The three major suppliers in the Graz meetings business, the Grazer Congress-Convention Center Graz, the messecentergraz/Stadthalle and the Graz Convention Bureau, have recently joined forces under the MeetinGRAZ.at banner to jointly brand Austria’s second city as a meetings destination on the international market and exploit potential synergies.

Only a few months old, the campaign boasts national and international recognition through awards like the 2005 Austrian State Prize for Advertising jury’s special award, or a “highly commended” in the category Best Destination Marketing Campaign at the EIBTM 2005 Awards.

For the first time this year MeetinGRAZ.at exhibits at IMEX at the Austria stand number E240. 

Elisabeth Hansa, Business Development Manager at Grazer Congress and representing MeetinGRAZ.at at IMEX says:

“We are delighted to have such a complete representation of the meetings destination Graz at a major international trade fair for the first time. MeetinGRAZ.at is a one-stop shop for international planners, it represents the variety of venues and services on offer in Austria’s second city.”

While the Grazer Congress has been active on the meetings market for 25 years, the messecentergraz and the Graz Convention Bureau started operation only three years ago.

The meetingraz.at campaign plays on Graz's role as a major cultural centre, using contemporary literature to highlight the quality of the city’s conference and exhibition facilities.

The umbrella brand and campaign were conceived by Grazer Congress managing director Nikolaus Breisach.

The campaign centres on a series of ten advertisements (in German and English) and the MeetinGRAZ.at portal, which provides links to the partners’ websites.

The adverts feature ten quotations from contemporary Austrian and foreign authors, all published by the local Droschl publishing house, and the flashy graphic design is by Perndl & Co.

Each of the quotations plays on the subject of “communication” in the broader sense. All the executions are available as e-cards on the portal. The campaign title is open to two interpretations, namely "Meet in Graz" or "Meeting Graz".