. The report also covers the interests and role of transit countries in relations between producer and consumer regions. The analytical section leads to policy recommendations that focus mainly on the EU.
Authored by: Sabit Bagirov, Leonid Grigoriev, Wojciech Paczynski, Vladimer Papava, Marcel Salikhov, Michael Tokmazishvili
Published in 2009
In recent years, the EU has assumed a greater role in dealing with security concerns
within the EU. In response to nation states’ decreasing capabilities to deal effectively
with problems at the national level, domestic policy fields such as asylum and migration
have been at least partially transferred to supranational responsibility (Scharpf, 2003;
Zürn, 2000). One of the issues that receives increasing attention at the supranational
level is irregular migration. Every year, an estimated 30 million people cross an
international border irregularly, of which, according to Europol, between 400,000 and
500,000 enter the EU. The stock of irregular residents in the EU is currently estimated
to be around three million (Council of Europe, 2003). In recent years, EU members
have come to the conclusion that they are no longer able to properly react to the
phenomenon of irregular migration on the domestic level and instead need to combine
their efforts regarding return policies on the European level. Measures against irregular
immigration thus became a focal point in the EU’s efforts to establish an ‘area of
freedom, security and justice’.
At the same time, the EU’s role in the outside world has changed. With the Eastern
enlargement, new regions and countries became neighbours of the EU. New
frameworks of cooperation, such as the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP)
and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) were set in motion to closely affiliate
neighbouring states with the EU (Emerson, 2005; Emerson & Noutcheva, 2005;
Emerson et al., 2007; Landaburu, 2006; Tassinari, 2006). The EU tried to assume a
greater responsibility in the stabilisation of the neighbourhood and sought to “promote a
ring of well governed countries to the East of the European Union and on the borders
of the Mediterranean with whom we can enjoy close and cooperative relations”
(European Security Strategy, 2003, p. 8). A major challenge in the EU’s efforts to
stabilise the neighbourhood was to find a proper balance with the internal security
concerns. Whereas the EU’s foreign and security policy was interested in advancing
regional integration and good neighbourly relations, the EU justice and home affairs
ministers were primarily guided by their interest in keeping problems out and the
external border closed.
This paper is concerned with an EU foreign policy instrument that is a case in point for
this struggle: EC visa facilitation and readmission agreements. These agreements aim
at fostering good neighbourly relations by easing the tight visa regime with
neighbouring countries in order to externalise a restrictive migration policy. By
elaborating on the EU’s strategy on visa facilitation and readmission, this paper aims at
offering a first systematic analysis of the objective, substance, and political implications
of these agreements. When was the link between visa facilitation and readmission
made? What are the target
This document provides a summary of various eResources that can be used for research, including scholarly databases, survey reports and datasets, and useful links. It describes several databases like JSTOR, Project Muse, World Development Indicators, and EbscoHost that provide access to academic journals, publications, and statistics. It also lists survey datasets from the CRRC Data Initiative and other organizations on topics like corruption, labor migration, and demography in Armenia. Finally, it provides links to resources on research methodology.
The empirical analysis of the determinants of institutional development in transition countries as well as the qualitative country studies summarized in this publication allow for some optimism concerning a potential impact of the EU on institution building and governance quality in CIS countries. Regression analysis reveals a positive impact of EU cooperation agreements below a membership perspective. Alternatively to the EU, entry into the NATO accession process also exerts incentives for better institutions which are often overlooked. In contrast, WTO membership is not found to have any impact on institution building in CIS countries. While there is room for some EU-related optimism given the results from the regression analysis it depends on the country-specific ENP action plans and programs whether or not ENP cooperation actually leads to Europeanization or institutional convergence towards EU standards in the CIS. The case studies on the effectiveness of Neighborhood Europeanization through ENP in Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan reveal that current EU policies towards these countries can be, at best, seen as a catalyst but not as a main driver of institutional convergence. A perspective for a stake in the internal market is on the long horizon for Ukraine only. ENP mechanisms for conflict resolution in Georgia and Azerbaijan have been rather weak before the recent clash in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The top-down institutional convergence, i.e. an EU-first strategy, worked well for Enlargement Europeanization but implemented in the ENP it significantly reduces the leverage of the EU to create a ring of well-governed neighbour states.
Authored by: Thorsten Drautzburg, Andrea Gawrich, Inna Melnykovska, Rainer Schweickert
Published in 2008
This paper provides the results of analyses of key problems related to pension systems and their reforms in Russia and Ukraine. The pension systems and their reforms in both countries are compared. They are also compared with the general picture observed in the OECD or selected countries belonging to that area. The analysis focuses on long-term trends rather than short-term shocks. The recent economic crisis is not covered since the analysis was mostly completed by 2008.
Authored by: Marek Gora, Oleksandr Rohozynsky, Oksana Sinyavskaya
Published in 2010
This document analyzes knowledge-based entrepreneurship (KBE) in Poland by examining case studies of several Polish firms. It finds that the firms studied rely primarily on in-house knowledge resources and innovation, with little evidence of open or distributed innovation. The firms have achieved success with minimal help from the Polish state and have relied mainly on networks of families and friends, including local industrial clusters. In general, the document concludes that Poland appears to be a relatively poor location for knowledge-based entrepreneurship.
This working document offers a conceptual framework for understanding the processes underpinning the external dimension of EU Justice and Home Affairs (ED-JHA). Practically, it defines how the export of JHA principles and norms inform the geopolitical ambitions of the EU, i.e. the use of space for political purposes, or the control and management of people, objects and movement. The author begins by investigating how the ENP reconfigures the ED-JHA, and then goes on to discuss various conceptual stances on governance, specifically institutionalism, constructivism, and policy instruments. To conclude he traces the evolution of this external dimension, emphasising, whenever possible, its continuities and bifurcations. Overall, the aim is to ascertain the extent to which conceptual designs clarify or advance our knowledge of the contents and rationales of the ED-JHA.
Authored by: Thierry Balzacq
Published in 2008
Exploring the separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine from outer spaceDonbassFullAccess
The document provides an overview of the founding history of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) in 1973. It discusses how the idea for establishing an East-West economic research institute in Vienna emerged in the 1960s from WIFO Director Franz Nemschak and the Ford Foundation. Key events that moved this idea forward included an economic conference in 1965 and the Prague Spring in 1968, which led Czechoslovak and Polish economists to take up positions at WIFO. With financial support from the Ford Foundation, wiiw was established in 1973 as an independent institute focused on research between Eastern and Western economies during the Cold War period.
2nd Annual International Conference on Communication and Management (ICCM2016), 9 -12 May 2016, in Athens, Greece. organised by the Communication Institute of Greece (COMinG)
Business travel is an important sector of tourism which includes tourists who attend congresses, conferences, exhibitions, incentive travels, events and business corporate travels.
Many countries have realized the significance of this part of tourism development and thus influence on its organization, promotion and realization. Business travel includes meetings, incentive travels, congresses, conventions and exhibitions. Because of that, both domestic and foreign literature more increasingly use the acronym MICE for these types of travel. This part of the tourist market is an extremely important part of business, especially when it comes to the extension of the tourist season, which increases the attractiveness of the tourist destination and the economic effects achieved by the development of this part of the tourist market.
Athens as an international tourism destination: An empirical investigation to...Spyros Langkos
INDEPENDENT STUDΥ
“Athens as an international tourism destination: An empirical investigation to the city’s imagery and the role of local DMO’s.”
The aim of this project was to identify the role of DMOs in promoting Athens as a tourist destination, as well as to evaluate their effectiveness in terms of marketing and managing the tourist product of Athens, its popularity and imagery.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this thesis is to identify the role of DMOs in promoting Athens as a tourist destination, as well as to evaluate their effectiveness in terms of marketing and managing the tourist product of Athens, its popularity and imagery. For that purposes, 6 personal interviews were conducted with executives who were working in 6 famous local DMOs operating both generally in Greece and specifically in Athens.
The result of this study indicated that DMOs are playing a crucial role for the promotion of Athens as a tourist destination. DMOs key responsibilities include: development of sophisticated online marketing strategies, creation of high quality published material, participation in international tourism fairs for developing relationships with key stakeholders and development of network synergies with airline companies, and international tourism organizations.
Athens is a destination with great potential for future growth and for that reason DMOs have designed certain plans for the next three years in order to exploit the opportunities which are presented. The future plans of the DMOs give particular emphasis in the opening in new tourist markets and more particularly in the markets of Russia, Turkey China, and USA. Besides, DMOs will focus in five forms of tourism which can be developed successfully in Athens, namely: 1) cultural tourism, 2) health tourism, 3) luxury tourism, 4) city break tourism, and 5) convention tourism
On the other hand, the executives of the DMOs underlined several problems which prevent the tourism development of Athens. The majority of these problems are related with the business environment in Greece which has become less competitive due to the crisis. Besides, the city as a destination faces the problems of seasonality as well as missing infrastructures.
Finally, the research showed that DMOs have established strong and long term relationships with DMOs in foreign countries. These partnerships allow the Greek DMOs to be updated concerning the trends of the global tourism market as well as enhance the movement of tourists between cooperating countries. Nevertheless, the promotion of Athens as a tourism destination requires a more concerted effort between the public and the private stakeholders which are involved in the tourism industry. The benefits will be multiplied for businesses, the state and the society in general.
Call for Papers for National Conference on Tourism at Central University of Punjab, Bathinda during 29-30 Nov 2017 Sponsored by Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India.
Students/Research Scholars/Faculty/Industry Professionals are welcome to contribute their valuable research works in the broader perspective of Strategies for Development of Tourism in India
The document is a project report on tourism in India submitted for a master's degree. It provides an executive summary that discusses key facts about international tourism globally and in India. India is positioned as a potential tourism destination given its diverse heritage, cultures, and landscapes. The report then outlines the introduction, research methodology, literature review, data analysis, and conclusion sections to follow. It also includes acknowledgments, declarations, certificates, and an index of topics.
Guia sobre subvenciones culturales y creativas en la unión europeaJosé Cantero Gómez
This document provides a summary of a policy handbook on using EU support programs and structural funds to foster the potential of culture and creative industries for local and regional development.
The handbook was created by an EU working group of member state experts on cultural and creative industries. It aims to help local, regional, and national authorities develop strategies to maximize the economic and social benefits of investing in culture. The handbook provides an overview of EU funding programs from 2014-2020 and offers case studies of effective initiatives in member states. These initiatives focus on creating opportunities for cultural and creative industries, strengthening small businesses in these sectors, and promoting spill-over effects in other parts of the local economy through areas like tourism and urban regeneration.
This document provides a policy handbook on how to strategically use EU support programs, including structural funds, to foster the potential of culture for local, regional, and national development. It discusses why investing in cultural and creative industries is worthwhile by outlining their economic contributions in terms of GDP, growth, employment, and spill-over effects. It also provides the framework for cohesion policy and smart specialization strategies. The handbook then offers suggestions for specific measures supported by examples from EU member states.
The document discusses the Competence Research Center CICtourGUNE, which conducts research in tourism and human mobility. It has three main research areas: Tourism Systems in the Digital Age, which takes a systems approach to studying tourism using new data analysis techniques; Human Mobility and Technology; and Tourism and Environments. CICtourGUNE aims to improve the competitiveness of the Basque economy by generating scientific and technological advances through collaborative, multidisciplinary research.
