A presentation on sustainability in the meetings industry with a focus on the sustainability initiatives and activities of the Slovenian Convention Bureau and some of their key learnings.

3. One of the most prevalent features of Slovenia, that attracts guests, is its clean, unspoiled environment. With around 60 % of its surface
covered in forest, Slovenia is one of the most forested countryies in Europe. Just 60 kilometres from the capital city Ljubljana one can
even find virgin forest. Slovenia is also among the most biologically diverse countries in the world. And can indeed be portrayed as a
European biotic park. Visitors therefore perceive Slovenia as an environmentally attractive destination.

4. This green character of Slovenia is primarily based on natural endowments (forests, water, biodiversity). The question is how
sustainable are meeting industry products? The Slovenian meeting and incentive providers do increasingly focus on the
implementation of sustainable practices and the development of innovative sustainable products and services. However the
incorporation and implementation of sustainable management in the meeting industry of Slovenia does not match the level of other
destinations and providers high on a “green wave”.

5. A common vision of preserving the meeting destination of Slovenia so
that future generations will be able to hold their meetings and events
in an honestly green destination. Looking for a positive story to raise
awaress about Slovenia and straightforwardly present its green
character.

6. The answer was the Bee Story. From 2010 to 2012 the Slovenian Bees indicate the level of environmental protection and
meeting industry community focused on two environmentally symbolise the Slovenian vision of preserving nature. Bees
friendly and socially responsible campaigns that revolved furthermore relate to the our uniqueness, seeing that Slovenia is
around bees. the only European country that has protected its indigenous
species, the Carniolan bee.
Bees can therefore vividly communicate the positioning of
The Bee Story focused on protecting bees that symbolise the
Slovenia as a green meeting and incentive travel destination,
diversity of natural resources in Slovenia.
primarily based on our natural endowments.

7. In 2010 we first launched the BeBee campaign. The Slovenian meeting industry
community became an annual patron of the Beekeeping Association of Slovenia
and its Carniolian Bees Conservation Trust. The Conservation Trust aims to
protect the Carniolian bees and promote the tradition of beekeeping. Together
with the Beekeeping Association we enabled one beekeepers' club in a
Slovenian primary school to set up a learning beehouse to breed and keep the
bee colonies.
We invited meeting professionals to join this campaign. We asked them to
support the work of the beekeeper’s club and sign the BeBee petition. In
this manner we wanted to activate meeting professionals to join our cause,
learn more about the importance of bees and in turn also about Slovenia.

8. The BeBee campaign so became an integral part of five workshops held in Slovenia in 2011. The hosted
meeting planners listened to a short lecture about beekeeping in Slovenia and the importance of bees
for the environment, economy and tourism.
The workshops introduced a number of environmentally friendly measures to minimise their
environmental impact.

9. During the campaign we designed several tools to encurage
meeting industry companies in Slovenia to implement sustainable
business practices.
Among others was the Road to Green Meetings in Slovenia
manual with guidelines for sustainable event management and
some best practice examples from Slovenia. There was also the
online Event Carbon Calculator enabling meeting planners to
calculate the carbon footprint of their event.

10. The BeBee campaigns also became part of our promotional activities. The campaign was based on
the idea of telling and evolving the story about bees to our targeted audiences. This was done
directly through monthly e-newsletters, by attending global trade shows as well as indirectly through
generating media attention.
From December 2010 to July 2012 the Bee Story ensured publication of more than 50 articles in
the leading meeting industry media. The Bee Story therefore created a strong buzz about Slovenia.

11. The Bee Story also helped us create
new ambassadors of Slovenia. The
campaigns touched the emotions of
meeting professionals and related to
them on other areas, not only
business related.
The BeBee campaign attracted support of 821 international
meeting industry professionals. During the campaign 46 meeting
planners visited Slovenia and got to know more about our green
character and Slovenia in general. Later on several of the meeting
planners held their meetings and incentives in Slovenia.

12. We also asked them wheater they noticed any sustainable measures during their visit and which
ones. These results got us thinking. Namely the participants only noted some of the measures. And
when we explored this point a bit deeper we learned the meeting professionals only notice the
most striking sustainable measures and take a lot of measures for granted. The research was then
upgraded on the case of the Conventa trade show, which last year won the EIBTM Sustainability
Stand Award.

13. A number of measures were then noted, but taken for granted. The participants did not talk about these measures, they did not influence the
particiapnts’ image of the trade show or destination. Among those were recycling badges, lanyards from recycled material, brochures,
catalogues printed on recycled paper. Another example were technological solutions such as mobile pages, multidata boards, digital signage
etc. These measures were regarded more as a must then as an add-on.

14. Something we were and still are not talking about is accessibility to Slovenia. We depend on flights to bring
meeting professionals and then delegates to Slovenia. Even though this presents a greate share of our footprint,
our clients do not hold this against us.