The Economic Observatory of Meetings Tourism of the Argentine Republic (OETR Argentina), started in 2010 within the framework of the agreement of technical assistance between the National Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), the Argentine Association of Organizers and Exhibition Suppliers, Congresses and Events (AOCA) and the Faculty of Economics of the University of Buenos Aires (FCE-UBA). In order to have a permanent professional monitoring system of the main indicators of Meeting Tourism in the country, through the collection, processing and analysis of statistical information on the supply and demand of the segment, and its economic impact.

Based on a collaborative model work through a network of local technical references of provinces and municipalities, who are in charge of carrying out the surveys for the collection of the information and the loading of it in a single centralized database.

The object of study of the OETR Paraguay are the meetings held in the country and the tourists attending them:

• The survey of meetings seeks to identify the events grouped into four categories: congresses and conventions (C&C), fairs and exhibitions (F&E), international sporting events (EDI) and incentives (INC).
• The demand studies, includes conducting surveys to tourists attending the meetings, in order to know their profile, behavior and their expenditure.

According to the definition of the World Tourism Organization, “meeting” is a general term that refers to the meeting of a number of people in a place with the objective of organizing or carrying out a specific activity.

The Congresses and Conventions (C&C) categories group meetings of people to discuss issues previously agreed. These meetings can be conferences, congresses, conventions, meetings, forums, conferences, seminars and symposiums.

The fairs and exhibitions (F&E) are commercial and/or promotional meetings. Within this category are the workshops.

International Sports Events (EDI) summon athletes from different countries to participate in a tournament or competition that takes place for over more than one day. These events take place regularly and their headquarters rotates through different countries.

The incentives (INC) are an instrument of the motivation strategy that companies use to stimulate the performance of their staff.