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At the ceremony, guests were welcomed by Adam Wawoczny, CEO of the Silesian Tourism Organisation, and Rafał Szmytke, CEO of the Polish Tourism Organisation.

“We are delighted that the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala has come to Katowice for a third time. Co-organising such an esteemed event provides ample opportunity to build a positive image of our region among guests from all over Poland. It is no coincidence that we are meeting in the post-industrial premises of the Walcownia Zinc Rolling Mill. This is the best proof that a distinguishing feature of the Silesian Province is its industrial heritage," said Adam Wawoczny.

Rafał Szmytke emphasised the importance of attracting congresses and conferences for the development of the country and Poland's position on the international arena, highlighting the role of involving people from science, culture and business in this process.

“Acquiring congresses, conferences and international events is very arduous and challenging work, sometimes carried out over several years. It involves pitching and trying to have a given event organised in Poland. It is precisely the involvement of people from science, culture and business in attracting congresses, conferences and meetings that is an important element contributing to the importance of this sector in the Polish economy,” he said.

Paula Fanderowska, the chairwoman of the Polish Conference and Congress Association, emphasised the importance of the cooperation and determination of the congress ambassadors in attracting events to Poland.

“We are meeting here in a very broad-based group. It is said that it takes an orchestra to get a congress, it takes cooperation. Above all, the most important figures and the driving force behind congresses and conferences are the ambassadors of these events. It is their determination, their effort and their commitment that determines whether our cities and regions will host future events.”

Paula Fanderowska also expressed her gratitude for meeting in such a unique space as the Walcownia Zinc Rolling Mill.

Prof. dr hab. inż. Marek Pawełczyk, Chairman of the Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme Jury, also took the floor, highlighting Silesia's transformation from a region of heavy industry to one where science and high-tech industries dominate, and mentioning the area’s rich offering of tourist attractions. Professor Pawełczyk could not hide his pride at Katowice being awarded the title of European City of Science 2024.


The Gala brought together a wide range of representatives from business, academia and other areas of public life, demonstrating the importance they attach to the development of the Polish congress sector. Among the new ambassadors who joined the ranks of the honoured are representatives of various backgrounds, confirming the versatility of Poland's promotional activities in the international arena.





Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme

The Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala is not only an opportunity to honor those who have contributed to the development of the congress country but also a platform for the exchange of experiences and inspiration for further promotional activities. It also allows for closer cooperation between various institutions and people involved in promoting Poland as an attractive venue for international business and scientific events.


The Silesia Convention Bureau, which co-organised the ACP Gala in Katowice, is a consortium of companies and organisations operating in the MICE industry in the province. It has been operating since January 2023 as part of the Silesian Tourism Organisation and is dedicated to promoting the region as an attractive destination for organising business events.

The consortium partners who helped organise this year's ACP Gala were: Dream Events Poland, Catering24, Mercure Katowice Centrum and Business Service Galop. The gala was hosted by Michał Zalewski of dobrzepowiedziane.com, also a partner of the event.

The event was topped off with an artistic performance by Stanisław Hadyn's Song and Dance Ensemble 'Śląsk'.

Honored Ambassadors of Polish Congresses in 2024

The following individuals were honored at the 2024 Gala in Katowice, Poland:

    Prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Barańska, Department of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University in Kraków
    Prof. dr hab. Aleksander Bursche, Department of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
    Prof. dr hab. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Vice-rector for Academic Affairs, School of Language and Literature Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
    Dr hab. n. med. Andrzej Mariusz Fal, MSWiA National Medical Institute/Polish Public Health Association
    Prof. dr hab. Magdalena Frąc, Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
    Dr Paweł Gajdzis, University Clinical Hospital/Silesian Piast Medical University in Wrocław
    Ms Małgorzata Grobelna, JiM Foundation
    Prof. dr hab. inż. Marek Gzik, Silesian University of Technology – currently Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education
    Dr hab. Mirosław Jarosiński, SGH, Warsaw School of Economics
    Dr hab. Anna Jupowicz-Ginalska, UW, Faculty of Journalism, Information and Bibliology, University of Warsaw
    Dr hab. Justyna Kowalska, Medical University of Warsaw
    Prof. dr hab. Barbara Kożusznik, University of Silesia
    Prof. UAM dr hab. Agnieszka Kryszczyńska, Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute – Astronomical Observatory – Director
    Dr n. med. Jacek Mazek, the A. Grucy Independent Public Clinical Hospital in Otwock
    Ms Agnieszka Pleti, Poland Business Run Foundation
    Prof. dr hab. Magdalena Rudzińska, Head of the Department of Food Technology of Plant Origin, August Cieszkowski University of Life Sciences
    Dr Barbara Smorczewska, Polish Association for Organisational Psychology and University of Silesia in Katowice
    Dr hab. inż. Marek Szostak, PP, Poznan University of Technology/Rotopol Association
    Dr hab. inż. Janusz Walo, Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography, Warsaw University of Technology
    Mr Piotr Węgrzyn, Candela Foundation
    Mr Łukasz Wilczyński, European Space Foundation
    Prof. dr hab. n. med. Zbigniew Zagórski, Founder of the OCHO Medical Group


The “Wide open” campaign is underway –  a joint venture between the City of Krakow, Małopolska, and the Małopolska Tourist Organisation, under the “Małopolska – travel destination” project. Its main goal is to rebuild tourism in Krakow and Małopolska after the pandemic. At what stage are the activities related to the promotion of business tourism? What else is ahead?
Online campaign
on 1 August 2023, an online campaign “Wide open for meetings” was launched, aimed at activating business travel to Krakow and the surrounding area and promoting the region as an ideal place for business meetings. To reach its audience, it relied on comprehensive online promotion, which is carried out on dedicated profiles on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, with additional communication through exposure campaigns and spots aired on Google’s ad network. The activities are planned until the end of November, and expected to generate millions of hits in twelve foreign markets. The budget of the venture is nearly PLN 1 million, and the campaign is being conducted by Fabryka Marketingu.
Campaign in foreign opinion and industry press
A campaign in the foreign industry and opinion press has also been carried out since April. Advertisements promoting Krakow and Małopolska appeared in the renowned weeklies The Economist and WirtschaftsWoche. The texts also appeared in the industry press in two issues of CN (Conference News) and Punto MICE, as well as in MICE Benelux, HQ Magazine, Tendence Nomade and Boardroom. The publications appeared in paper and digital versions of the magazines. The final phase of the press campaign is scheduled for November and includes titles such as AMI, HQ Magazine, MICE BENELUX and CN. The cost of the campaign, which is being conducted by Mastermind, is nearly PLN 1.2 million.
B2B meetings and study tour
Promotion of our destination also includes direct marketing, such as B2B meetings at business tourism fairs and table meetings. Since the beginning of the year, the range of conferences held in the city has been promoted at events such as IMEX Frankfurt, The Meetings Space, and M&I Forum. IMEX Las Vegas and IBTM Barcelona are also scheduled to take place before the end of the year. At each event, the KCB team participates in an average of 25 meetings.
At the beginning of October, the Kraków Convention Bureau is additionally organising a study tour to Krakow and Małopolska, which is a fam trip entitled “Experience Krakow, Visit Małopolska” for ten planners from the markets covered by the project, representing professional companies that organise group business travel, including motivational and incentive travel. The program includes inspection visits to venues for congresses, conferences and trade fairs in Krakow and a short stay in Zakopane. There will be no shortage of opportunities to learn about local cuisine, the legends and traditions of Krakow, or for example a visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mines.
Direct talks and presentations consistently build the city’s brand as an organiser of international events, and, under the long-term tourism development policy, they expand the area of promotion beyond strictly tourist aspects. Participation in the fam trip is a unique opportunity to see the potential for organising events that Krakow and the region have.
Comprehensive promotional activities
Campaigns in the press and on the Internet aimed at foreign tourists are part of activities conducted jointly by the City of Krakow, Małopolska, and the Małopolska Tourist Organisation as part of the “Małopolska – travel destination” project. The project aims to attract foreign visitors to the region and boost tourism after the pandemic. The domestic tourist is targeted with the slogan “Be our guest! Experience Krakow. Visit Małopolska”. The budget for the entire project is no less than PLN 24 million, of which PLN 8 million PLN has been allocated for the domestic campaign and PLN 16 million for the “Wide Open” international campaign. Importantly, this is the only project funded entirely from European funds.
The leader of the project is the Małopolska Tourist Organisation, which is responsible for the creative concept, and producing and broadcasting the materials, as well as the organisation of economic missions. The project is being conducted in partnership with Krakow and Małopolska, while the City of Krakow is focusing on promoting business tourism. The region is responsible for communicating products related to leisure tourism – cultural, culinary, active and spa and wellness.
Business tourism – important for the city’s economy
Campaigns aimed at promoting business tourism, which is strategic for the tourism economy in Krakow, are implemented by the Kraków Convention Bureau operating in the Tourism Department of  Krakow City Hall.
The city’s full range of facilities – a variety of venues for conferences, hundreds of hotels, an airport close to the centre, an active academic community and a picturesque region – is a magnet for clients organising conventions, conferences or incentive trips. The campaign is run by the City of Krakow, and focuses precisely on this type of tourist.
According to the report “Meetings Industry in Krakow 2022”, in 2022, the number of MICE events increased by 25.73 percent compared to the previous year, while the number of attendees increased by as much as 154 percent. While these statistics are reason for optimism, the MICE industry is still not back to 2019 levels. This shows that the activities carried out are effective, but are also still needed.
“Wide open...” – Hospitality and openness encourage business tourists to visit
The project’s main slogan “Wide open...” refers to Polish hospitality and, above all, the openness for which Małopolska is known. After all, for centuries Krakow and its surroundings have been a place where representatives of many cultures met, lived together and traded. Activities target the British, American, German, Austrian, Swiss, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, French, Belgian, Spanish and Italian markets.  For more information about the project, visit the Kraków Convention Bureau website.