Call for abstracts - Aternative Tourism
ATLAS City and National Capital Tourism Special Interest Group
ATLAS Cultural Tourism Special Interest Group
Creative Tourism Network
Expert Meeting on Alternative and Creative tourism in cities
June 13th - 14th, 2013, Barcelona
The future of work and skills in the tourism industryDavid Mora
Informe sobre la gestión del talento, competencias y empleo de calidad en el sector turístico, elaborado por la OMT en colaboración con la empresa Cegos
This document announces an expert meeting on alternative and creative tourism in cities to be held June 13-14, 2013 in Barcelona. It calls for abstract submissions related to the development and marketing of alternative and creative forms of tourism in cities. The goal is to bring together international scholars to consider issues around alternative and creative tourism development in cities and how it may develop in the future. Selected papers will be published in an edited volume. The deadline for 300-word abstract submissions is December 10, 2012.
This document announces an expert meeting on alternative and creative tourism in cities to be held June 13-14, 2013 in Barcelona. It calls for abstract submissions related to the development and marketing of alternative and creative forms of tourism in cities. The goal is to bring together international scholars to consider issues around alternative and creative tourism development in cities and how it may develop in the future. Selected papers will be published in an edited volume. The deadline to submit abstracts of up to 300 words is December 17, 2012.
4th International Conference on Social Science and Humanities (ICSSH)Global R & D Services
Conference Name: 4th International Conference on Social Science and Humanities (ICSSH), 18-20 July 2016, Kuala Lumpur
Conference Dates: 18-20 July, 2016
Conference Venue: Rumah Kelab PAUM Clubhouse (Persatuan Alumni Universiti Malaya), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Deadline for Abstract/Paper Submissions: July 15, 2016
Contact E-Mail ID: info@gahssr.org
Conference Convener: Dr. Dorothy C
Languages: English, Chinese, Arabic, Thai, Persian
http://gahssr.org/4th-international-conference-on-social-science-and-humanities-icssh-18-20-july-2016-kuala-lumpur-about-1
Heitor - What do we need to measure to foster “Knowledge as Our Common Future”?innovationoecd
This document discusses the need to rebalance science and technology (STI) indicators to better capture the intrinsic value of STI beyond just economic impacts. It notes that STI statistics have become overly focused on the instrumental economic value of innovation. The document also examines expectations for the OECD's role in STI indicators, including considering contributions from a wider variety of scientific fields, advancing understanding of knowledge production processes beyond national impacts, and characterizing professional practice-based research. It emphasizes that innovation is a collective and cumulative process requiring long-term investment in education and research.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CONGRESS BUREAU AS A FACTOR OF TERRITORY BRAND...Natalia Smagina (Morozova)
Each society is faced with the decision of how to provide the well-being and high quality of life of its citizens best.
Increasingly, cities, states, and nations are turning to tourism as an important element in their economic portfolio as they recognize the potentially significant economic rewards at stake. Much of tourism development entails community development. If handled appropriately, tourism can become an important engine for achieving broader social goals. Whereas societies may aspire to achieve these goals, communities are struggling to manage tourism development effectively. Modern innovative management trends in tourism cluster modernization and diversification processes of the business have been launched: tourism business has grown significantly, the new functional structure has changed, and national tourism services sector broadened and consolidation is the main priority. In this case, Russian MICE-tourism development has recently gained greater urgency. Congress bureau as one of the important
element of business tourism and MICE industry development has become a strategic factor of territory brand creation, according to the regional economy diversifications.
This document provides an introductory overview of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). It describes UOIT's programs as being designed to meet student interests and career aspirations while developing critical thinking and innovative skills for employers. It highlights UOIT's research areas and technology-rich learning environment. The document also includes UOIT's vision and mission statements, as well as sections on faculties, programs, housing, banking and other general information for students.
The document discusses how hosting major global events like the Olympics or World Cup can spur urban investment. It examines case studies of past host cities like Barcelona in 1992 and upcoming hosts like Amsterdam's bid for the 2028 Olympics. The events require infrastructure upgrades and real estate development that benefit the city long-term. Hosting also boosts tourism and allows cities to market their new image globally. However, events only catalyze investment if the city has a strong long-term development plan to take advantage of the temporary opportunities and attention.
Slides for the EUA webinar on The Role of Universities in Regional Innovation: the case of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) - 26 October 2016
The Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Based Tourism Building Ontology Conc...YogeshIJTSRD
Tourism is a strategy for country to increase its income. Digital technologies are currently used to help improve tourism, for example with information about tourist areas through the website or Mobile Apps. Database is required as the basic infrastructure for implementing system when to support tourism In this research, we discussed about the database model that can stored tourism data. Tourism databases such as warehouses are rich in information about tourism. Tourism information can be in the structured or unstructured form. Database development is an important part of enhancing development supported by digital technology. In this research, ontology is applied for database development and it produce the ontologies that could be utilized for tourism. In this research, ontology is applied for database development and it produces the ontologies that could be utilized for gastronomic tourism. Khamida Tulaeva | Detty Purnamasari "The Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Based Tourism: Building Ontology Concept by XML Schema Definition and Extensible Markup Language" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-5 , August 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd44944.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/other-scientific-research-area/other/44944/the-digital-infrastructure-for-knowledge-based-tourism-building-ontology-concept-by-xml-schema-definition-and-extensible-markup-language/khamida-tulaeva
Similar to Meetings Industry in Kaunas. Report (20)
The number of conference meetings and other business events in Katowice in 2023 reached the level of 6,451. This result is a little bit better then in 2022 (6,426 events). The number of participants in business events recorded in 2023 in Katowice amounted to 730,001 people and is significantly higher than the year before (in 2022 it was 552,849 people). The total amount of expenses of participants of business events and conference meetings in Katowice amounted to over PLN 236 million in 2023
The number of conference meetings and other business events in Katowice in 2023 reached the level of 6,451. This result is a little bit better then in 2022 (6,426 events). The number of participants in business events recorded in 2023 in Katowice amounted to 730,001 people and is significantly higher than the year before (in 2022 it was 552,849 people). The total amount of expenses of participants of business events and conference meetings in Katowice amounted to over PLN 236 million in 2023
In 2022, when many companies operating on the events market expected a rebound from negative trends, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine and the resulting changes in the economy of Poland and the world are still difficult to predict.
Despite such an accumulation of various negative factors affecting the event market, the number of recorded conference meetings and other business events in Katowice in 2022 reached the level of 6,426 meetings
(In 2020 it was 2,033 and in 2021 - 2,465).
This means a slow return to the results from 2019, when Katowice recorded 6,453 business events.
However, the number of participants in business events recorded in 2022 amounted to 552,849 people, which is much lower than before the pandemic (in 2019, there were more than 1 million participants in conference meetings and business events in Katowice).
Therefore, in 2022, the total expenses of participants of conference meetings and other business events incurred by them in Katowice amounted to over
PLN 151 million (151,266,340.47).
Taking into account the total number of participants of business events in Katowice, broken down into participants incurring any expenses in the city and those not incurring them, as well as their further division into participants staying overnight in Katowice and non-overnighting, and their average expenses related to such activity in the city of Katowice, it enabled to estimate the total amount of expenses of participants of business meetings in Katowice.
Despite the fact that the number of participants is almost half lower than in 2019, the higher individual expenses of individual participants of conference meetings in Katowice contributed to the fact that the total amount in 2022 is only 27.9% lower than the amount from 2019.
Lata 2020 do 2022 to czas dynamicznych zmian gospodarczych w Polsce i na świecie, zmian powodowanych w znacznej mierze czynnikami pozaekonomicznymi (pandemia COVID-19, czy inwazja Rosji na Ukrainę).
W tym czasie nasiliły się także migracje ludności z krajów Bliskiego Wschodu i Afryki do Unii Europejskiej. Wszystkie te zmiany stanowią duże wyzwania dla podmiotów funkcjonujących na różnych rynkach. Turystyka jako zjawisko wynikające z podróżowania osób poza miejsca stałego zamieszkania zostało szczególne mocno dotknięte przez te zmiany. W Polsce, pierwsze restrykcje administracyjne, mające na celu przeciwdziałać rozprzestrzenianiu się wirusa SARS CoV-2, zostały wprowadzone w bardzo krótkim czasie, na samym początku pandemii. 13 marca 2019 r. zaczął obowiązywać m.in. zakaz zgromadzeń powyżej 50 osób o charakterze publicznym, państwowym i religijnym. Restauracje mogły dostarczać posiłki jedynie „na wynos”. Pierwszy okres pandemii zatrzymał całkowicie funkcjonowanie i rozwój przemysłu spotkań. W kolejnych miesiącach wprowadzane były przepisy umożliwiające realizację usług na rynku wydarzeń jednak z dużymi rygorami bezpieczeństwa uczestników spotkań. Dopiero 1-go marca 2022 r. zostały zniesione wszystkie restrykcje dotyczące działalności turystyce, w tym także hoteli. Do tego zawirowania gospodarczego powodowanego różnymi zmieniającymi się regulacjami krajowymi w zakresie przeciwdziałania pandemii Covid-19 należy dołączyć także zmienne, niespójne przepisy międzynarodowe. Te czynniki zdecydowanie utrudniały organizację wydarzeń biznesowych i spotkań konferencyjnych.
W 2022 r., gdy wiele podmiotów funkcjonujących na rynku wydarzeń liczyło na zdecydowane przełamanie negatywnych trendów, Rosja najechała zbrojnie Ukrainę, a zachodzące następnie zmiany w gospodarce Polski i na świecie są do dzisiaj w wielu przypadkach trudne do przewidzenia.
Pomimo takiej kumulacji różnych negatywnych czynników wpływających na rynek wydarzeń liczba odnotowanych spotkań konferencyjnych i innych wydarzeń biznesowych w Katowicach w 2022 r. osiągnęła poziom 6 426 spotkań
(w roku 2020 było to 2 033, a w 2021 r. - 2 465).
Oznacza to stopniowy powrót do roku 2019, gdy odnotowano w mieście 6 453 wydarzenia biznesowe.
Jednak liczba uczestników wydarzeń biznesowych odnotowanych w 2022 r. wyniosła 552 849 osób i jest w Katowicach zdecydowanie mniejsza niż przed pandemią, gdy przekroczyła 1 mln uczestników spotkań konferencyjnych i wydarzeń biznesowych w Katowicach.
Raport wskazuje, że w 2022 r. całkowite wydatki uczestników spotkań konferencyjnych i innych wydarzeń biznesowych poniesione przez nich w Katowicach wyniosły ponad 151 mln zł (151 266 340,47). Pomimo tego, iż liczba uczestników jest niemal połowę mniejsza niż w 2019 r., to jednak wyższe wydatki indywidualne poszczególnych uczestników spotkań konferencyjnych w Katowicach przyczyniły się do tego, że kwota łączna w 2022 r. jest tylko o 27,9% mniejsza od kwoty z 2019 r.
Sport współcześnie jest jedną z najważniejszych dziedzin życia społecznego i gospodarczego. Określany jako pewna forma spędzania czasu wolnego, rekreacji, aktywności fizycznej, rozwoju zainteresowań, ale także jest ważnym obszarem (rynkiem) funkcjonowania różnych przedsiębiorstw, organizacji pozarządowych, jak i administracji państwowej.
