Zadar County presented in Antwerp at the international MICE Cruise event
The Zadar County Tourist Board presented the destination at the international business networking event "MICE Cruise", held on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, in Antwerp, Belgium. The appearance was organized in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board representative office for Benelux, and the aim was to strengthen the visibility of Zadar County on the market of business meetings, congresses, incentive travel and corporate events. According to information from the Zadar County Tourist Board, the event gathered more than 30 representatives of hotels, congress and conference centres, destination offices, international hotel groups and experts from the business events industry. The programme took place on the yacht Grace Kelly during a cruise in Antwerp, which gave participants a direct format for conversations with potential partners and event organizers. For Zadar County, such an appearance has additional importance because business tourism most often develops outside the peak summer months and can contribute to a more even distribution of tourist traffic throughout the year.
A specialized event for business meeting organizers
MICE Cruise in Antwerp was organized by the Belgian specialized business tourism network The Contact Factory, which describes the event as a meeting intended for organizers of meetings, seminars, incentive programmes and conferences. According to the organizer's announcement, the official programme was announced for 16 June 2026 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the cruising part of the workshop on the River Scheldt between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Boarding was planned near the Havenhuis building, at Zaha Hadidplein in Antwerp, and the business event organization platform BATTOO was connected with the implementation of the programme on the yacht Grace Kelly. The event was aimed at professionals who decide on locations for business meetings, corporate programmes, motivational travel and conference formats. Precisely this targeted structure of participants is important for destinations that want to increase the number of business events, because decisions about such programmes are often made through direct contacts, presentations and checks of logistical possibilities.
According to an announcement published in the Belgian specialized medium Eventnews, representatives from Belgium and abroad participated in the MICE Cruise, including destinations and service providers from Croatia, Zadar, Switzerland, Malta, Germany and international hotel chains. In the information provided by the Zadar County Tourist Board, it is stated that the partners and destinations included Visit Monaco, Visit Malta, Monte Carlo SBM, Hilton International, Minor Hotels, Antwerp Convention Bureau, Meet in Oostende, Knokke-Heist Convention Bureau, Geneva Convention Bureau and others. Such a composition of participants shows that the Zadar region presented itself in a competitive environment, alongside destinations and hotel brands that already have a strong position on the business events market. For a destination that wants to further profile itself in the MICE tourism segment, presence at such meetings enables comparison of its own offer with international standards. At the same time, it opens space for concrete contacts with organizers looking for new locations, different settings and a combination of professional infrastructure with authentic experiences.
What Zadar County presented to business organizers
The Zadar County Tourist Board presented the destination's offer for business tourism, incentive programmes, congresses and exclusive events. According to the board's information, the emphasis was on authentic experiences, natural beauty, gastronomy, hotel infrastructure and the possibilities of organizing programmes that combine the working and experiential part of the stay. Such an approach corresponds to contemporary requirements of the business travel market, where a destination is expected not only to provide meeting space, but also quality content before and after the official part of the programme. In this context, Zadar County can be presented as an area that includes the urban core of Zadar, the coast, islands, hinterland, national parks and nature parks in the wider surroundings. The region's official tourist information highlights experiences related to nature, culture, nautical tourism, gastronomy and events, which are elements that can be incorporated into programmes for business groups of different sizes.
For congress and corporate meeting organizers, the possibility of adapting the programme is also important. Smaller professional meetings, training sessions, management meetings, product presentations and incentive travel often seek a different ambience from large congress centres, especially when the aim is to connect business content with the experience of the destination. Zadar County therefore emphasizes in its MICE communication the combination of infrastructure and local experiences, from eno-gastronomy and historical sites to outdoor activities and programmes at sea. In this sense, the availability of quality accommodation for business guests is also important, with organizers considering arrival being able to compare accommodation offers in Zadar County with the needs of a specific event. Such an offer, if well coordinated with hotel capacities, transport, local agencies and conference spaces, can enable the destination to attract events outside the traditional tourist season.
Čvrljak: An important opportunity for international visibility
The director of the Zadar County Tourist Board, Vanja Čvrljak, stated that participation in this specialized MICE event represents an important opportunity to strengthen the international visibility of Zadar County on the business events market. According to him, it is also an opportunity to establish new business contacts with organizers of congresses, incentive travel and corporate events from Europe and the world. Čvrljak also emphasized that the appearance is part of the ongoing activities carried out by the Zadar County Tourist Board to strengthen business tourism and develop year-round tourism. This statement fits into the broader direction of tourism management in which increasing attention is being paid to segments that can generate demand outside the busiest summer periods. Business meetings, professional conferences and incentive programmes are often planned in spring and autumn, when destinations can make better use of existing capacities without additional pressure on the peak season.
In the MICE segment, visibility is built not only through general promotion, but also through presence at specialized meetings attended by people who directly decide on event locations. Business meeting organizers assess accessibility, accommodation capacities, the quality of halls, the reliability of local partners, the level of service and the possibility of designing additional content for participants. For Zadar County, it is therefore crucial that it presents itself on international markets not only as a holiday destination, but also as an area capable of implementing business programmes with clear logistics and quality support on the ground. The announcement provided by the Zadar County Tourist Board emphasizes that the appearance in Antwerp is part of continuous efforts aimed at developing year-round tourism. Such an approach implies long-term work with organizers, hoteliers, destination management companies, airlines and local service providers.
