ETOA Workshop in Brussels just the beginning ETOA held its Hoteliers European Marketplace (HEM) for the first time in Brussels this year. The event on the 14th February was attended by over 70 buyers and 100 hoteliers representing accommodation from across Europe. The tourist boards of Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia supported the event and there was a strong presence of hotels from Belgium.
The Brussels and Flanders tourist boards also kindly hosted a reception for operators at the Charles V building next to the Royal Palace. The workshop, that followed ETOA’s well-established model of pre-arranged appointments, took place in the Grand Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Brussels and ended with a drinks reception including some of Belgium’s famous beer brewed by Chez Leon.
“Compact, intense, high professional level, very well organised and hospitable Crowne Plaza Brussels hotel. Worth the trip!”, said Ange De Beer of Wens Travel.
“All in all HEM was very helpful for us. There was so much opportunity to expand and establish business. We met new clients and also did a lot of networking which we expect to pay off in the near future”, said David Garcia del Poyo of Confortel Hoteles. “The organisation was very good. We had a very busy day and met even more buyers than we originally signed up for.”
ETOA already holds seminars and meetings in Brussels and has a permanent representative there, but this workshop has reminded people there is more to the Belgian capital than just the major European institutions. On the back of this event, the Association is already planning future workshops.