Celem tego opracowania jest wyznaczenie głównych kierunków (celów strategicznych - priorytetowych) rozwoju sportu na terenie miasta Tychy na lata 2021-2025, sposobów ich osiągnięcia, mierzenia w określonych interwałach czasowych, a także ustalenie zadań umożliwiających realizację tych celów.
The identification of internal and external attractiveness factors or water p...Krzysztof Cieslikowski
The aim of the article is to indicate the key issues in water park management, taking into account internal and external conditions of their attractiveness as tourist destination products using the example of Śląskie (Silesian) Voivodeship. In order to achieve this, market analysis of water parks in Poland was undertaken, as well as analyses and syntheses from a questionnaire (especially with regard to theoretical aspects), reports and other studies on themed parks in the strict sense of water parks both worldwide and in Poland, with particular emphasis on Śląskie Voivodeship. The research described in the article indicates a wide spectrum of factors for water park attractiveness as tourist products of settlements and regions. The authors, after market analysis and customer opinions expressed on internet portals devoted to water parks (including ParkiWodne.pl and posted on Google.com), divide these factors into internal (depending on the administration of the facility) and external (on which the administration of the facility has no influence) which are essential for the attractiveness of water parks. Research and inference focus on identifying the attractiveness factors for water parks not only as places for active leisure for both residents and visitors, but as places that are particularly capital-intensive during construction and maintenance. The analyzed conditions for the functioning and development of water parks can be used by their managers and as a regional tourist product to prepare and carry out marketing research taking into account the specificity of their operation.
Report. Business tourism in Katowice in 2019.
Raport z badań rynkowych turystyki biznesowej w Katowicach w 2019. Przed Pandemią był to rekordowy rok dla Katowic.
The development of the meetings industry is related to development of business tourism to cities. There is an increasing number of meeting venues and multifunctional arenas along with events and visitors. It is related to the growth of global and economic, political, socio-cultural changes and new technologies. The benefits of the meetings industry are result from the attractiveness of business tourism as a city product and a form of city promotion. The changes taking place in the meetings market encourage local government of cities, that are not capitals (so called "second tier cities”), to more actively apply for the organisation of large international events. The city administration that wants to develop business tourism in their area, has to take into account many conditions in their destination (city) management. The key external and internal factors affecting the development of business tourism second tier cities have been identified in the article. The methods of literature analysis of the subject, passive observation of events and data from previous publications have been applied for the research.
W świetle zachodzących zmian w ruchu turystycznym na świecie, jak i innych uwarunkowań zewnętrznych oraz rozwijanego potencjału materialnego i organizacyjnego dla organizacji i obsługi wydarzeń biznesowych, wydaje się, że Katowice stanowią atrakcyjną destynację i wykorzystują swoją szansę na rynku turystyki biznesowej.
W 2017 roku zrealizowano w Katowicach 6 334 wydarzenia biznesowe i spotkania konferencyjne. Odnotowano w nich łącznie 826 883 odwiedzających. Największym wydarzeniem były targi gier komputerowych Intel Extreme Masters, które zrealizowano w dniach od 25 do 26 lutego oraz od 3 do 5 marca 2017 w Międzynarodowym Centrum Kongresowym i Hali Spodek. Odwiedziło je ponad 173 tys. osób. Warto zaznaczyć, iż administracja miasta kontynuuje promocję Katowic zwykorzystaniem spotkań biznesowych i w 2017 roku wykupiła pakiety promocyjne w 27 wydarzeniach zrealizowanych na terenie miasta Katowice, na łączną kwotę 9 mln zł.
Rozwój przemysłu spotkań, bezpośrednie wydatki administracji miasta z tym związane, a także wydatki pośrednie (np. na infrastrukturę drogową, obiekty spotkań) wymagają obserwacji i badań rynkowych.
Celem niniejszego opracowania jest identyfikacja kluczowych elementów popytu zrealizowanego na rynku turystyki biznesowej w Katowicach i jego charakterystyka, a także identyfikacja zachowań uczestników spotkań konferencyjnych i innych wydarzeń biznesowych w Katowicach w 2017 r..
Dla realizacji celów zastosowano metody analizy i obserwacji aktywnej (uczestniczącej), jak i biernej, z wykorzystaniem źródeł wtórnych i badań własnych.
DETERMINANTS OF EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT IN THE SPORT WITH THE USE OF LARGE SPORT...Krzysztof Cieslikowski
The aim of this paper is to identify factors that influence to the effective management in the sport on the example of few cities in Poland and Lithuania with large sports facilities. To achieve this purpose, Authors in the article are used the method of observation and comparative analysis of selected cities and their major sports arenas as the entities with particularly strongly influence the development of sport in these cities.
The key determinants of sport management in the city include: the title sponsor for the largest sports facility as a strategic business partner in the development of sports in the city, multifunctional sports facility, the level of commercialization of sports, organizational structure dedicated to sport governance, many the international sport events in the great arena.
The research and conclusions are focused on the sport management, sport services in selected Polish and Lithuanian cities, where are great sport arenas. In the case of using the results of this study in sport management in other cities, it should be judiciously use the conclusions of the study, taking into account the specifics of a particular city. The paper is a kind of review, and an attempt to show some concepts of the theoretical perception of the factors influencing the sport management in the cities with the use of large sports facilities.
Rynek turystyki biznesowej w Katowicach w 2016. Business Tourism Market in Ka...Krzysztof Cieslikowski
Rok 2016 był kolejnym wyjątkowym okresem dla rozwoju przemysłu spotkań w Katowicach. W mieście pojawili się nowi inwestorzy z różnych sektorów gospodarki, w tym także na rynku hotelarskim, zwiększyła się liczba odwiedzających miasto uczestników spotkań konferencyjnych i wydarzeń biznesowych, a największy zadaszony obiekt spotkań biznesowych w Polsce – Międzynarodowe Centrum Kongresowe od maja 2016 roku ma prywatnego operatora. Administracja miasta kontynuuje konsekwentnie promocję Katowic poprzez wydarzenia. Łączna liczba wydarzeń biznesowych w Katowicach jest porównywalna z ubiegłym rokiem, jednak wydłużył się ich czas trwania, jak i zwiększyła liczba odwiedzających. Analiza rynku spotkań konferencyjnych i wydarzeń biznesowych (liczbę wydarzeń w mieście, liczbę uczestników, czas trwania wydarzeń biznesowych), a także analiza wielkości wydatków uczestników i ich strukturę – to znajdą Państwo m.in. w niniejszym opracowaniu. Kolejna edycja Raportu jest kontynuacją podejmowanych przez administrację miasta Katowice działań w zakresie monitorowania przemysłu spotkań, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem efektów ekonomicznych podejmowanie aktywności promocyjnej miasta z wykorzystaniem wydarzeń
Celem opracowania jest przedstawienie specyfiki zarządzania marketingowego wydarzeniami i identyfikacja krytycznych (istotnych) dla osiągniecia sukcesu rynkowego decyzji zarządczych na poszczególnych etapach tego procesu.
Zakłada się, że istnieją pewne powtarzalne elementy sukcesu wydarzeń bez względu na to, jakie wydarzenie jest przygotowywane, jak również, że znaczenie wydarzeń jako atrakcyjnego produktu (miast oraz przedsiębiorstw) i skutecznej formy promocji zaangażowanych w wydarzenie podmiotów, będzie rosło wraz rozwojem gospodarczym regionów i będzie wymagało strategicznego zarządzania marketingowego tymi wydarzeniami.
Dla przygotowania tego opracowania zastosowano metody analizy, obserwacji i syntezy z wykorzystaniem szerokiej literatury przedmiotu jak i wielu źródeł wtórnych (w tym szczególnie raportów i analiz) oraz opracowań własnych Autora przygotowanych dla wybranych miast w Polsce.
Przedstawione opracowanie składa się z wstępu, czterech rozdziałów, suplementu i zakończenia. Dodatkową wartościową częścią pracy, do której Autor odwołuje się często w treści opracowania, są załączniki.
W pierwszych dwóch rozdziałach (I i II) odniesiono się głównie do teoretycznych aspektów zarządzania marketingowego wydarzeniami jako produktem na różnych rynkach, a w dalszej części (rozdziały III i IV oraz suplement) przedstawiono, po wprowadzeniu teoretycznym, kilka przykładów kluczowych decyzji w procesie zarządzania wydarzeniami biznesowymi, sportowymi, jak i kulturalnymi i zastosowania wydarzeń w marketingu wewnętrznym jak i zewnętrznym.
Kierunki rozwoju przemysłu wydarzeń w Katowicach w latach 2016-2020. Events ...Krzysztof Cieslikowski
Rynek wydarzeń z duża liczbą uczestników (kulturalnych, sportowych, biznesowych), szczególnie w fazie organizacji tych imprez, może być traktowany jako rynek instytucjonalny. Dlatego podmioty na nim funkcjonujące szczególnie dużą wagę przywiązują do wysokiej jakości oferowanych usług, nowocześnie wyposażonych obiektów spotkań, transparentności w procesie podejmowanych decyzji, kreowania i utrzymywania bezpośrednich relacji z potencjalnymi zleceniodawcami. Rozwój tego rynku na swoim terenie wymaga od administracji samorządowej i państwowej dużych inwestycji w infrastrukturę miejsc spotkań (dostępność komunikacyjna, dobrze wyposażone nowoczesne obiekty spotkań) i organizacji procesu obsługi klienta (przed, w trakcie i po wydarzeniu).
Korzyści dla gospodarki regionu wynikające z zaangażowania w rozwój tego przemysłu są duże i wielowymiarowe. Wymiana wiedzy (praktycznej, naukowej), dyfuzja know-how, nowoczesnych rozwiązań organizacyjnych, technologii, tworzenie relacji, otwartość, czy też innowacyjność, która powstaje w wyniku realizowanych spotkań bezpośrednich, w których uczestniczą także lokalne firmy i instytucje publiczne (kulturalne, sportowe), to tylko wybrane korzyści. Policzalne są wartości inwestycji w infrastrukturę dla wielkich spotkań, która to infrastruktura służy także mieszkańcom i lokalnym przedsiębiorcom, przyczynia się do powstania nowych miejsc pracy, przyciąga kolejnych inwestorów i jest źródłem dochodów dla firm z nimi związanych.
Rynek wydarzeń kulturalnych, sportowych a także biznesowych dla podkreślenia jego znaczenia gospodarczego w regionie może być nazywany „przemysłem wydarzeń”.
Turystyka biznesowa w Katowicach w 2015 r.. Business tourism in Katowice in 2015Krzysztof Cieslikowski
Rok 2015 był okresem wyjątkowym dla rozwoju przemysłu spotkań w Katowicach.
Oddano w mieście do użytku największy w Polsce obiekt spotkań biznesowych Międzynarodowe Centrum Kongresowe (MCK) z największą salą o pojemności przekraczającej 8 000 osób. Lokalizacja MCK tuż obok Hali Widowiskowo-Sportowej Spodek oraz siedziby Narodowej Orkiestry Symfonicznej Polskiego Radia i pomieszczeń Muzeum Śląskiego tworzy jedno z największych w Europie miejsc spotkań.