Why the MICE segment is important for year-round tourism
MICE is an internationally common abbreviation for meetings, incentive travel, conferences and exhibitions, that is, for a group of business events connected with travel and destination infrastructure. For tourist destinations, this segment is important because business guests often travel outside the main season, and programmes include a broader chain of services: hotels, conference spaces, transport, hospitality, technical production, local guides, agencies and additional experiences. Compared with a classic holiday, business events are usually planned in advance and depend on the reliability of partners, availability of dates and clearly defined logistics. This means that destinations must act in a coordinated manner, with precise information about capacities and adaptation possibilities. For Zadar County, precisely such coordination can be important in the effort to distribute part of tourist activity more evenly throughout the year.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports states in documents on the Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy until 2030 that it is an act of strategic planning of Croatian tourism aligned with national and European policies. Within the same framework, the transformation of tourism towards sustainability, digitalization, green policies and strengthening the resilience of the system is emphasized. Although MICE tourism by itself does not solve all the challenges of seasonality, it can be one of the tools for better use of capacities in periods of weaker demand. When business programmes are organized outside July and August, they can create space for more stable operation of hotels, agencies and hospitality businesses, as well as additional demand for cultural, gastronomic and excursion content. In this context, the appearance of Zadar County in Antwerp should be viewed as part of a broader effort to present the destination offer to a market that seeks professional organization, but also a recognizable local character.
Tourism and transport indicators as part of the broader picture
According to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, in April 2026 commercial accommodation in Croatia recorded 1.2 million tourist arrivals and 3.2 million tourist overnight stays. In the first four months of 2026, 2.3 million arrivals and 5.8 million overnight stays were recorded, which compared with the same period in 2025 meant an increase in arrivals of 3.7 percent and an increase in overnight stays of 2.1 percent. For Zadar County, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics recorded 87,360 arrivals and 245,197 overnight stays in commercial accommodation in April 2026. These data show that the county had significant tourist traffic even in the pre-season period, but also that there is room for additional strengthening of segments that are not exclusively linked to summer holidays. In this framework, business tourism can develop as a complement to the existing offer, especially if it is connected with hotel capacities, local experiences and the international accessibility of the destination.
Destination accessibility is an important factor for business meeting organizers, especially when participants arrive from several countries. According to the official statistics of Zadar Airport, 292,421 passengers were recorded from January to May 2026, while in the whole of 2025, 1,639,601 passengers passed through the airport. Such indicators are important for assessing the possibilities of arrival for business groups, although the organizer's concrete decision also depends on flight schedules, the seasonality of routes, transfers, accommodation and the availability of halls. In the MICE segment, transport connectivity is particularly sensitive because events often have a shorter duration, and participants expect simple arrival and return. For this reason, it is important for destinations such as Zadar County that the promotion of business tourism be connected with clear information about arrival options, local transport and capacities that can support meetings of different formats.
Competition among destinations requires clear specialization
Participation alongside destinations and partners from Monaco, Malta, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium shows how international and competitive the business events market is. Large congress destinations often rely on strong convention bureaus, international hotels and a developed network of suppliers, while smaller and medium-sized destinations try to stand out through authenticity, flexibility and experiences that cannot easily be replicated. In this area, Zadar County can build its position by combining the city of Zadar, coastal and island locations, eno-gastronomy, natural attractions and programmes that can be adapted to small and medium-sized business groups. To succeed in this market, it is not enough only to present the beauty of the destination, but also to prove that the destination can reliably deliver a professionally organized event. This includes timely communication, clear offers, stable suppliers and coordinated work of the public and private sectors.
Cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board representative office for Benelux is also important because of the market approach. In its earlier announcements, the Croatian National Tourist Board emphasized that the Benelux countries are among the important outbound markets for Croatian tourism, and the office based in Brussels has the role of promoting Croatia towards that area. The Antwerp meeting therefore enabled Zadar County to appear on a market where agencies, event experts and corporate clients from Belgium and the wider region gather. For future results, it will be crucial whether the contacts made at the event grow into concrete inquiries, study trips, cooperation with agencies or business programmes in the destination itself. In the MICE industry, such effects are often not visible immediately, because congresses, incentive travel and corporate events are planned months, and sometimes years, in advance.
Sources:
- The Contact Factory – announcement of the MICE Cruise in Antwerp event on the yacht Grace Kelly, with date, time, location and description of the target audience (link)
- Eventnews.be – announcement of the MICE Cruise in Antwerp with a list of types of participants, countries and destinations included in the programme (link)
- Zadar County Tourist Board – official information about the destination offer, experiences and contacts of the region (link)
- Zadar County Tourist Board – brochure "Meet in Zadar Region" about the region's offer for business meetings and events (link)
- Croatian Bureau of Statistics – data on tourist arrivals and overnight stays in commercial accommodation in April 2026 (link)
- Zadar Airport – official passenger traffic statistics for 2025 and available months of 2026 (link)
- Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia – Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy until 2030 and the context of sustainable tourism development (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board – announcement about Croatian National Tourist Board representative offices for France and Benelux and the importance of the Benelux market for Croatian tourism (link)