New Deal Europe event brings positive energy back to the travel industry
New Deal Europe 2020 Event Review
The biggest event in Balkan inbound tourism, New Deal Europe, launched last week with a simultaneous live broadcast from Tower Bridge and the studio in Boston Spa, England. The co-founders Tine Murn and Robert Dee welcomed a global audience of delegates from 36 countries to the first ever travel trade event focused on the entire Greater Balkan region.
125 buyers attended, covering the globe from Sweden in the North to Australia in the South and from California in the West to Hong Kong in the East, making the event truly global. They met with tourism companies from all 11 Balkan countries at the brand new global and virtual event, at which a total of 1250 business meetings were scheduled.
In the post event survey, 95% of suppliers said that the quality of buyers was high or very high and 92% of all delegates awarded the event 8 out of 10 or higher on satisfaction rating. More significantly, 96% said they would attend NDE 2021.
More significantly, 96% said they would attend NDE 2021.
Following the opening ceremony, the delegates had two hours of one to one meetings, each lasting 15 minutes, before the first seminar was delivered by Tom Scott, Sales Director, Travel of News UK. Scott presented the findings of research specially commissioned by New Deal Europe into the attitudes of The Times and The Sun readership towards the Balkans as a travel destination. It threw up some interesting statistics and highlighted where the potential for development lies in the region, and what elements of the tourism offering the businesses in the Balkans need to focus on in order to attract guests.
More meetings followed interspersed with two further content sessions. The first was a short introduction to Slovenia, hosted by Sašo Krumpak, CEO of incoming agency Happy Tours, focusing on the tourism attractions and the country’s drive towards sustainable tourism.
The second session was the keynote panel session, looking at how businesses from both the buying and supply side have dealt with the pandemic, reflecting the theme of the inaugural event ‘Supporting Each Other’. Industry leaders from all sides of the travel industry came together to share information, ideas and best practice on how to get through the Covid crisis. The session, moderated by Lee Hayhurst, editor of Travolution brought together, the President of leading US tour operator, Tauck, Jennifer Tombaugh, the Brand Director of UK operator, Regent Holidays, Andrea Godfrey, and the MD of Irish based travel agency network, Travel Centres, Dominic Burke, with suppliers, Alp Ozaman, Marketing Director of Turkish Airlines in New York and Antonia Urlić, Director of Stories Unique Hotels in Croatia.
Jennifer praised the suppliers in the Balkans for their support and highlighted the value offering that the region could bring to the post covid traveller. Andrea, whose company was the first to operate in Albania, fifty years ago, highlighted the sustainability offering of the Balkans and how more of her clients are looking for this element. Dominic Burke focused on the challenges faced by the travel agents in the face of constantly changing regulations on travel, and the battle to secure refunds for cancelled trips. Both Antonia and Alp emphasised that their businesses are still functioning and listed the adaptations they have made in terms of safety and cost control. The session lasted 45 minutes, but many delegates in their post event feedback felt that the quality of the discussion was such that they would have preferred it to last for an hour at least.
After a total of 34 meetings and 3 content sessions, the day drew to a close with another simultaneous broadcast, with the London venue shifting to a boat on the River Thames, where the event would have held its networking evening if it had gone ahead as a live event as planned.
Overall the event generated positivity at a time when the tourism industry is in crisis, but also resulted in new business opportunities for the Balkan region. ‘I really enjoyed it and met with a few really interesting suppliers. I am definitely going to add this area onto our Website with a view to develop further over the next few years’ said Julia Macleay, Owner of UK based cultural tailor made operator, Spirit Journeys Worldwide.
It was pure escapism to spend a positive day with engaging and enthusiastic ambassadors of the 11 Balkan countries /…/.
‘It was pure escapism to spend a positive day with engaging and enthusiastic ambassadors of the 11 Balkan countries and to reconnect with our wonderful friendly industry in a year when we have all been confined to work from our homes and not travel.’ added Mireille Berstein, from French operators, Mhb congress International.
The sentiment was reflected equally by the suppliers who attended: Aleksander Kuzmanoski from Simonium Travel in North Macedonia commented, ‘Thank you for launching New Deal Europe’s Global Marketplace and Forum; it was a pleasure taking part in it. It was the most usefully spent day this year! The event raised the bar in the industry, you have our attention for the next year, please, book a seat for us again.’
New Deal Europe is scheduled to go ahead in April 2021, as a hybrid event, encompassing virtual elements and live presentations and meetings from London. Details of the date and the pricing will be announced on the website,www.newdealeurope.com, on Thursday 29th October.
Written by Robert Dee, co-founder of New Deal Europe, the only travel market platform dedicated to generating business to Balkan region of Europe, www.newdealeurope.com.