Na małej przestrzeni znajdują się obiekty o łącznej pojemności ponad 25 000 osób. Obiekty spotkań: biznesowych, sportowych i kulturalnych.
Takie miejsce wpływa na różne sfery życia społecznego i gospodarki w regionie. Rok 2015 jest pierwszym, kiedy to wszystkie te obiekty zaczęły przyjmować gości i realizować imprezy.
Skala oddziaływania Międzynarodowego Centrum Kongresowego - jako znaczącego obiektu na rynku spotkań w Katowicach, Polsce i Europie, będzie stanowiła przedmiot szczególnej obserwacji i analiz niniejszego Raportu.
Wpływ na rynek spotkań (liczbę wydarzeń w mieście, liczbę uczestników, czas trwania wydarzeń biznesowych), a także wpływ na opinie uczestników spotkań biznesowych o mieście Katowice, na strukturę ich wydatków, specyfikę przyjazdów i pobytów – to znajdą Państwo w niniejszym opracowaniu.
Zarządzanie turystyką biznesową. Wybrane aspekty globalne i lokalne.Krzysztof Cieslikowski
We współczesnej gospodarce światowej zachodzą zmiany strukturalne, jak i rynkowe, wynikające z długofalowych trendów ekonomicznych i zjawisk społecznych, które oddziaływają także na rynki lokalne. Trendy te należy identyfikować i uwzględniać w zarządzaniu przedsiębiorstwem jak i destynacją. Tendencjom globalizacji towarzyszą procesy adaptacji do warunków lokalnych. Dla rozwoju zarządzania turystyką biznesową duże znaczenie ma coraz większy popyt na spotkania biznesowe i związana z tym możliwość (konieczność) tworzenia warunków materialnych (infrastruktura techniczna, komunikacyjna, obiekty spotkań), organizacyjnych (struktury organizacyjne dla koordynacji przepływu informacji, lokalne convention bureau) i aktywnych działań promocyjnych dla przyciągania spotkań biznesowych do destynacji. Wymaga to szerokiego spojrzenia na rynek turystyki biznesowej (identyfikacji czynników rozwoju, uwzględnienia także specyfiki przedmiotu transakcji) i analizy zachowań występujących na nim podmiotów (zarówno po stronie popytowej, jak i podażowej). W opracowaniu niniejszym dokonano wskazania kluczowych obszarów decyzyjnych, a także identyfikacji specyfiki zarządzania produktem turystyka biznesowa na instytucjonalnym rynku spotkań biznesowych. Określono także czynniki wpływające na decyzje zarządcze podejmowane przez menadżerów przedsiębiorstw turystycznych, jak i administracje regionów, do których kierowany jest ruch turystyki biznesowej w świetle zachodzących zmian w gospodarce światowej.
Customer Experience is not only for B2C and big box brands. Embark on a transformative journey into the realm of B2B customer experience with our masterclass. In this dynamic session, we'll delve into the intricacies of designing and implementing seamless customer journeys that leave a lasting impression. Explore proven strategies and best practices tailored specifically for the B2B landscape, learning how to navigate complex decision-making processes and cultivate meaningful relationships with clients. From initial engagement to post-sale support, discover how to optimize every touchpoint to deliver exceptional experiences that drive loyalty and revenue growth. Join us and unlock the keys to unparalleled success in the B2B arena.
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Capstone Project: Luxury Handloom Saree Brand
As part of my college project, I applied my learning in brand strategy to create a comprehensive project for a luxury handloom saree brand. Key aspects of this project included:
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This project helped me gain practical experience in brand strategy, from research and analysis to strategic planning and implementation.
Efficient Website Management for Digital Marketing ProsLauren Polinsky
Learn how to optimize website projects, leverage SEO tactics effectively, and implement product-led marketing approaches for enhanced digital presence and ROI.
This session is your key to unlocking the secrets of successful digital marketing campaigns and maximizing your business's online potential.
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How to Use AI to Write a High-Quality Article that Ranksminatamang0021
In the world of content creation, many AI bloggers have drifted away from their original vision, resulting in low-quality articles that search engines overlook. Don't let that happen to you! Join us to discover how to leverage AI tools effectively to craft high-quality content that not only captures your audience's attention but also ranks well on search engines.
Disclaimer: Some of the prompts mentioned here are the examples of Matt Diggity. Please use it as reference and make your own custom prompts.
Unlock the secrets to enhancing your digital presence with our masterclass on mastering online visibility. Learn actionable strategies to boost your brand, optimize your social media, and leverage SEO. Transform your online footprint into a powerful tool for growth and engagement.
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The Secret to Engaging Modern Consumers: Journey Mapping and Personalization
In today's digital landscape, understanding the customer's journey and delivering personalized experiences are paramount. This masterclass delves into the art of consumer journey mapping, a powerful technique that visualizes the entire customer experience across touchpoints. Attendees will learn how to create detailed journey maps, identify pain points, and uncover opportunities for optimization. The presentation also explores personalization strategies that leverage data and technology to tailor content, products, and experiences to individual customers. From real-time personalization to predictive analytics, attendees will gain insights into cutting-edge approaches that drive engagement and loyalty.
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Current consumer landscape; Steps to mapping an effective consumer journey; Understanding the value of personalization; Integrating mapping and personalization for success; Brands that are getting It right!; Best Practices; Future Trends
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Dive deep into the cutting-edge strategies we're employing to revolutionize our web presence in the age of AI-driven search. As Gen Z reshapes the digital realm, discover how we can bridge the generational divide. Unlock the synergistic power of PPC, social media, and SEO, driving unparalleled revenues for our projects.
Did you know that while 50% of content on the internet is in English, English only makes up 26% of the world’s spoken language? And yet 87% of customers won’t buy from an English only website.
Uncover the immense potential of communicating with customers in their own language and learn how translation holds the key to unlocking global growth. Join Smartling CEO, Bryan Murphy, as he reveals how translation software can streamline the translation process and seamlessly integrate into your martech stack for optimal efficiency. And that's not all – he’ll also share some inspiring success stories and practical tips that will turbocharge your multilingual marketing efforts!
Key takeaways:
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As the call for for skilled experts continues to develop, investing in quality education and education from a reputable https://www.safalta.com/online-digital-marketing/best-digital-marketing-institute-in-noida Digital advertising institute in Noida can lead to a a success career on this eve
Lily Ray - Optimize the Forest, Not the Trees: Move Beyond SEO Checklist - Mo...Amsive
Lily Ray, Vice President of SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive, explores optimizing strategies for sustainable growth and explores the impact of AI on the SEO landscape.
The Strategic Impact of Storytelling in the Age of AI
In the grand tapestry of marketing, where algorithms analyze data and artificial intelligence predicts trends, one essential thread remains constant — the timeless art of storytelling. As we stand on the precipice of a new era driven by AI, join me in unraveling the narrative alchemy that transforms brands from mere entities into captivating tales that resonate across the digital landscape. In this exploration, we will discover how, in the face of advancing technology, the human touch of a well-crafted story becomes not just a marketing tool but the very essence that breathes life into brands and forges lasting connections with our audience.
First Things First: Building and Effective Marketing Strategy
Too many companies (and marketers) jump straight into activation planning without formalizing a marketing strategy. It may seem tedious, but analyzing the mindset of your targeted audiences and identifying the messaging points most likely to resonate with them is time well spent. That process is also a great opportunity for marketers to collaborate with sales leaders and account managers on a galvanized go-to-market approach. I’ll walk you through the methods and tools we use with our clients to ensure campaign success.
Key Takeaways:
-Recognize the critical role of strategy in marketing
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What’s “In” and “Out” for ABM in 2024: Plays That Help You Grow and Ones to L...Demandbase
Delve into essential ABM ‘plays' that propel success while identifying and leaving behind tactics that no longer yield results. Led by ABM Experts, Jon Barcellos, Head of Solutions at Postal and Tom Keefe, Principal GTM Expert at Demandbase.
In this humorous and data-heavy session, join us in a joyous celebration of life honoring the long list of SEO tactics and concepts we lost this year. Remember fondly the beautiful time you shared with defunct ideas like link building, keyword cannibalization, search volume as a value indicator, and even our most cherished of friends: the funnel. Make peace with their loss as you embrace a new paradigm for organic content: Pillar-Based Marketing. Along the way, discover that the results that old SEO and all its trappings brought you weren’t really very good at all, actually.
In this respectful and life-affirming service—erm, session—join Ryan Brock (Chief Solution Officer at DemandJump and author of Pillar-Based Marketing: A Data-Driven Methodology for SEO and Content that Actually Works) and leave with:
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Breaking Silos To Break Bank: Shattering The Divide Between Search And SocialNavah Hopkins
At Mozcon 2024 I shared this deck on bridging the divide between search and social. We began by acknowledging that search-first marketers are used to different rules of engagement than social marketers. We also looked at how both channels treat creative, audiences, bidding/budgeting, and AI. We finished by going through how they can win together including UTM audits, harvesting comments from both to inform creative, and allowing for non-login forums to be part of your marketing strategy.
I themed this deck using Baldur's Gate 3 characters: Gale as Search and Astarion as Social
Breaking Silos To Break Bank: Shattering The Divide Between Search And Social
Meetings Industry in Kaunas. Report
1. Krzysztof Cieślikowski PhD
Andrius Brusokas PhD
Katowice 2019
Report
Meetings Industry in Kaunas
Market research of international conference participants
on the example of Erasmus+ International Week 2018
in Kauno Kolegija / University of Applied Sciences
3. 3
Preface
Dear Sirs,
There are growing interest of conference meetings in the world, under
influence of economic development, dynamic changes in politics, and
growing competition of cities (and using meetings as attractive promo-
tional forms). The conferences are very interesting products many
companies in the destination of the conference.
Total number of meetings in the world reached new record results by
ICCA and UIA reports (the most important organizations collecting data
of the meetings market) in 2017. Countries and cities from developed
economies are on begging of leaders in the reports. There is the diver-
sity of forms of conference meetings. It allows supposing that interna-
tional conference meetings, also scientific ones, are important tourist
products of smaller cities, too.
The European Union, through its organizational structures and various
departments, creates great opportunities to co-finance various activi-
ties aimed at developing relationships and exchanging knowledge. It is
the great possibility to use different funds for bigger motilities scien-
tists on international market, to participate in many conferences.
Erasmus+ is the EU's project to support education, training, youth and
sport in Europe. Its budget of €14.7 billion will provide opportunities
for Europeans to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer abroad.
Set to last until 2020, Erasmus+ has great opportunities for developing
students, teachers, scientists and universities, cities, companies.
More than 200 Erasmus + International Week conferences have been
registered every year since 2014 (in 32 countries, including EU and
outside). The most meetings of this type are held in: Spain, Germany,
Poland and Portugal. In Lithuania, 37 have already been registered.
Kaunas is a city that is not the administrative capital of the country, but
at the same time a significant academic center (10 universities, over
30,000 students) in Lithuania.
Recognizing the needs of participants of international conference meet-
ings, especially scientific ones, seems to be important for improving the
process of tourist services in the city.
