Nearly 50 Belgian-based event planners were given a crash course on Estonia and its many enticing conference offerings on October 17 when they turned up for 'ESTonishing Estonia', a combination workshop and networking get-together held at THE HOTEL in Brussels.
Organised jointly by the Estonian Convention Bureau and the Estonian Tourist Board, the meeting gave guests the opportunity to mingle with the 12 suppliers from Team Estonia who were on hand. The latter's ranks included representatives of top business hotels, event management specialists, convention bureaus and Nordica airline.
One-of-a-kind cuisine was provided by Olde Hansa, a highly popular, medieval-style restaurant operating in the heart of Tallinn's historic Old Town. Olde Hansa's Belgian head chef, Emmanuel Wille, presented the evening's delicacies as well as described the authentic, Hanseatic-era feasts for which his restaurant has become famous.
Estonian Convention Bureau's Marketing Manager, Riine Tiigi, said that response to the meeting was overwhelmingly positive.
“We're extremely pleased that Estonia is gaining so much popularity among international conference planners. Based on the feedback we're receiving, it seems that one major factor is that Estonia offers such good value for money, particularly for high-quality hotels. We're also seeing a lot of benefit from being a relatively new and exotic – yet safe – destination for most conference-goers,” Tiigi said.
Tiigi added that participation in the Brussels meeting was especially high this year as Estonia will hold the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2017. Several buyers remarked that they were planning to hold events in Estonia precisely for that reason.