Poland went up three positions and was listed 20th in the latest UIA ranking – the International Meetings Statistics Report. In addition, three Polish cities are featured on the list: Krakow, Warsaw and, for the first time, Gdansk. The 64th edition of the report analyses nearly half a million meetings, organised in twelve thousand cities by more than twenty thousand international organisations.
World and European leaders
Over the past 20 years (2003-2022), Europe has been the undisputed global market leader. The Old Continent hosted 53% of meetings and events, followed by Asia – 22%, America – 17%, Africa – 4% and Australia/Oceania – 3%.
In 2022, the meetings and events were distributed as follows: Europe hosted 61% of meetings and events, followed by Asia – 20%, America – 13%, Africa – 3%, and Australia/Oceania – 2%. In the top 10 cities in the world in 2022, the most popular cities were: Brussels, Vienna, Singapore, Tokyo, Lisbon, Madrid, London, Barcelona, Seoul and Paris.
The summary for the years 2003-2022 shows that association meetings for 101 to 500 participants dominate globally with 48.9%. Smaller ones, below 100 participants, account for 27.9% of the market, while larger ones – 501 to 1000 participants – 11.8% and 1001 to 3000 – 7.8%.
Over a quarter of meetings and events lasted an average of 3 days (26.6%), followed by 4-day events (19.9%) and two-day events (18.2%), while one-day and five-day events accounted for ca. 13%.
Rules of the UIA Ranking
The meetings analysed by UIA must meet all four of the following conditions:
last for at least 3 days,
bring together a minimum of 300 participants,
participants come from a minimum of 5 countries,
at least 40% of participants come from abroad.