Participants in such meetings are significant people in their organiza-
tions, opinion leaders, involved in the conference participation process
4. 4
and open to new contacts. They are an excellent medium for the promo-
tion of the city, universities and other entities involved in the process of
their service.
Erasmus+ International Week organized by Kauno Kolegija in March
2018, was one of the international scientific conferences in Kaunas.
Over 90 people participated in it (including 57 from abroad, from 18
countries, from 29 different research centers).
Such events may be significant for the development of business tourism
in Kaunas, or for the promotion of the city, especially on international
markets.
We invite you to read
5. 5
Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6
1 Kaunas - an attractive destination for conference meetings
and business events......................................................................................................10
2 Basic definitions and concepts.................................................................................15
3 The specific of research of conference meeting type Erasmus+
International Week .......................................................................................................18
3.1 Research methodology......................................................................................18
3.2 Characteristics of Erasmus+ International Week conference
meetings................................................................................................................20
4 Results of the survey of foreign participants of the Erasmus
International Week at Kauno Collegium in 2018 and their analysis........24
4.1 Characteristics of the research sample ......................................................24
4.2 Conference activity of surveyed delegates................................................26
4.3 Identification of the main motivations for participation in the
Erasmus + International Week at Kauno Kolegija...............................28
4.4 Evaluating the Erasmus + International Week in Kauno
Kolegja by delegates from abroad in 2018. ............................................29
Conclusions.............................................................................................................................38
References...............................................................................................................................41
Books, Papers and Reports.........................................................................................41
Websites .............................................................................................................................42
List of tables ...........................................................................................................................43
List of figures .........................................................................................................................44
Appendix..................................................................................................................................45
The most important events in Kaunas in 2017..................................................45
6. 6
Introduction
Total numbers of international trips in world reports are bigger year by
year1. Business tourism is also developing, measured by the number of trips
related to business trips (including group meetings), business travel ex-
penses as well as the number of business events and conference meetings.
The development of business tourism is mainly caused by economic factors,
but also by political, socio-cultural or technological changes in the world.
The statistics concerning the business tourism market are dominated by
large cities, economically well-developed countries in the world2. It can be
assumed that business tourism is an attractive product of cities3, as a busi-
ness destination meeting the requirements of both institutional and individ-
ual clients4.
Demand on the business tourism market is generated mainly at the level of
institutional orders, but participants are able to decide on choice some con-
ference meetings, too.
Recognition of the needs of the participants of such meetings (where the par-
ticipant decides to participate in a particular conference) may contribute to
the success of event organizers and cities (destinations). It seems that im-
proving the quality of services provided to participants requires recognition
of their needs at every stage of involvement in the conference (before, during
and after the stay in the destination).
1
more in: Tourism Highlights, 2017 Edition. UN WTO, Madrid 2017
2 International Meetings Statistics Report 58th edition. Union of International Associations (UIA),
Brussels 2017; The International Association Meetings Market 2016. ICCA Statistics Report. ICCA,
Amsterdam 2017
3 G.I. Crouch, J. Ritchie, Convention site selection research: a review, conceptual model, and
propositional framework. Journal of Convention and Exhibition Management 1 (1) 1998, pp. 49–
69; G. Crouch, J. Louviere, The determinants of convention site selection: a logistic choice model
from experimental data. Journal of Travel Research 43, 2004, pp. 118–130; K. Cieślikowski:
Business Tourism As Innovative Product For Destination. Innovative (Eco-) Technology,
Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Conference proceedings, Kaunas 2015, pp. 26-33,
4 more in: M. Oppermann, Professional conference attendees’ and non-attendees’ participation
decision factor. The Society of Travel and Tourism Educators Annual Conference, Denver,
Colorado, 1995; M. Oppermann, K.P. Chon: Convention participation decision-making process.
Annals of Tourism Research, 24(1), 1997, pp. 178–191; J. Jung-Eun Yoo, K. Chon: Factors
Affecting Convention Participation Decision-Making: Developing a Measurement Scale. Journal
of Travel Research 2008/ 47, 2008; DOI: 10.1177/0047287507312421
7. 7
A contemporary delegate on international conference is also a tourist who
manifests a great commitment to the process of preparing the services he
intends to use, as well as in the process of contact with various entities im-
plementing the conferences.
Creating appropriate (meeting the expectations of participants) conditions
for the development of this involvement, may contribute to the participant's
satisfaction with participation in the conference, generating positive memo-
ries and opinions about the city, country, university5.
The city of Kaunas meets the requirements of an attractive destination on
the conference tourism market6 (the city has good transport accessibility
compared to other cities in Lithuania, is a growing economic and scientific
center, has a large number of universities, a suitable hotel base, a large and
multifunctional arena, etc.). The use of such opportunities for the develop-
ment of the meetings industry and effective management of business tour-
ism in the city always requires support by public administrations - both local
and state7.
The international conferences can bring significant economic and promo-
tional effects to every entities engaged in process of the conference.
When considering this, the Authors decided to conduct research on the par-
ticipants of the international Erasmus + International Week conference
meeting at Kauno Kolegija. The description of the research, as well as the
results obtained in the report, can be used to improve the organization and
5 K. Cieślikowski: Zarządzanie turystyką biznesową. Aspekty globalne i lokalne. AWF Katowice
2016, p. 6;
6 H.E, Chacko, G.G. Fenich: Determining the importance of US convention destination attribute.
Journal of Vacation Marketing, vol. 6, 2000, nr 3, pp. 211-220; H. Qu, L. Li, G.K. Tat Chu: The
Comparative analysis of Hong Kong as an international conference destination in southeast Asia.
Tourism Management, 2000, nr 21, p. 643-648; M. Oppermann: Convention destination images:
analysis of association meeting planners’ perception. Tourism Management. 1996, vol. 17. No 3
p. 175-182; M. Oppermann’a: Convention 7destination images analysis of association meeting
planners’ perceptionp. Tourism Management. 1996, vol. 17. No 3 p. 176; M. Oppermann:
Convention Cities – Images and Changing Fortune. The Journal of Tourism Studies Vol. 7, No. 1,
‘96, pp. 11-19; G. Hank-Haase: Der Tagung – und Kongressreiseverkehr als wirtschaftlicher
Faktor in Deutschen Grosstaten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Wiesbaden. Trier 1992,
pp. 7-8; A. Gugg, G. Hank-Haase: Die wirtschaftliche Bedeutung des Tagungs- und Kongress
Reiseverkehrs in Deutschland, Frankfurt, Februar 1995, pp. 5 – 12
7 more in: K. Cieślikowski K., A. Brusokas: Determinants of Effective Management in the Sport with
the Use of Large Sport Arenas in Selected Cities, European Journal of Service Management, 2017,
vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 5-10
8. 8
service of conference participants, as well as for further research in other
cities, or other conference meetings.
The purpose of the market research was to determine the success factors of
a conference meeting by identifying the key criteria (characteristics) deter-
mining participation in the conference meeting (selection of this type of con-
ference meeting, selection of destinations) and their evaluation by partici-
pants from abroad.
The participants of the international scientific conference Erasmus Interna-
tional Week were examined. Kauno Kolegija in Kaunas organized the confer-
ence from 19 to 23 March 2018.
To achieve the objectives, methods of analysis (subject literature, reports of
institutions studying business tourism in the world), active (participative)
observation as well as passive, using secondary sources and own research
(questionnaire) were used.
The list of key factors of choosing the type of conference meetings by par-
ticipants was prepared. Then questions were formulated and a question-
naire was developed as a research tool.
The questionnaire included both metric questions (for the general charac-
teristics of the research sample), open and closed questions in which the caf-
eteria and the five-degree Likert scale were used.
Survey research was carried out from 15 April to 15 May 2018, using the
survio.com website. The obtained indications were subjected to statistical
analysis for the calculation of average validity (expectation) and fulfillment
grades.
The report also includes the analysis of the seasonality of Erasmus + Inter-
national Week, geographical distribution (by countries), a general descrip-
tion of this type of conference (organization process, financing, type of in-
volved entities and participants) to show the specifics of this type of scien-
tific conferences.
The research results allowed for:
identification of used means of transport by participants of confer-
ence meetings,
9. 9
identification of the main motivations for participation in conference
meetings,
identification of conference selection criteria by scientific employees
planning to participate in an international conference,
analysis of meeting the expectations of Erasmus + International
Week participants in Kaunas
assessment of the level of satisfaction of the participants of this
meeting,
determining the key success factors of the Erasmus + International
Week conference meeting, taking into account the needs of foreign
participants at various stages of the preparation andimplementation
of the event.
The report consists of an introduction, four parts, a summary.
The first part refers to the general characteristics of the city of Kaunas, with
particular emphasis on the hotel's accommodation base, base for the meet-
ings industry, transport accessibility and the most important events in the
city.
The next part is a reference to the terms and concepts used in the Report.
The following parts of the Report include the results of direct research of
Erasmus + International Week participants in Kaunas and their analysis,
preceding this information with the description of the research methodology
and presenting the specificity of international conference meetings of the
Erasmus International Week type.
The summary includes the most important results and conclusions from the
market research of the participants of the Erasmus + International Week
conference organized by Kauno Kolegija / University Of Applied Science in
Kaunas.
10. 10
1. Kaunas - an attractive destination for conference
meetings and business events
Kaunas is a modern and dynamically developing city, the second largest eco-
nomic and scientific center in Lithuania and one of the most important cities
among the Baltic countries. It is the administrative capital of the Kaunas re-
gion (Kaunas County), one of the most attractive investment regions in the
Baltic States.
The historical beginnings of Kaunas date back to the 14th century. The city
and its castle were for the first time mentioned in historical chronicles in
1361 by the Arab geographer, Kaunas was a trading center, and his castle
served as an important fortress against the attacks of the Crusaders. In 1408,
under the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas - the city of Kaunas received
Magdeburg rights, obtaining the status of urban autonomy.
The rapid development of the city was begun in the interwar period (1919 -
1939), when Kaunas was the capital of the Republic of Lithuania 8.
In the first decade of the 21st century, investments were initiated aimed at
the reconstruction of the city center (among others: a shopping mall was es-
tablished then, old streets and tenement houses were renovated, and the Zal-
girio Arena was rebuilt). The airport was modernized, motorway connec-
tions with Vilnius and Poland were built, a new railway connection was
opened.
Kaunas, as a provincial city, has one of the best in
the Baltic states communication accessibility for
the organization of big events. Near the city, there
is the intersection of European transport routes
("E67" from Prague to Helsinki - so-called Via Bal-
tica, "E85" from Klaipeda via Belarus, Ukraine, Ro-
mania, Bulgaria to Alexandroupoli in Greece).
And existing railway connections allow you to reach many cities in the coun-
try and abroad. A renewed main railway station in Kaunas, a bus interchange
center as well as developing services for travelers - encourage people to visit
the city using public transport.
8 http://www.kaunokolegija.lt/en/staying-in-kaunas/ (accessed: 20-06-2018)
11. 11
At a distance of 17 km from the city center of Kaunas,
there is an international airport.
There are direct flights from the airport to 23 cities
in Europe and Asia. They are serviced by LOT, Wiz-
zair and Raian Air airlines. Buses to the city center
run from the airport. In 2017, the airport in Kaunas
served 1.2 million passengers. More international
flights operate at Vilnius airport about 100 km from
Kaunas.
