Associations tend to change the destination or venue of an event as the presence of delegates is voluntary. To increase the number of participants it is necessary to make an event as attractive as possible. This may not be the case if the event is held every year in the same city or venue. Also, if an Association gathers members who are geographically dislocated it is a custom to have every conference in a country or city accessible to most members or in countries where there are local Associations whose members are potential members of an international Association of the same profession or occupation.

That is why the venue in case of Associations mostly changes for each following meeting. Though, one can see the same pattern with the international Associations in the process, e.g. whether they visit only European countries and which ones, whether they visit other continent every year, etc. So, the trend is that every three years they come back to the same region. Or, for instance, if it is a human rights association, they may go only to underdeveloped countries, etc. These data are internationally collected and processed by ICCA (International Congress & Convention Association), and they are, among other, very important as guidelines for a destination as to whether it makes sense to bid for an international congress or not?

The regional associations most often (60% thereof) use 4-star hotels for their events, while other venues, special venues and 3-star hotels have lower share, more precisely with 20% or 10%.

Associations in the regional countries organize seminars, educational programs and conferences mostly on their own (75%), while fewer (25%) use the professional services. This can partly be due to smaller budgets of the regional associations, but also less demanding approach to event organization than that of the global associations.

The major factors driving the choice of venue when it comes to associations are by priority: location, price-to-quality relation, location accessibility, flexibility, quality of service. The following criteria should by no means be neglected: the attractiveness of destination and venue in order to draw delegates even more, the quality and attractiveness of the venue for gala dinners, socializing and networking, and the possibility to add a number of the Association’s members at the destination of such event.

The peak season for conferences organized by Associations is spring and autumn, but some of them are also held in summer months and few in winter. The most popular months are April, May, June, October and September.

M.Š.