Martina Bienenfeld

CEO, Zagreb Tourist Board

Ph.D. Martina Bienenfeld has been the CEO of Zagreb Tourist Board since June 2014 where she’s developing a tourist offer of the Croatian capital, with a special emphasis on the development strategy, sustainable planning and destination management. Ms Bienenfeld positions Zagreb as a year-round destination, developing special types of tourism such as cultural, health, sport and MICE tourism in cooperation with the tourist industry and the public and private sectors. Likewise, she endeavors to develop tourism in a sustainable and safe manner, and with the creation of a year-round offer, she strives to ensure to Zagreb’s visitors more comfortable and quality-based stay in the capital.

With a vast knowledge and experience in field of tourism in, both, private and public sector, she’s often a panelist, lecturer or presenter at various conferences and, also, a member of several working groups for diverse tourist projects in Croatian capital. During her work in Zagreb Tourist Board, Zagreb became a successful tourist destination and a winner of some key national and international awards such as three times Best European Christmas Market (2016, 2017, 2018) by European Best Destinations organization, Best in Europe by Lonely Planet magazine (2017), Champion of Croatian tourism (2018) and Best in Sustainability (2021) by Conventa.

At the General Assembly of the former World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), now UN Tourism, held in October 2023, Ms Bienenfeld was elected a member of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics for the 2023-2027 period. Additionally, she was a member of the Working Group of the President of the Republic of Croatia for the development of the identity and brand of the Republic of Croatia (2018 – 2019) and, since 2019, she’s the coordinator and member of the Working Group for the Implementation of the Framework Strategy of the Smart City of Zagreb through the Smart City Hub platform. Also, she’s a Steering Committee member of SKAL club Zagreb and is a winner of Woman of the Year Award (2016), Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award (2016) and Vision Manager Award (2017).