[quote_box_center]On Thursday, 10^th December 2015, the Serbia Convention Bureau held their 2^nd Ambassadors Day at the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment.[/quote_box_center]

The event is dedicated to presenting new members of the Convention Bureau Ambassadors Club, established to acknowledge representatives of the academic, scientific and professional communities, who have contributed significantly to the promotion of Serbia as a congress destination.

The new members were recognised for their enthusiasm and work in fostering partnerships between the meetings industry and professional associations that are active internationally.

Last year, Prof. Dr Ljiljana Medenica and Prof. Dr Jovan Vasiljević were named as the first members of the Ambassadors Club, and were recognised for their achievement in organising large international meetings in Serbia.

Along with the Serbian congress industry, they undertook the whole process of bidding for their respective events, both of which had more than a thousand participants.  At this year’s Ambassadors Day, the following were named as the new ambassadors of Serbia for 2015 and 2016:

• Academic Prof. Dr. Ljubomir Maksimović, Director of the Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, President of the Serbian Committee for Byzantine Studies and Vice President of the International Association of Byzantine Studies

  

• Dr. Vojkan Lazić, a member of the External Relations Committee of the International Society for Maxillofacial Rehabilitation
• Dr. Dušica Simić, a member of the Board of the Serbian Association of Anesthesiologists and Intensivists
• Dr. Nikola Rajaković, Chairman of the Board of the Energy Sector
• Goran Vujić, Executive Director of the Serbian Solid Waste Management Association
• Dr Dragan M. Todorović, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade
• Dr Dragan D. Markušev, Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade
• Vladimir Ilijin, President of the Serbian Haemophilia Society
• Aleksandra Borović, President of the Board of MENSA Serbia
• Marko Stojanović, President of the National Curling Association of Serbia
• Jasna Nikolčić, President of the Section of Nurses in Neurology of the Association of Nurses, Technicians and Midwives of Serbia

The following Ambassadors were additionally recognised for special merit:

• Milica Bajčetić, President of the European Association for Developmental Perinatal the and Pediatric Pharmacology
• Dr. Lazar Davidović, President-Elect of the European Society for Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery
• Dr. Aleksandar Ljubić, President of the Serbian Association of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• med. Rodoljub Živadinović, President of the Beekeeping Association of Serbia

Special guest on the night was Mr. Robert Nesbitt, who is Senior Meeting Planner for Kenes Group, one of the world’s largest PCO agencies. Mr. Nesbitt delivered a lecture on current trends in the meetings industry, as well as the importance of collaboration with professional associations that are active internationally.

The Serbia Convention Bureau, a department of the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia, is responsible for promoting the country as an international meetings destination.

Partners of the Convention Bureau include hotels, conference venues, PCO and DMC agencies, as well as other service providers within the business travel industry. Serbia has recorded strong growth in the industry over the last eight years, and relative to 2007 when the Bureau was formed, Serbia went from being ranked the 69^th congress destination in the world, having held only 11 conferences (according to data from the International Congress and Convention Association – ICCA), to being ranked 46^th in 2014, with 67 international congresses held.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that both Serbia and Belgrade have featured among the top 50 meeting destinations in the world.