Hidden congress guests are experts who have multiple years of experience in the area of congress organisation and knowledge of the hotel and catering industry.
The required knowledge and competencies for ensuring objectiveness are:
- A minimum of 15 years international experience in organising congresses and events;
- Knowledge of the Slovenian and international standards of congress tourism with specific knowledge of standards control: DIN (Deutsche Industrie Norm), ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association), IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organisers), APEX (Accepted Practice Exchange), AIPC (International Association of Congress Centres), MPI (Meetings Professionals International);
- Knowledge of the trends in the congress industry in the domestic and international markets;
- Recognising the specific needs and wishes of participants;
- Knowledge of the key factors that influence the choice of destination for a congress event;
- Knowledge of all the elements necessary for the successful execution of a congress (technical requirements, catering services, additional offers, safety, protocol, etc.);
In addition, all the assessors have verified references from the event organisation and congress industry, which ensures an unbiased view on behalf of the client and maximal reliability of the method.
The hotel assessment matrix contains 490 measurable assessment criteria which are divided into the following categories:
Assessment category – Number of criteria
- First online contact with the purchaser – 35
- General impression on arrival at the hotel – 36
- Entrance hall – lobby – 20
- Employee behaviour – 15
- Reception – 55
- Hotel room – 40
- Hotel bed – 20
- Bathroom and toilet – 35
- Hotel breakfast – 109
- Hotel bar – 48
- Hotel restaurant – 75
- Toilets – 10
- Congress halls – 50
- Spa and Wellness – 33
- Sales process and communication – 10
- General satisfaction of guest – 8
- Sustainable practices – 20
The assessment matrix for congress centres contains 376 measurable assessment criteria which are divided into the following categories:
Assessment category – Number of criteria
- First impression (digital, direct) – 25
- Location and accessibility – 10
- Quality – Entrance hall lobby –19
- Quality – Conference space – 65
- Quality – Conference inventory –15
- Quality – Lighting –12
- Quality – Acoustic and sound system –12
- Quality – Multimedia system – 12
- Quality – Internet connectivity – 10
- Access to power and com lines – 5
- Employee behaviour – 15
- . Business centre – 10
- Customer service – 25
- Safety – 16
- Security and emergency – 20
- Additional services – 25
- Catering – 45
- Sustainability practices – 20
- Communication and marketing – 15
Each category is assessed through a share of the assessment criteria and average score which help to ensure improvements in the quality of individual criteria.
In addition, as part of the assessment matrix, the following subjective scores are also offered, which can be used to improve communication in the following areas:
- Architecture and aesthetics
- Reputation and trustworthiness
- Communication
- Price
- Additional offer
- Location
- FLOP negative surprise
- Most outstanding features
In this segment the quality of promotional activities can be controlled and improved. The results can be used quickly on social networks.