“For years, the ICCA and UIA rankings have been a reference to the state and place of individual congress destinations in the world. It is helpful for planners, telling them which directions are best for holding meetings and events, which is why the effort we put together with the industry in annual data reporting to the above-mentioned reports is extremely important. Thanks to the rankings, we can successfully compare our results with the results of the competition,” said Aneta Książek, head of Poland Convention Bureau.
Central Europe
In 2022, with 123 events, Poland improved its 2021 result by 3 places and, as the only country of the Visegrad Group (Hungary ranked 26th, Czechia – 28th and Slovakia – 64th), ranked 20th in the world ranking (which comprises 100 countries).
At the same time, it is worth noting that in the ranking summarising the last 20 years, among the 30 countries presented, Poland ranked 23rd, Hungary – 28th, while Czechia fell below the top thirty (in 2021, it ranked 29th). Poland’s high position is undoubtedly due to the entire Polish meetings industry, proving its significant transformation over the last twenty years.
Polish cities in the report
Among the first hundred cities from all over the world in 2022, the best position among Polish cities was held by Krakow. Its 32nd position with 43 meetings was an improvement by 11 places compared to 2021. The same number of events were held in Washington, DC, and one more was recorded in Rome.
Warsaw ranked 46th with 30 meetings (a drop in the ranking by 7 places). The same number of 30 events were also organised in Maastricht and Jeju, South Korea.
Gdansk debuted in the UIA ranking at the number 84 with 16 meetings (the same number was recorded in Zurich, San Diego and Las Vegas).
“Every year we look forward to the results, hoping for better numbers. This year, we jumped by 3 positions in the UIA ranking (data for 2022), and thus Poland got into the top twenty countries in the world where meetings of international associations take place. It is very pleasing that, apart from Kraków and Warsaw, Gdańsk has also improved its position, which in the rankings of both mentioned associations is the third most popular city in Poland for meetings and events. Without a doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic and the geopolitical situation in our region caused great concern among international planners, but I believe that our promotional activities, supported by specific data, will help us to minimise them, effectively convince the planners to organise conferences, congresses and incentive trips in our country,” added Aneta Książek.
The Polish Tourism Organisation - Poland Convention Bureau is the only Polish member of the Union of International Associations. UIA is a research institute based in Brussels. As a non-profit, apolitical, independent and non-governmental organisation, operating since 1907, UIA has been a pioneer in research, monitoring and providing information on international organisations, international associations and the global challenges they face.
More information about UIA activities on the association’s website: uia.org

source: UIA; #konkretyanety


Exactly 22 new honorary Ambassadors and Ambassadors of Polish Congresses were named by the ACP Program Chapter, which met on October 11. No Patron of Polish Congresses was elected in this edition. At the same time, this was the last meeting of this composition.