There is also a dynamically developing special
economic zone in Kaunas 9. It consists of three
areas:
• THE PRODUCTION AND LOGISTICS AREA
• THE AIRPARK (3 km next to the airport)
• THE BUSINESS STREET (area 12h off the A6
motorway)
Further investments in this area are conducive to the further development
of the city and business events in the city10.
In Kaunas, in recent years, the hotel accommodation has been developing,
and the extension and modernization of the conference facilities for the im-
plementation of group meetings.
In June of 2018 in Kaunas were 24 hotels,
in which there were 1,246 rooms.
These hotels could accommodate 2,462 guests.
9 http://ftz.lt/about-kaunas-fez/ (accessed: 20-06-2018)
10 http://en.kaunap.lt/business/why-investing-in-kaunas (accessed: 20-06-2018)
13. 13
Visitors to the city of Kaunas can stay overnight in 24 hotels of various cate-
gorizations (the most are four- and three-star hotels). 22 of them with stand-
ard 3 stars and 4 starts hotels have a total of 1,167 rooms.
In addition, 6 hotels in the city of Kaunas (25%) are chain hotels with 609
hotel rooms (48.9%) in the city for 1 126 guests (45.7% of the total hotel
capacity of the city).
There are also many other meeting places
prepared for the implementation of busi-
ness events in Kaunas.
And almost every hotel has at least one con-
ference room.
In addition, conference organizers can find
rooms in one of the Universities or many
cultural facilities (galleries, museums, cine-
mas, theaters).
The largest covered building is the Zalgirio Arena11. It can accommodate
a maximum of 20517 participants (during music concerts).
However, 12,300 permanent places are prepared in the stands (the places
being added increase the capacity to 15 688 participants).
It is the largest indoor multi-purpose hall in the Baltic countries. Every year
there are many sports events (mainly basketball), but also fairs, exhibitions,
shows or conferences and congresses.
11 https://zalgirioarena.lt/en/zalgirio-arena/apie-arena/ (accessed: 20-06-2018)
14. 14
The economic and political changes in the European Union, launching fur-
ther targeted programs, also contribute to the development of the city of
Kaunas.
The activity of the scientific community may also contribute to greater pro-
motion of the city and further economic development, including through the
organization of international conferences in Kaunas.
15. 15
2. Basic definitions and concepts
Business tourism is the people's trips to group business meetings (related to
their work), but not paid work at the destination. The terms "business tour-
ism", "meetings industry", "business trips", are subject to various subject
matter, and sometimes they are identified as the same. To describe them, the
acronym MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) is also used.
Along with the research of the business tourism market in the world, to em-
phasize the economic importance in the region in which it is implemented
(destination), the term "meetings industry" is used.
The division of the terms "business trips" and "business tourism" proposed
by Rob Davidson organizes the terms and allows the use of the term "busi-
ness tourism" in the right context.12.
It should be recalled that according to this author, "business travel" are
a superior category and mean all travels whose goals are related to the work
or interests of the traveler. These include "individual business travels" and
"business tourism", which he treats as group meetings (the UN WTO stated
that the minimum number of people to consider a group meeting is 10)13.
The UN WTO in the reports on the meetings industry and the recommenda-
tions for statistics also refers to this division and distinguishes the following
groups of conference meetings and business events: conference / congress,
corporate event, incentive event and trade fairs / exhibitions.
Business tourism is therefore all business travels to various meetings,
including: group meetings (many types of events, such as conferences, train-
ing seminars, launching new products or annual general meetings); motiva-
tional travels (usually luxury travel, to attractive places, financed by the em-
ployer to its employees, as a reward for winning a competition related to
work or for activities within a team of traders); exhibitions (including fairs
and consumer events); corporate tourism (luxurious entertainment offered
12 more in: R. Davidson, B. Cope: Business travel: Conferences, incentive travel, exhibitions,
corporate hospitality and corporate travel. Pearson Education, London 2003
13 Global Report on the Meetings Industry, UN WTO, Madrid 2014, p. 10; Measuring the Economic
Importance of the Meetings Industry. Developing a Tourism Satellite Account Extension. UN
WTO, Madrid 2006, p. 13
16. 16
by companies to the most valuable clients or potential clients during pres-
tigious sports and cultural events).
Figure 1. Business tourism sector
Source: R. Davidson, B. Cope: Business travel: Conferences, incentive travel,
exhibitions, corporate hospitality and corporate travel. Pearson
Education, London 2003, p. 4.
The conference meeting term used in this Report refers to meetings differ in
terms of duration, number of participants, spatial coverage, purpose and
subject of the meeting, degree of formalization, and method of financing the
participation of participants.
Consequently, in practice, there can be distinguished between congresses,
conventions, conferences, forums, assemblies, conventions, symposia, semi-
nars or trainings, workshops, galas or conclaves.
Inside the report, a participant of an international conference (a delegate) is
a "business tourist" (a business traveler who stays outside the place of per-
manent residence for at least 24 hours and uses a publicly available accom-
modation base).
Business travel
Individual
business travels
Business tourism
Group
meetings
Incentive
trips
Corporate
hospitality
Exhibitions
17. 17
The business tourism market consist of groups of entities:
- I group - deliverers / providers of individual services (accommoda-
tion facilities, facilities, transport services, catering services, support
services, other local entrepreneurs)
- II group - operators - specialized companies acting on behalf of cli-
ents and acting on behalf of generators / service providers
- III group - institutional buyers and participants of conference meet-
ings14.
The business market is dominated by institutional demand, which is created
earlier than the demand of individual clients. However, participants of con-
ference meetings (delegates) have some choice and freedom in choosing
a meeting, place and various additional services (travel arrangements,
organization of time in a destination, participation costs, etc. When they are
choosing a meeting, they are guided by the official as well as unofficial
(individual) motivations of participation, which in the report were also
subjected to identification and evaluation.
The report includes the results of research on participants (guests from
abroad) of an international conference meeting organized by the university
in cooperation with public administration (city, state, European) and other
private companies involved in the process of preparing the Erasmus + Inter-
national Week event at Kaunas Kolegija.
14 K. Cieślikowski: Zarządzanie turystyką biznesową. Wybrane aspekty globalne i lokalne. AWF
Katowice 2015, pp. 27-30
18. 18
3. The specific of research of conference meeting type
Erasmus+ International Week
3.1. Research methodology
For the purposes of the market research of participants of international con-
ference meetings on the example of Erasmus + International Week in Kau-
nas, the following were made: analyzes, characteristics and characteristics
of Erasmus + International Week conferences and surveys of participants of
one of them.
The general analysis and showing the specificity of Erasmus + International
Week was based mainly on external sources (existing statistics and studies
of other institutions).
The Erasmus + program and the European institutions involved in its imple-
mentation were presented. An analysis of the Erasmus + International Week
events carried out since 2014 (in particular 2017) has been carried out,
based on available statistics for presenting the distribution of these confer-
ence meetings during the year, as well as their spatial structure, including
the countries where they were implemented.
As part of the analysis of the market of international conference meetings,
the preferences, expectations of the participants of Erasmus + International
Week at Kauno Kolegija in Kaunas and their fulfillment were also examined.
To achieve this objective, the survey method was used, using the question-
naire as a research tool. The direct research process was preceded by direct
conversations with participants of this type of events in other countries. In
order to formalize a wide list of features and possible questions, the meth-
odology used in servqal surveys was used.
A questionnaire was created (Annex 1) which contained open and closed
questions. In closed questions regarding the assessment of the meeting,
a five-point Likert scale was used.
Closed questions concerned 17 features, important in the opinion of the au-
thors for the success of a well-organized conference event of the Erasmus +
International Week type. On a scale of 1 to 5 participants had to refer to each
feature, where in the case of validity, 1 meant not important and 5 very im-
portant. Next, the participants assessed the fulfillment of these qualities by
19. 19
Erasmus International Week in Kaunas, also evaluating on a scale from 1 to
5, where 1 meant little satisfied and 5 met very well.
The authors calculated the average grade for each feature, assigned the av-
erage values according to "validity" and "fulfillment" and compared the ful-
fillment of what the participants expected. A synthetic result was obtained
in this way expressing some level of success of the organizers of the meeting.
The questionnaire was posted on 10/04/2018 on the website "survio.com".
Eligible participants of the event (foreign guests only) received a personal
invitation to participate in the study (request for a reply). In the period from
15/04/2018 to 15/05/2018 the participants were contacted several times
(by email). 51 completed questionnaires were received.
The questionnaire was supported by direct contact with the participants and
already announced at the Kaunas event, therefore for 57 eligible persons
who received an invitation to the survey, as many as 51 of them returned
completed questionnaires.
The analysis covered information obtained from 51 participants from 29 ac-
ademic centers. Participants came from 18 countries (Belarus, Belgium, Bul-
garia, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Latvia, Po-
land, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Ukraine).
The implementation of research in accordance with the above assumptions
required direct and indirect contact (using e-mail and telephone) with con-
ference participants and convincing them of the need to conduct research on
conference participants.
The research process and included the following stages:
I. Identification of the city and conference meeting for the implemen-
tation of research
II. Determination of factors influencing the selection of conference
meetings
III. Constructing, verifying and testing a research tool
IV. Conducting the study using the on-line questionnaire
V. Entering and coding the obtained answers
VI. Development of results and analysis
VII. Preparation of the report (presentation of results)
20. 20
A questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions, questions in the
cafeteria structure, questions with the use of a 5-point Likert scale and
a questionnaire was developed and tested for the purpose of carrying out
the research and achieving the assumed goals.
Then, the collected information obtained was introduced and coded in
a computer program for further analysis and drawing conclusions.
3.2. Characteristics of Erasmus+ International Week conference
meetings
The subjects of the research are participants of the Erasmus International
Week conference meeting organized in Kaunas by Kauno Kolegija on 19 to
23 March 2018.
There is a specificity of conference meetings of this type.
It results from the fact that the main purpose of participants' arrival is re-
lated to the work done for the academic or academic center they represent,
in addition to the methods of financing and organizing the event and partic-
ipation of delegates (from assistance programs addressed to universities)
and various services and entities involved locally (accommodation, restau-
rants, taxi, cultural facilities).
The "Erasmus + International Week" conferences are events that usually
consist of: scientific conferences, workshops and other events containing
also an interesting leisure program (sightseeing of the destination, learning
about the history of the city, country, cultural performances, etc.). i.e. (ac-
commodation, restaurants, taxi, cultural facilities). They are implemented as
part of the Erasmus + program by research centers, universities and schools
in 34 countries (in European Union and beyond)15. The participation of par-
ticipants is financed from EU funds.
Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and
sport in Europe. Its budget of €14.7 billion will provide opportunities for
over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer
15 The Erasmus Impact Study. Effects of mobility on the skills and employability of students and
the internationalization of higher education institution. The European Commission Educational
and Culture, Brussels, 2014, p. 45
21. 21
Table 2. Number of Erasmus+ International Week meetings
in 2014-2018 by countries.
