Already for the sixth time leaders of the meetings industry, one of the most advanced sectors of global economy, meet in Warsaw. Attended by about 1,000 participants from all parts of the world, Meetings Week Poland is taking place in the capital on 19-23 March 2018.

Key associations and institutions of the industry have been organizing Meetings Week Polska since 2013, with the Ministry of Sport and Tourism actively supporting its arrangement since 2014. This year’s edition was held under the honorary patronage of Dariusz Rogowski, Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) is the co-organiser and partner of this seminal event, a platform for sharing experiences and a great opportunity to discuss the needs, obstacles and priorities of the growth of this industry of the future.  

POT together with The Warsaw Voice co-organised a conference from the Poland - Meetings Destination series, opening a round of branch meetings. Ewa Pawlak-Lewandowska, Director of the Department of Tourism at the Ministry Sport and Tourism, participated and emphasised the significance of the meetings industry, one of the most modern economic sectors of developed countries. “It is estimated that the meetings industry in Poland generates 1% of the country’s GDP plus guarantees strong and highly positive growth momentum for related branches”.   

Agnieszka Jędrzejczyk-Wojciechowska, Vice President of POT, declared that “the development of the meetings sector is among the key promotional objectives of Polish Tourism Organisation, whose structures have included Poland Convention Bureau since 2002”. In addition, she presented data covered by Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report 2018, developed by Poland Convention Bureau - Polish Tourism Organisation in cooperation with all regional convention bureaus and recommended organisers of congresses and incentive travel.

Authors of the report’s most recent edition analysed 21,200 meetings and events staged for groups of at least 50 participants. Conferences and congresses account for more than half of them, corporate and incentive events - for 46.5% and trade fairs and exhibitions - for slightly more than 3%. In the subject matter category, the largest number of meetings (close to 6,000) was dedicated to commerce and services, 3,800 - to economy and politics, and almost 3,500 - to medicine. 

Demand Outlook, the second presented report shows the position of Poland’s major cities compared to capitals of CEE countries. For the study’s purposes, its authors applied data of a meetings market monitoring system used by the largest hotel chains and convention bureaus in this part of Europe.

“As shown in the presented reports, the data and estimates on the future of Poland’s meetings industry confirm that in the years to come the growth of this tourism economy sector will make an important contribution to the development of the country’s economy. Next year Polish Tourism Organisation is planning a number of activities undertaken in cooperation with local partners”, announced Robert Andrzejczyk, President of Polish Tourism Organisation.

The programme of the first day of Meetings Week Poland was dedicated to issues of key importance for the growth of Poland’s meetings sector - analysis of mechanisms and presentation of select examples of good practices in securing and developing major congresses and conferences. The list of examples discussed this year included the successes of Prague Convention Bureau in organising international congresses and the achievements of Polish cities, i.a. Katowice, which obtained WADA’s 2019 World Conference on Doping in Sport thanks to the support of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. Local tax was among the issues discussed at the second panel.