- It is extremely gratifying that the Honorary Ambassador of Congresses statuettes will go to as many as 22 personalities from many Polish cities. This is tangible proof that cities hosting congress and conference events effectively use the intellectual potential of their academic and scientific centers and build lasting relationships with the local academic community seeing the Congress Ambassadors Program not only as an effective tool for attracting congresses and conventions, but also as an instrument of place marketing. The same goals guide other national programs operating around the world. The group of Polish ambassadors, whose list exceeds three hundred, ranks us high among other countries, Paula Fanderowska, President of SKKP.
The year 2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the Program, which is co-organized by the Conferences and Congresses in Poland Association SKKP and the Polish Tourism Organization together with the Poland Convention Bureau.
Applications for the title from a variety of backgrounds
Applications for the next iteration of the Program could be submitted through an online platform from mid-July.
- The number of applications was high, which clearly gave us a signal, as the organizers of the Program, that it is still noticeable and needed," said Agnieszka Szymerowska, Secretary of the ACP Chapter, "Municipal and regional convention bureaus, PCOs, academics or already honored Ambassadors submitted their local candidates. The Chapter deliberated dynamically, but there was no lack of substantive discussions and consideration of individual candidates.
These were the last deliberations of the Chapter in this form. The session was chaired by Prof. Marek Pawełczyk, D.Sc.
- We would like to emphasize that thanks to your commitment, we have awarded 70 Polish Congress Ambassadors in the passing term. In addition, thanks to the changes introduced in 2018 to the ACP Program regulations, appreciating the roles of sponsors supporting meetings and events, 7 Patrons of Polish Congresses were also awarded," said Aneta Książek, Manager of PCB PTO, long-time Secretary of the Chapter, summing up the meeting, "The past years were full of challenges. We had hoped that the official meeting with the winners and presentation of the titles of Polish Congress Ambassador (2020 and 2021 editions) and Polish Congress Patron 2020 would take place during the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala, which was planned in Gdynia. Unfortunately, due to situations, the Gala was postponed twice and held si
Mr. Łukasz Wilczyński, European Space Foundation
Mr. Janusz Walo, Ph.D., Prof. of the University, Department of Geodesy and Cartography, Warsaw University of Technology
Prof. Dr. Andrzej Mariusz Fal, National Medical Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration/Polish Public Health Association
Prof. Dr. Anna Jupowicz - Ginalska, Prof. UW, Faculty of Journalism, Information and Bibliology, University of Warsaw
Prof. Dr. Justyna Kowalska, Warsaw Medical University
Dr. Barbara Smorczewska, Polish Association for Organizational Psychology and the University of Silesia in Katowice
Prof. Dr. Barbara Kozusznik, University of Silesia
Jacek Mazek, MD, PhD, Independent Public Clinical Hospital named after A. Grucy in Otwock
Prof. dr. hab. Małgorzata Barańska, Department of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University in Cracow
Prof. Dr. Magdalena Frąc, Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
Ms. Agnieszka Pleti, Poland Business Run Foundation
Ms. Małgorzata Grobelna, JiM Foundation
Mr. Piotr Węgrzyn, Candela Foundation
Prof. Aleksander Bursche, Ph.D., Department of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Prof. Dr. Mirosław Jarosiński, Prof. SGH, Warsaw School of Economics
Prof. Marek Gzik, Ph.D., Silesian University of Technology
Prof. Dr. Magdalena Rudzińska, Head of the Department of Food Technology of Plant Origin, August Cieszkowski University of Life Sciences
Prof. Dr. Marek Szostak, Prof. PP, Poznan University of Technology/Rotopol Association
Prof. Zbigniew Zagórski, MD, Founder of the OCHO Medical Group
Prof. UAM Dr. Agnieszka Kryszczyńska, Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute - Astronomical Observatory - Director,
Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Dziubalska - Kołaczyk, Vice-Rector for Science, School of Language and Literature Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Dr. Pawel Gajdzis, University Clinical Hospital/Medical University in Wroclaw
Chapter of the Program 2020-2023
Gheorghe Marian Cristescu, President of the Management Board of Polski Holding Hotelowy
Mateusz Czerwiński, Vice President of Warsaw Convention Bureau
Paula Fanderowska, President of SKKP, Vice President of Krakow5020 Sp. z o.o.
Michał Fijoł, President of the Management Board of PLL LOT
Paweł Jaskanis, Director of the King John III Palace Museum in Wilanow
dr hab. Anna Kalinowska-Żeleźnik, Prof. UWSB Merito Dean of the Faculty of Business, WSB Merito University in Gdańsk
Aneta Książek, Head of Poland Convention Bureau PTO
Prof. Dr. Krzysztof A. Makowski, Faculty of History, Adam Mickiewicz University
Prof. dr hab. n. med. Bohdan Maruszewski, Head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Institute "Monument - Children's Health Center".
Prof. dr. hab. Krzysztof Mikulski, Institute of History and Archival Studies, Faculty of Historical Sciences, UMK
Prof. Józef Modelski, Ph.D., Institute of Radioelectronics and Multimedia Techniques, Warsaw University of Technology
Alicja Omięcka, Vice President, Municipal Hospital in Zabrze Sp. z o. o.
Prof. Marek Pawełczyk, PhD, Vice-Rector for Science and Development, Silesian University of Technology, Chairman of the ACP Program Chapter
Rafał Szmytke, President of the Polish Tourist Organization
Agnieszka Szymerowska, Office Director, Member of the Board of SKKP, Secretary of the ACP Program Chapter
Ireneusz Węgłowski, President of the Polish Hotel Industry Chamber of Commerce
Tomasz Zjawiony, President of the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Katowice
Sabrina Żymierska, Member of the SKKP Board, Director of the Congress and Event Facilities Group, MTP Group


