Congress tourism and fair tourism of Slovakia -quantification, spatial differentiation, and classifica-tion

Abstract

Congress tourism and fair tourism are two of the most profiting types of tourism from the perspective of economic benefits. According to the research in the field of tourism, they are part of meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) tourism. Developed coun-tries with developed tourism focus on the im-portance of MICE. They also compete with one another. From the perspective of con-gress tourism, Slovakia is an attractive country due to its location in Central Europe, mem-bership to the EU and Schengen, good trans-portation accessibility and political stability. This paper evaluates the development and importance of congress tourism and fair tour-ism as well as briefly evaluates the history of the development and potential of Slovakia, and characterises the accommodation infra-structure of these types of tourism in Slovakia. The conclusion summarises the most im-portant findings of the analysis of congress centres as well as the findings of the identifi-cation of the main resorts of fair tourism in Slovakia.