Definition of Business Tourism
Business Tourism is a concept that includes all the travel related to work, regardless of the number of participants. For example: meetings with business partners, participation in conferences, seminars, meetings, product introductions, etc. except for entertainment and sports events.
Incentive – international term for describing motivational travel and recognition events, which often occur abroad.
Definition of a Convention Bureau
A convention bureau is:
• a country’s, region’s or city’s official organisation for the marketing and management of convention tourism
PCO- professional convention organisation
DMC- direct marketing company
EMC- events management company
Terminology related to meetings
Congress – broad-based meeting of national, social, political, and scientific representatives as well as representatives of other fields of activity in order to hold discussions and make decisions regarding the corresponding field of activity; the term is used with regard to international gatherings.
Conference – a gathering of national representatives and representatives of social, political or scientific organisations, in order to discuss and make decisions regarding specific issues, distribute information, and organise consultations.
General Assembly – a general and formal meeting of an association or club, in which a certain number of members participate, in order to legally decide the directions for the organisation, political issues, election of committees, approval of budgets, etc. Assemblies generally follow definite procedural rules; they usually occur regularly, in a definite location and at a definite time; the majority occur every year and are called an AGM (Annual General Assembly).
Convention – a general and formal meeting of a social or economic group that is intended for the distribution of information about a specific situation, and for discussions in order to achieve a consensus among the participants about a certain topic; usually of limited duration and with defined goals, but undefined frequency.
Forum – an exhibition-like event where lodging, catering, tourism, and transport companies introduce and offer their services; the goal is to advertise and sell the products and services of the participating companies, to establish contacts with new clients, find and strengthen opportunities for co-operation.
Discussions – meetings/advisory sessions of scientists or politicians to discuss certain problems that are academic or exploratory in nature.
Seminar – A free exchange of ideas and information about a specific issue for a small number of participants.
Symposium – a meeting where presentations are made, similar to a forum, but with fewer participants and a narrow specialised theme, used in the case of various theme-based meetings.
Workshop – usually a free-form activity with a small number of participants for generating and executing creative projects; related to experimentation and improvisation; a form of brainstorming.
Fair – a large exhibition that takes place regularly, which is accompanied by the sale of the goods and service on display and an entertainment programme for the visitors; fairs are often organised for charitable purposes.
Exhibition – the presentation of goods and/or services in a specific field or fields of activity; often connected to a conference so that one complements the other.
Information Day – the provision of information about a new and topical subject, e.g. new laws, regulations; the number of participants is not defined.
Events – this includes all gatherings that are public sports, religious, social and political events.