The second edition of the Spotlight on Poland project, a joint initiative of the Polish Conference & Congress Association (SKKP) and the Polish Tourism Organisation together with the Poland Convention Bureau, has successfully ended. The event brought together representatives of the Polish meetings industry and invited guests from abroad. Spotlight on Poland took place on 4-8 October 2023.

The agenda consisted of a conference open to the Polish industry on 5 October and post-tours for foreign visitors. The conference was opened by the Vice President of the Polish Tourism Organisation, Marcin Różycki, and the President of SKKP, Paula Fanderowska.
- The second edition of Spotlight on Poland, co-organised with the Polish Tourism Organisation and the Poland Convention Bureau, was a success. Nearly 20 foreign hosted buyers had the opportunity to get acquainted with the assets of Kraków and Małopolska. But that’s not all. Numerous invited partners worked with us, thanks to which the guests could also visit key places for the meetings industry in Katowice and in the Silesia region. Just a few sightseeing days is a short time to get to know the country visited for the first time, and our goal was to make the best use of this time. The event resulted in many new contacts, and we hope that our guests will return to Poland with specific projects – said Paula Fanderowska, President of SKKP
During the intensive conference day, which took place at the Stradom House Autograph Collection in Kraków, participants focused on various aspects of culture, localness, sustainable development, diversity and integration, as well as new technologies and business models in the meetings industry. The invited foreign participants and Polish representatives of the tourism sector and the meetings industry shared the experience. They inspired each other to develop, following the discussion on new trends and increasing the attractiveness of tourist offers. Last, but not least, there was time dedicated to networking.
The conference part consisted of panels and workshops. The first discussion panel on the aspects of localness and food was led by Aga Kozak. It was attended by:
Aleksandra Skorek (Kraków Glassworks),
Kati Płachecka (Kraków Food),
Joanna Orlik (Małopolska Institute of Culture).
Sustainable Development and DEI were the subjects of the next panel, led by PhD Beata Kozyra, and focused on topics related to sustainable development and diversity, equality and integration (DEI). Among the panellists, were:
Anna Górska (ICCA, Symposium Cracoviense, SKKP),
Ewa Woch (Targi w Krakowie),
Agnieszka Nowińska (Polish Association of Conference Interpreters),
Katarzyna Lester (Poznań Congress Center)
Magdalena Młynarczyk (Leonardo Hotels).
Subjects touched upon at the last panel had to do with new technologies and innovative business models. The moderator, Krzysztof Paradowski (BluExperience), conversed with the panellists:
PhD Dominika Walec (#OMGKRK),
Paweł Galiak (Krakow Airport),
Piotr Laskowski (Polish Chamber of Tourism)
Łukasz Cioch.
The storytelling session was conducted by Aneta Książek, Head of the Poland Convention Bureau (#PolandCVB). It encouraged the participants to tell their stories, which allowed them to get to know each other better.
“Spotlight on Poland is a unique event that combines content (through a rich educational and networking programme) with practice, i.e. visits to the host city and the neighbouring region,” said Aneta Książek, PTO Poland Convention Bureau. “It is also a dialogue with our guests, from whom we mainly hear high praise, but sometimes also constructive comments. What was new this year was the storytelling session, which I had the pleasure to lead. Thanks to it, in a short time, and at the same time in a lightweight form, we could present ourselves as an industry and get to know each other better - said Aneta Książek.
The whole event was led by Wojciech S. Wocław, professional conference host, and an expert on etiquette and public speaking.
Joanna Montenarh, Travel Project, participant of the event, said:
This year’s second edition of Spotlight on Poland was filled with interesting discussion panels, among which the exchange about sustainable organisation of events deserves special attention. During the conference, attendees had the opportunity to network with invited guests (hosted buyers), most of whom were visiting Poland and Kraków for the first time. In our opinion, this conference was an interesting educational and promotional event for the entire MICE industry, and we will certainly take part in its next instalment.
Discover and find out more >>>POLAND. More than you expected
Spotlight on Poland continued in Slaska and Malopolska
The hosted buyers then went on to spend the following days in Silesia and Małopolska. Looked after by the team of the Silesia Convention Bureau, they tried their hand at playing turbogolf in the Guido mine in Zabrze, got to know the facilities located in the Katowice Culture Zone, including, among others, the International Conference Centre with such concert venues as Spodek or NOSPR. One of the evenings was crowned by a sumptuous meal.
Then the invited participants from abroad enjoyed the attractions of the Energylandia amusement park and saw the Scandi Resort in Zator. They also discovered the secrets of the Alvernia Planet complex. The hosts of the ICE Congress Centre invited them to their interiors, and during a concert held there, they had a meal prepared by Masters Catering. At the end of their visit to Poland, the group of hosted buyers learned about the offer of the CKF_13 Fabryczna Conference Centre and pampered their taste buds in the Destilo restaurant at the Mercure Kraków Fabryczna City. The last hours before departure were spent in the Vodka Factory Museum. It was thanks to numerous partners that this event was made possible.
Spotlight on Poland was carried out with the financial support of the Małopolskie Voivodeship and Polish Tourism Organisation.
Partners of the event were: PLL LOT, Silesia Convention Bureau, Kraków Convention Bureau, TUgether Meetings and Events Industry Council, Polish Chamber of Exhibition Industry, Polish Chamber of Tourism, Energylandia, Kraków5020, ICE Kraków Congress Centre, Kraków Story, CKF_13 Fabryczna Conference Centre, Destilo Restaurant, Vodka Factory Museum, Kraków Glassworks and Masters Catering, Tugether, Energylandia.


