4th Lviv Tourism Forum “Win with the Lion” 2012

As the only European Cities Marketing (ECM) member in Ukraine for now, Lviv enjoys the benefits of a network of over 110 European travel destinations. During its annual forum “Win with the Lion” on November 21-22,2012 Lviv again brought together a vast number of tourism professionals, private stakeholders and entrepreneurs from the whole Ukraine as well as throughout Europe for interactive exchanges and innovative ideas about tourism marketing, trends and shortcomings in Lviv.

In 2012 the Forum focused on the meetings and events industry as the organisers are confident that it shows great potential in Ukraine and Lviv in particular. The central theme was phrased in the form of a question “Meetings and events industry – Ukraine, are you ready to benefit?”, which the participants tried to answer during the event.

The representatives of the ECM member-cities were invited to share best practices on the topic – Ignacio de Delàs (Deputy General Manager of Turisme de Barcelona), Roger Pride (Managing Director at Cardiff and Co) and Beata Palis (Managing Director of Krakow Convention Bureau). The meetings industry leaders made presentations on the new trends and challenges that should be considered by emerging destinations – Paul Kennedy (Director and Owner of Kennedy Integrated Solutions, a meetings industry consultancy), Elisabeth Hansa (Owner of ICBD - Hansa, International consultancy and business development, Meeting industry and corporate events) and Tom Hulton (Director for International Relations at IMEX Group).

In 2012 “Win with the Lion” partnered with IMEX Group, one of the world’s leading companies organising exhibitions for incentive travel, meetings and events. Not only does IMEX Group organise two major annual events, IMEX Frankfurt and IMEX America in Las Vegas, it is also very active in the education and development of the meetings industry worldwide. The Politicians Forum held during IMEX in Frankfurt each year proves the Group’s commitment to highlighting the value of the industry to governments globally.

“Win with the Lion” is evolving year by year, adding new sessions. In 2012 the delegates had the opportunity to attend a seminar on the topic “How Ukraine can stay on the map in 2013” that was organised in partnership with the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) and moderated by Nick Greenfield,Head of Tour Operator Relations.

Since in 2011 the Tourist Information Centres Workshop proved to be a success and enjoyed much popularity, it continued in 2012with the support of GIZ andattracted the representatives of newly established tourist information centres from all over Ukraine to gain knowledge and best practices from European experts.

The Forum discussions resulted in the meetings and events industry having been identified as one of the city development priorities. The local decision-makers made a commitment to develop this industry in Lviv and further discussions are currently underway.

Supported Organisers general partner official carrier

partners

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"TripAdvisor, and I personally, are very happy to participate in this event. The Ukraine market is becoming more and more important and we are very happy to share experiences and thoughts with the audience and are looking forward to doing more business with our existing partners and new partners"

Thomas Bangert, Director Display EU, TripAdvisor

"It’s a great opportunity to meet with professionals of the tourism and hotel industry, provide them with a better understanding of Booking.com vision and probably help to find something new and valuable for our common business."

Ekaterina Volkova, Director of Booking.com Office in Ukraine

“The Forum is first of all and most importantly about generating debate within Ukraine and within the city. Because until that debate happens at local level, no country, no destination, no city can actually really compete on the international market.”

Paul Kennedy, Director and Owner of Kennedy Integrated Solutions

“Для меня как организатора событий важно встретить коллег и пообщаться с коллегами из соседних областей: из области туризма, из области отелей и ресторанов. Это также чудесная возможность найти точки соприкосновения, где мы можем помочь друг другу.”

Тимур Мазур, керуючий партнер Агентства 42

“Через обговорення і зустрічі в рамках Форуму ми краще розуміємо, які ще потрібно заходи і пріоритети визначити, для того щоб ми дійсно спромоглися реалізувати комплексну стратегію розвитку міста і робити місто комфортним, привабливим для мешканців і для бізнесу.”

Сергій Кіраль, Львівська міська рада

“The Win with the Lion conference in Lviv is a very professionally organised congress which provides very useful and practical up-to-date information to its participants. I especially like the wide range of tourism related topics covered during its meetings, which give a good overview of the hottest topics in tourism today.”

Gabriela Schweinberger, international business coach and consultant, Berlin, Germany

“Win with the Lion is an event that everyone, even the most experienced travel professional, can learn from. It’s a great opportunity to hear experiences, share ideas and make connections. And the fact that it’s held in a gem of a city like Lviv just makes it even more appealing.”

Nick Greenfield, European Tour Operators Association, London, Great Britain