It’s increasingly likely the first Central European Tourism Summit, scheduled to take place in Zagreb in May, will not be held at all, given that the event's organiser, Lu Buchanan, and her company, Cent Euro Fairs SL, which has already received the participation fees, have not responded to calls and e-mails from their partners in Croatia.

The head of the Croatian Association of Travel Agencies (UHPA), Boris Zgomba, confirmed for the state news agency Hina on Monday that the companies have heard the Central European Tourism Summit would probably not take place.

He added that some tourism boards and companies have already paid between a thousand and five thousand euros in order to participate, and that they were not certain whether they would get a refund if the summit is cancelled.

When the event was announced last year, it was promoted as the first large tourism B2B exchange in Central Europe, bringing together over 400 industry professionals from 30 countries. It was originally scheduled to take place in early December 2018, but was later postponed to May 7-8, 2019.

In an interview with Hina in July last year, Buchanan had said the summit was moved to May, explaining that December was a festive season, and, since Zagreb was well known as one of the best Advent destinations in Central Europe and beyond, the city was overcrowded in that period.

At the time, many local and international tourism companies and institutions have joined the project, such as the Croatian national tourism board, the Zagreb tourism board, Croatia’s flag carrier Croatia Airlines, the Turkish Airlines, as well as the tourism boards of Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Officials of the Zagreb tourist board told Hina on Monday that they were unable to schedule a meeting with the organisers in Zagreb, or get any feedback on the status of organisation of the fair since last September. They were also unable to get any guarantees that the project would be conducted as planned. As a result, the Zagreb tourist board pulled out of the event in January this year.

After requesting a refund, and receiving no response, they filed a lawsuit against Buchanan and her Spain-based company Cent Euro Fairs SL.

The Zagreb tourism board said it is going to compensate its members for expenses, in case the event is cancelled.

The national board also told Hina they were unable to get in contact with the company.

“We don’t have any official confirmation from the organisers that the summit was cancelled, but we can confirm that we are receiving no feedback at the moment, since they are not answering our calls, and the official website of the summit cannot be accessed. Also, the summit is no longer listed on the venue’s official website,” they said.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.