No. country
Number of meetings
Erasmus+ International Week
in 2014-2018
1. Spain 108
2. Germany 73
3. Poland 72
4. Portugal 71
5. Finland 48
6. Czech Republic 37
Lithuania 37
Turkey 37
9. France 31
10. Italy 27
11. Belgium 26
12. Estonia 23
13. Greece 22
14. Hungary 21
United Kingdom 21
16. Cyprus 15
Latvia 15
Romania 15
19. Austria 11
Croatia 11
Slovenia 11
22. Norway 10
Sweden 10
24. Slovakia 8
25. Bulgaria 4
Denmark 4
Switzerland 4
28. Ireland 3
Luxembourg 3
Macedonia 3
Netherlands 3
total 784
Source: http://staffmobility.eu/staff-week-archive (accessed: 20-06-2018)
EIW - these are meetings in which usually 30 to 70 people participate, mainly
from abroad.
22. 22
abroad. Erasmus+ has opportunities for a wide range of organizations, in-
cluding universities, education and training providers, think-tanks, research
organizations, and private businesses16.
The number of Erasmus + International Week (EIW) conference meetings
registered on the site "staffmobility.eu", implemented from 1/01/2014 to
30/08/2018, amounted to 78417.
Participation in the majority of such conferences is free. Delegates receive
grants from the Erasmus + program funds, which covers all or part of travel,
accommodation and other costs.
Analyzing the time of organizing such conference meetings in the period
from January to December (Fig. 2), it can be noticed that the most of them
are implemented from the beginning of April to the end of May (61.8%).
Figure 2. Seasonality of the number of Erasmus+ International Week
events held in 2017
Source: author’s elaboration based on http://staffmobility.eu/staff-week-
search (20-06-2018)
The large share of spring months (in the period from IV to VI it was 61.8%
of all conferences in a year) in the seasonality of implementation of Interna-
tional Week may be related to the organization of the academic year and the
specificity of scientific activity. The spring months are the final period of the
academic year (in June there are usually credits and exams) and are a great
16 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about_en (accessed: 20-06-2018)
17 http://staffmobility.eu/staff-week-search (accessed: 20-06-2018)
1.4% 2.4%
5.7%
16.3%
29.7%
15.8%
4.3%
1.4%
5.7%
9.1%
6.2%
1.9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
23. 23
moment to make a certain summary, to show off the achievements / work
experience, and to announce another academic year.
Therefore, the organization of an international conference in autumn, winter
or early spring may allow the university to stand out from other EIW organ-
izers and it is easier to attract participants.
24. 24
4. Results of the survey of foreign participants of the
Erasmus International Week at Kauno Collegium in
2018 and their analysis
4.1. Characteristics of the research sample
The research sample covered delegates of the Erasmus+ International Week
in Kaunas.
Kauno Kolegija organized the conference from 19 to 23 March 2018.
Total numbers of respondents it was 51 people from abroad (from 18
countries).
Analysis of the age structure of study participants shows that 43% of re-
spondents were aged 35-44, 29% aged 25-34, aged 45-54 -14%, and 55 and
more - 14% (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Age structure of respondents
source: K. Cieślikowski – own research
100% of delegates participating in this conference meeting were repre-
sented by academic centers (29 different academic centers).
In addition, it should be noted that the share of women in the whole sample
amounted to 58%, while men - 42% (Figure 4).
0%
29%
43%
14%
7% 7%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
less then 25
y.o.
25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years 65 y.o. and
more
25. 25
Figure 4. Delegates in research sample by sex
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
Taking into account the country of participants came from, it should be
noted that the most participants came from countries in Europe (58%), but
not Lithuanian neighbor K. Cieślikowski – own research K. Cieślikowski –
own research
Respondents from neighboring countries accounted for 26% of the research
sample.
And 16% of respondents from outside Europe (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Territorial distribution of respondents
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
Female
58%
Male
42%
neighboring
country
26%
other country in
Europe…
outside
Europe
16%
26. 26
4.2. Conference activity of surveyed delegates
The respondents declared that in 2017 they attended in 222 meetings (this
means one delegate spent an average of 4.3 conferences in 2017).
The highest number of responses (43.1% of all) indicated that in 2017 it par-
ticipated in 3-4 conferences, and 7.8% of delegates were very active partici-
pants in the conference tourism market - they participated in 10 and more
conferences (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Distribution of respondents by number of conferences in
2017.
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
60.7% of the total number of conference meetings of delegates in which they
participated throughout the year 2017 were carried out by them with ac-
commodation (Figure 7).
Other conferences (39.3%) in 2017 were without accommodation.
21.6%
43.1%
13.7% 13.7%
7.8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
1 - 2
conferences
3 - 4
conferences
5 - 6
conferences
7 - 9
conferences
10 and more
27. 27
Figure 7. Distribution of respondents - participants of conference
meetings, taking into account their length of stay at these conferences
in 2017.
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
Foreign guests - participating Erasmus + International Week in Kaunas were
also asked about the means of transport used to arrive at this conference.
Figure 8. The distribution of respondents due to the means of
transport used to arrive at this conference (Erasmus+ Interna-
tional Week in Kaunas).
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
one day
(without
accomodatio
n)
60.7%
two or more
days
39.3%
71.4%
28.6%
28.6%
21.4%
21.4%
14.3%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
plane
car
local public transport
train
Taxi
long distance bus
28. 28
71.4% of respondents indicated that they used the plane to get to Kaunas for
this event. And 28.6% of respondents indicated a passenger car (Figure 8).
Such popularity of air connections is related to the large distance of dele-
gates from the place of the conference, as well as the relatively short distance
of the international airport from the center of Kaunas (17 km).
The number of indications (answers) is greater than 100.0% because par-
ticipants could indicate several means of transport that they used to partic-
ipate in the conference meeting.
4.3. Identification of the main motivations for participation in
the Erasmus + International Week at Kauno Kolegija
To determine the main motivations for participation in conference meetings,
delegates indicated the importance of a specific factor for making decisions
on arrival at the conference.
These indications were on the 5-point Likert scale, where 1 meant low-level
in importance and 5 very important.
The authors have the awareness of many motivators influencing the decision
to choice the conferences.
As a result of the analysis of foreign institutions 'research, as well as the au-
thors' experience, a list of 11 factors was adopted (3 official: acquiring
knowledge, making new business contacts, promoting own institution and 8
unofficial ones, about which participants rarely mention their supervisor at
work when they intend to go on conference).
Research on these respondents showed that the most important motivator
of participation in scientific conference meetings (Table 3) is " acquisition of
knowledge " with an average rating of 4.29 (on the five-point Likert scale,
where 1 - "not a very important" and 5 - "very important "), next are "new
professional contacts" (4.21); and "promotion of own organization" (4.00).
29. 29
Table 3. Official and unofficial motivations for participation in Erasmus
+ International Week in Kaunas
No. motivations
average
rating
1. acquisition of knowledge 4.29
2. new professional contacts 4.21
3. promotion of own organization 4.00
4. personal public relations 3.86
5. raising qualifications 3.57
6.
high reputation of the University (organizer of
EIW)
3.57
7. personalized participation certificate 3.43
8. the possibility of recreation in your free time 3.36
9. low participation costs 3.14
10.
other attractions, e.g. membership cards,
freebies
2.64
11. short distance from the hotel to the university 2.57
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
The least important for the participants of the conference meetings was the
"short distance from the hotel to the university" (2.57), "other attractions
such as freebies, membership cards” (2.64). Relatively low place among the
main motivations for participation in an international conference of the
Erasmus + International Week type took on the traits of "low cost of mar-
riage" (with the validity of 3.14 on the five-point Likert scale).
4.4. Evaluating the Erasmus + International Week in Kauno
Kolegja by delegates from abroad in 2018.
In order to evaluate the Erasmus + International Week in Kaunas, two ques-
tions were put in the research questionnaire addressed to participants from
abroad.
30. 30
One question allowed identifying the most important determinants of con-
ference selection by guests from abroad (features were exchanged and par-
ticipants were asked to respond to each of them by inserting "x" in a 5-point
Likert scale from 1 to 5, where 1 - "not important", and 5 - "very important").
The second question (further on in the questionnaire) was related to the
level of fulfillment of these factors by Erasmus + International Week orga-
nized by Kauno Kolegija in Kaunas in 2018 (the same features / factors were
listed, 1 it's mean than the conference fulfills the factors "not enough", up to
5 -" completely").
The difference between the results of averages for individual features / fac-
tors of attractiveness (this is the difference between expectations and fulfill-
ment in the opinion of delegates) allows to analyze the attractiveness of the
University, the city, perceived by foreign participants of Erasmus + Interna-
tional Week.
Questionnaire surveys of International Week participants showed that the
most important for the delegates during the selection of the conference
meeting are: "new university" (average rate of 4.0) and "information availa-
bility of this International Week" (4.0). At the same time, 43% of respond-
ents "information accessibility" is a very important factor of choice.
On the other hand, the least important for the delegates were: " accessibility
of the city by car" (2.50), "many shopping centers", "other business confer-
ences and events at the same time" (these two features with an average rat-
ing of 2.43). For these three criteria (features), over 50% of respondents in-
dicated 1 or 2 on five scale of importance (tab. 4).
The respondents were also asked about the assessment of meeting the qual-
ities important to them when choosing a conference meeting. The analysis
of the results shows that foreign participants of the Erasmus + International
Week organized by Kauno Kolegija on 19-23 March 2018 in Kaunas were
very satisfied with the "earlier contact with this university" (the average as-
sessment of the fulfillment of this feature is 4.5).
33. 33
The features are taking place on the list (tab. 5): "newness of the city", "new-
ness of the country", "newness of the university" as well as features "facul-
ties at this university are similar to my university", "information availability
of this International Week" (for these traits the average score rating was
above 4).
The least satisfied were the features: "accessibility of the city by car " (3.00)
and "other conferences and business events at the same time" (2.86). These
features are also the least important when selecting the International Week
conference by the participant (Table 5).
Figure 9. The level of satisfaction of foreign participants of Erasmus +
International Week.
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
-0.21
-0.07
0.14
0.14
0.21
0.36
0.43
0.43
0.5
0.5
0.57
0.64
0.64
0.71
0.79
0.86
1.43
-1,5 -1 -0,5 0 0,5 1 1,5
the opportunity to explore the city…
diversified conference program
new university
information availability on this…
accessibility of the city by public…
many cultural facilities in the city
new country
other conferences and business…
faculties at this university are…
accessibility of the city by car
new city
varied gastronomic base in the city
many cultural and sporting events…
previous contact with this university
many green areas in the city
varied accommodation base
many shopping centers
34. 34
The success of the conference organizers can be a high level of participants'
satisfaction. This means meeting or even exceeding the expectations of the
delegates (important features of the conference).
The indicator of this success will be the difference between the results of
average assessments of fulfillment (meeting) and the average ratings of the
validity (expectations) of the assessed features (factors).
Table 6. The level of satisfaction of foreign participants of Erasmus +
International Week in Kaunas in 2018.
