AIM’s Prague Office is one of the largest international event companies in the Czech Republic, providing a full range of services, from DMC to the organization of international, governmental or corporate congresses, conferences, meetings and all other types of events. Tereza Havlaskova, the General Manager of AIM's Prague Office, explained all about the Prague's MICE industry, kongres-magazine.eu writes.

Q: What trends do you think we will see in the meetings and events in your city in the next 12 months?

In general, the most significant role in events industry is played by marketing and social media. This technological development has been already the most important trend for last few years and is expected to be even more sophisticated having the crucial impact to each field on this industry playing the key role in further development of congresses and event planning. Besides of this fast technological progress the ability to offer new unique and specific venues, locations, creative programs, and ideas will be the must.

Q: How do you see the relationship between the meetings industry and the tourism industry in Prague?

The synergy between both segments is evident here in Prague! Delegates coming for meetings or congresses usually have very limited time and possibilities to discover our beautiful city due to busy agenda during their stay and it is quite common that these are returning back individually with their families or friends motivated from the previous “short” stay to learn more about our culture and to discover all that Prague can offer.

Q: How is the city positioned as a meetings destination today and what are its positive attributes that are often overlooked?

The biggest advantage of Prague as a meeting destination is its accessibility. Vaclav Havel Airport Prague is every single year offering more connections and also the number of carriers is increasing yearly. High level of infrastructure, as well as the development of hospitality services, is comparable with other big European cities. Attribute sometimes overlooked is that in spite of the fact Prague as the capital city with some 1.300 000 inhabitants is still cozy and compact city and moving between the hotels, congress center, venues, restaurants or various points of interests is very easy and fast! Of course today it is also important to mentioned security and safety. In the long term, Czech Republic is ranked in top 10 among the safest countries in the world.

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Q: What are the key challenges for Prague’s event industry, in your opinion?

Finding employees with certain soft skills to work with customers is a real challenge for us.  The situation on the labor market in the Czech Republic is getting critical throughout all segments. Shortage of qualified professionals available might cause a real problem for future development with negative consequences on the industry.

Q: Which are the most popular special venues for MICE in Prague?

There are a lot of incredible venues for gala dinners, awards ceremonies, cocktails, meeting or conferences Prague or its vicinity can offer. Always depends on the number of participants, client´s expectations and budget of course. To point out few special venues we can highlight the Industrial Palace, Žofín Palace, Prague Castle, Forum Karlín, Cubex and a very new project Universum.

>> Read full interview.