TURIZAM 385 Gorazd Čad

The MICE industry — meetings, incentives, conferences, and events — has long operated on the premise of physical gathering. When the pandemic halted that, many predicted its end. But Gorazd Čad, a veteran of the industry and co-founder of Conventa, saw not a collapse, but an accelerated evolution. He describes how the sector, instead of shrinking, developed entirely new forms of engagement, from hybrid to metaverse events, ultimately emerging stronger. Čad, whose firm Toleranca Marketing is based in Ljubljana, contends that the real challenge now isn't just bringing back physical events, but redefining the industry's identity. It has shifted, he says, from a 'logistics industry' to a 'high-tech industry' that demands an entirely new profile of talent, from IT specialists to communication experts. This conversation explores how the MICE sector adapted, what financial shifts it experienced, and why attracting the right people back into the field is its most pressing concern. You will leave with a clearer sense of how a traditionally physical business can reinvent its core offering through forced innovation.