No. features (factors)
Expectation
(importance)
Perception
(fulfillment)
Results
(gap)
1. many shopping centers 2.43 3.86 1.43
2. varied accommodation base 3.00 3.86 0.86
3. many green areas in the city 3.14 3.93 0.79
4.
previous contact with this
university
3.79 4.50 0.71
5. varied gastronomic base in the city 3.21 3.86 0.64
6.
many cultural and sporting events
at the same time in the city
3.00 3,64 0.64
7. new city 3.64 4.21 0.57
8.
faculties at this university are
similar to my university
3.64 4.14 0.50
9. accessibility of the city by car 2.50 3.00 0.50
10. new country 3.71 4.14 0.43
11.
other conferences and business
events at the same time
2.43 2.86 0.43
12. many cultural facilities in the city 3.64 4.00 0.36
13.
accessibility of the city by public
transportation
3.64 3.86 0.21
14. new university 4.00 4.14 0.14
15.
information availability on this
International Week
4.00 4.14 0.14
16. diversified conference program 3.93 3.86 -0.07
17.
the opportunity to explore the city
and the surrounding area
3.93 3.71 -0.21
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
35. 35
When comparing the average importance of particular factors (features) of
the choice of a conference meeting and their fulfillment by Erasmus + Inter-
national Week in Kaunas, it can be noticed that almost all factors (features)
had got very results (tab. 6) in the difference between fulfillment and expec-
tation (importance).
Only the "diversified conference program" (-0.07) and "the possibility of vis-
iting the city" (-0.21) slightly did not meet the expectations of the EIW par-
ticipants.
The factor (feature) "many shopping centers" is not very important in the
selection of conferences by participants of scientific conferences, while Kau-
nas far exceeded the expectations of delegates (by 1.43).
Which may suggest that for participants from abroad shopping centers may
be an interesting attraction of free time (outside the conference program) in
this city.
An important element for the respondents was prior contact with the uni-
versity (result of the importance of 3.79), the assessment of the satisfaction
of this factor by the EMI at the level of 4.5 also allows to notice that it ex-
ceeded the participants' expectations by 0.71.
Therefore, an important success factor of the conference is also to identify
the most important forms of collecting information about the conference.
Authors' surveys indicate (Figure 10) that foreign participants of Erasmus +
International Week conference in Kaunas most often find any information
about a conference from their supervisors (bosses) at work (43%).
29% of respondents indications were on ways of contact by: both "e-mail"
and "from friends".
36. 36
Figure 10. Ways of collecting information about Erasmus +
International Week in Kaunas by participants
source: K. Cieślikowski, A. Brusokas - own research
The analysis of these results allows us to note the importance of identifying
key people in selected institutions and contacting them using direct market-
ing.
In addition, people who know the destination, the University can also be ex-
cellent ambassadors of the conference, therefore, you should attach great
importance to post-conference contact with conference participants for the
promotion of future events.
The survey (questionnaire) also included the question "What did you like
most about this Erasmus + International Week in Kaunas?". The most fre-
quent answers are shown below:
The possibility of new professional contacts and interaction with other
people of science
Particularly included in this:
o „Big opportunities for further research activities”
o „Interaction with colleagues and cooperation opportunities”
o „exchange of experiences and ideas between different countries
/ cultures”
o „Lots of interesting people among guest teachers”
o „Students and interesting people from different countries”
43%
29%
29%
14%
7%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
from a boss in my work
direct e-mail information
from friends
on web site of the conference
social media (eg. facebook, tweeter,
linkedin)
37. 37
The cultural program was very interesting
Particularly included in this:
o „an event at the president's palace”,
o „well-organized welcome ceremony referring to history and cul-
ture”,
o „a cognitive tour of the university faculties”
Great hospitality of the organizers ("nice atmosphere", "good contact
throughout the conference")
Others, e.g.: "Possibility to give lectures for students about information
activities", "Learning about university and people" "Early contact with
the university"
However, the next open question was „What can be improved in the next
EIW?” most answers (over 33%) were "nothing to improve".
The following are the most common responses below:
"More trips", "more trips together", "More opportunities to do some-
thing with the participants"
„Adding new themes - Event management. Perspectives of modern
innovations, such as e-sport”
„A more detailed agenda”
„suggesting in the program, for example, the topic of the week and
the speaker”
„More recommendations, information on where to go or what to do
in the evening or in your spare time”
The international conference Erasmus + International Week organized by
Kauno Kolegija in Kaunas was highly appreciated by the participants.
And 100% of respondents again want to come to the city of Kaunas and the
University.
In addition, all respondents will recommend participation in the next Eras-
mus + International Week next year.
38. 38
Conclusions
Scientific conferences may be an interesting tourist product of enterprises
involved in their organization and service as well as a product for city ad-
ministrations interested in the development and promotion of their region
as well.
When analyzing the material and non-material potential of the city of Kau-
nas, one can notice a large number of higher education institutions (com-
pared to other cities in Lithuania and the Baltic region).
Lithuanian membership in the European Union makes it possible to benefit
from programs aimed at the development of societies, through exchange of
knowledge and direct relations, and create the possibility of applying for the
organization of conferences under such programs.
One of such programs addressed to the academic community is the Erasmus
+ program.
As part of this program, international Erasmus + International Week confer-
ences are organized every year.
Kaunas is known for its good transport connection with other large Lithua-
nian cities and others in the Baltic Sea region. Today, Kaunas can be easily
reached by car, plane and rail, and its geographical location is considered to
be particularly convenient and attractive.
Visitors (interested in high level accommodation) can stay longer in one of
24 hotels. In the city area there are many group meeting places (conference
facilities), including the largest multi-functional hall in the region - Arena
Zalgirio. Every year, Kaunas is the host of many international business, cul-
tural and sports events.
Among them are also scientific conferences implemented in the city by uni-
versities.
On 19-23 March 2018 Kauno Kolegija organized Erasmus + Interantional
Week. For 5 days, almost 90 people participated in it, including 57 from
abroad.
The authors of the report conducted a direct questionnaire survey on partic-
ipants.
The results of these studies are very interesting, especially for the organizers
of similar events.
39. 39
The result indicates that the most guests from abroad, in order to reach the
international conference in Kaunas, used the plane (71.4%). Such a result
shows the major role of the airport in the development of the city on inter-
national markets, including the business tourism market.
In addition, it was noted that the participants (foreign guests, representing
various research centers) came mainly to ecquire of knowledge, got new
professional contacts and promote their own organization and person.
There is therefore a great need to pay particular attention to the substantive
part of the planned speeches in the process of preparing international con-
ferences, as well as to create opportunities for frequent contacts between
participants.
For Erasmus + International Week participants, the main (particulary im-
portant) criterion for choosing this conference and city was: "the new uni-
versity" and "the information availability of this conference".
Therefore, when preparing the process of communication about such inter-
national conferences, particular attention should be paid to elements of the
University's innovations that may intrigue, interest especially potential par-
ticipants and prepare banners for the process and forms of communication
with them.
The organizers of Erasmus + International Week in Kaunas (Kauno Kolegija
and other institutions cooperating in Kaunas) met the expectations of for-
eign participants almost in every respect (it concerns especially "the possi-
bility of contact with the university", "news of the city, country, university")
and the results of the difference between "Assessment of fulfillment" and
"assessment of validity" allow to state that the participants were delighted
(in this case, particularly pleasantly surprised: "a large number of shopping
centers", "diversified accommodation base", "a lot of green areas in the
city").
When analyzing the results of these studies, it should be noted that re-invit-
ing the same participants to the next EMI at the same university will be a
difficult task.
Further contact with Erasmus + International Week participants in Kaunas
can be encouraged by the friendship of other employees from the same Uni-
versity or new ones.
40. 40
In addition, The same delegates can be invited to a new, completely different
event to Kaunas or to universities.
Such management of events may contribute to the improvement of the busi-
ness economics of many companies involved in the process of implementa-
tion and service of conferences, as well as the promotion of the city in the
opinion-forming environment of scientific employees.
Analyzing the communication process of the conference, it should be noted
that the good identification of decision-makers in the universities and direct
contacts with them is very important.
Such activities may be initiated by universities on the level of scientific re-
search or other forms of cooperation, but also supported by city administra-
tions particularly responsible for the development of tourism in the city and
its promotion (for example, transfer of information about their own city
leaving abroad to researchers, co-financing of some trips, preparation of spe-
cial promotional materials for participants of specific conferences in the city,
etc.).
In 2020, the Erasmus + program will end in its current form, but it is worth
observing such international conferences as it will probably be replaced by
another project.
The participation of local universities in it may be conducive to the develop-
ment of tourism and promotion of the city.
41. 41
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Websites
http://ec.europa.eu
http://en.kaunap.lt
http://ftz.lt/about-kaunas-fez
http://staffmobility.eu
http://www.kaunokolegija.lt
https://zalgirioarena.lt
43. 43
List of tables
Table 1. Hotels in Kaunas in 2017.................................................................................12
Table 2. Number of Erasmus+ International Week meetings in 2014-2018
by countries.........................................................................................................20
Table 3. Official and unofficial motivations for participation in Erasmus +
International Week in Kaunas......................................................................29
Table 4. Determinants of choosing the Erasmus + International Week
meeting..................................................................................................................31
Table 5. Evaluation of the meeting the expectations of Erasmus +
International Week abroad delegates.......................................................32
Table 6. The level of satisfaction of foreign participants of Erasmus +
International Week in Kaunas in 2018.....................................................34
44. 44
List of figures
Figure 1. Business tourism sector.................................................................................16
Figure 2. Seasonality of the number of Erasmus+ International
Week events held in 2017.............................................................................22
Figure 4. Age structure of respondents......................................................................24
Figure 5. Delegates in research sample by sex........................................................25
Figure 6. Territorial distribution of respondents...................................................25
Figure 7. Distribution of respondents by number of conferences
in 2017...................................................................................................................26
Figure 8. Distribution of respondents - participants of conference
meetings, taking into account their length of stay at these
conferences in 2017.........................................................................................27
Figure 9. The distribution of respondents due to the means of transport
used to arrive at this conference (Erasmus+ International
Week in Kaunas)................................................................................................27
Figure 9. The level of satisfaction of foreign participants of Erasmus +
International Week...........................................................................................33
Figure 10. Ways of collecting information about Erasmus + International
Week in Kaunas by participants .................................................................36
45. 45
Appendix
The most important events in Kaunas in 2017
1. January 7th , - World Lithuanian Sports Games, 3000 participants
2. January 24th , - Opening of the bus station (after reconstruction) -
About 700 buses pass through Kaunas bus station daily. At the bus sta-
tion in Kaunas, the daily flow of people reaches 10,000.
3. March 15th , - The announcement of the winners of the European Cap-
ital of Culture in the Town Hall Square, ~ 2000 participants
4. April 7th – 9th , - International Children's Games (ICG`0101), 2500 par-
ticipants
5. May 12th – 20th , Museums Night, ~ 2500 participants
6. May 19th - 21st ," Hanza" days, - 200 000 participants
7. May 21st to June 2nd , - Steadfast Cobalt - 1200 participants organized
by the NATO Communication Battalion every year.
8. August 15th , - Kaunas Airport Period (Vilnius Airport Reconstruction)
- 3000 flights per period.
9. September 2nd – 8th , - Sugihara Week (first), ~ 250 participants
10. September 15th –November 30th , KAUNAS BIENNIAL. The Biennial is
organized since 1997. 11th edition the Biennial in public spaces and at
the Kaunas Picture Gallery. 2000 participants
11. September 19th , - „Baltic MedTech 2017" Baltic MedTech is the first
medical technology conference to held in the Baltics. ~ 750 partici-
pants