Balaton excelled in hosting TBYB by Conventa

If you ask where most key deals were sealed, you will likely hear about a lively restaurant, a bustling airport, a hotel bar, or another unforgettable shared moment. Few will say they made the deal in a meeting room or office. That is because the latter is usually the story’s final act.

Trust begins much earlier, during laughter-filled dinners, breezy ferry rides, wine tastings, bus conversations, or cycling adventures around a lake. Most of all, trust takes root when an event organiser immerses themselves in a destination.

We founded our Try Before You Buy by Conventa (TBYB) format on this simple premise. When launching it a decade ago, the idea seemed too radical and ahead of its time. Rather than pitching destinations to buyers through brochures, launches, webinars, or marketing slogans, we invited them to experience the destination firsthand. We wanted them to feel the pulse of the destinations, audit the infrastructure, and meet the locals steering them. We wanted them to check whether destination promises had any basis in reality.

TBYB is a boutique business platform that combines destination exploration tours, pre-scheduled meetings, and educational sessions. It fosters new business opportunities.

The TBYB framework sets it apart from an ordinary familiarisation trip. TBYB is a boutique business platform that combines destination exploration tours, pre-scheduled meetings, and educational sessions. It fosters new business opportunities. Conventa’s slogan: “Explore. Meet. Create” best encapsulates its essence. The destination experience is not merely an enrichment of the programme but part of the sales argument. That is why TBYB differs from most fam trip visits in the events industry. After nearly a decade of evolving the format, we can say with confidence: it works.

Our recent TBYB Balaton, co-hosted with VisitBalaton 365 from 3 to 5 June 2026, stands as further proof that the format delivers. If we measured success only by hotels toured, activities tried, meetings held, or glasses of Riesling enjoyed, TBYB Balaton would seem like just another well-run site visit.

However, that would be a rather one-dimensional assessment. The true scale of the event’s success was revealed after the official programme ended. When hosted buyers were already returning to Prague, Warsaw, Thessaloniki, Dubai, Berlin and elsewhere, the event’s WhatsApp group continued buzzing with messages of gratitude. Participants sent photos, made jokes and gave extensive thanks. They even invited one another for future dinners and new meet-ups. They chatted about all the amazing partners they had met at the event and finally told us how much they already missed Balaton.

That an event finishes in this manner is an augury that something succeeded. We created momentum when a destination was no longer part of the programme on paper but etched into memory. Thanks to this, the attendees will now create new talks, connections and business opportunities. In three days, Balaton showcased everything befitting a modern MICE destination. The programme led attendees from Balatonfüred to Tihany, from Badacsony to Hévíz, and from Keszthely to Balaton Park Circuit. An organ concert in the Tihany Cathedral, a lake boat trip, a jeep ride across the Folly Arboretum, wine tasting in Badacsony, riding e-bikes around Hévíz and a farewell adrenaline-pumping experience next to the MotoGP racing circuit all created an experience the buyers will long remember. More importantly, these activities were part of a story the attendees can now share with others.

The destination as one entity

Even the introductory lunch at Hotel Petit Bois and the saunter through Balatonfüred hinted at the refined elegance of one of Hungary’s most tidy and burgeoning coastal cities. Anna Grand Hotel and Balatonfüred Congress Centre demonstrated that the region is attuned to the needs of modern business guests. Through its cultural heritage, Tihany presented the soul of Balaton, while Mövenpick BalaLand Resort showed a modern take on resort offerings. The next day, Folly Arboretum and Laposa Winery in Hableány demonstrated that wine and gastronomy are not an add-on in this swathe of Hungary, but woven into the fabric of the destination.

Hévíz deserves a special mention

Many still associate it with spa tourism, but TBYB Balaton showed a different picture of Hévíz. Le Primore Hotel & Spa became the unofficial centre of the entire event, impressing attendees not only with its monumental architecture, spacious and comfortable rooms, wellness and services, but by showcasing how a contemporary-designed premium resort can double as the venue for exquisite incentive programmes, executive meetings and small-scale conferences. Many buyers discovered something they had not expected before coming to the event right at Le Primore Hotel & Spa: an entirely new dimension of Hévíz as a business destination. Further enriching the story were Sirius Hotel, the imposing Festetics Palace, and finally, the Balaton Park Circuit, which showed that the destination has its sights set far beyond traditional tourism during the MotoGP weekend.

The team making it run seamlessly behind the curtains

Under the helm of Vera Szűcs-Balás and Kristóf Sztojanovits, VisitBalaton365 curated a destination-experience tour that felt connected, confident, and hospitable. Natalija Bah Čad and Neža Brezovnik from Conventa once again showed that the essence of the TBYB format lies in handpicked buyers, thorough matchmaking, and the creation of an environment where real business relationships can flourish. An important acknowledgement also goes out to DMC Cityrama and numerous local partners that ensured the logistics ran so well it felt organic. That is one of the highest acknowledgements any event organiser can hope for.

The moment of truth – workshop as the essence of TBYB

Years of TBYB research show that hosted buyers come for the high-quality one-to-one meetings. The destination exploration programme lets that trust and context spill over into deeper business and informal conversations. Attendees may arrive for the meetings, but shared experiences keep the dialogue alive long after the event. What struck us most was how swiftly formal talks turned into genuine, personal conversations.

After the curtains fell on the event, attendees spoke about the people’s energy, the laughs, and the dancing. They shared how they made new friends and common memories. One attendee wrote that laughter, dancing and shared moments made the experience special. Another wrote that while venues do matter, people and energy render events unforgettable. Some also wrote that they cannot comprehend how Conventa always manages to gather a group of people with such positive energy. Lastly, one participant wrote that people and ambience are the most important ingredients of every event. Perhaps this is where the secret to success lies.

In an age of AI, virtual tours, and automated sales, one truth endures: people buy from people. Trust does not blossom over a Zoom call or through a marketing campaign. It grows through shared experiences. TBYB Balaton proved this beyond doubt, and its closing moments reinforced that lesson.

TBYB by Conventa once again showed that it is far more than a fam trip. It is a platform for creating trust.

Destinations can create site visits on their own, but TBYB serendipitously creates destination ambassadors. They provide unpaid advertising that is hard for destinations to achieve on their own.

Perhaps this is the greatest level of success that any destination can achieve. In the events industry, we often speak about ROI, sales leads, RFPs and conversion. All this matters, but the most salient proof of an event’s success is something much simpler. Once an event concludes, attendees no longer talk about the programme but about one another. That is how you know you created more than an event – you’ve fostered a community.

Discover more about upcoming Conventa events here.