Fot. One Light Studio / SKKP

ECAI 2023 Conference for the First Time in Poland - in Krakow

ECAI, the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in the field of artificial intelligence in Europe and worldwide. Organized for over 40 years by the European AI association (EurAI), the conference is a meeting place for leading scientists and experts in this field.
The ECAI conference is regularly organized by national AI associations in Europe. Last year, the Polish Association for Artificial Intelligence (PSSI) won the bid to host this prestigious event. In October, ECAI will make its debut in Poland, in Krakow. Given the conference's mobile nature, this is a unique opportunity for the Polish scientific and business community.
ECAI 2023 Conference in Krakow
The conference, chaired by Prof. Ann Nowe (Vrije Universiteit Brussels), received nearly 2000 submissions from 58 countries and 6 continents. This year's program committee, coordinated by Prof. Kobi Gala (Ben Gurion University, University of Edinburgh), includes over 2600 scientists worldwide. Organizers expect over 1,000 participants from all over the world.
The conference will consist of a series of events. From September 30th to October 1st, at the campus of the Jagiellonian University, in the Physics (WFAIS) and Mathematics (WMiI) buildings, there will be 30 workshop and tutorial sessions, accompanying sessions for young researchers, including doctoral students. The main part of the conference will commence on October 1st in the evening and is planned for the following three days from October 2nd to 4th. It will take place in the modern ICE Krakow Conference Center with a view of Wawel Hill. The organizational committee for ECAI 2023 is led by Prof. Grzegorz J. Nalepa (President of PSSI, Professor at WFAIS UJ), and its members include, among others, Vice-Dean Paweł Węgrzyn (WFAIS UJ), Prof. Adam Roman (WMI UJ), and Dr. Krzysztof Kutt (Secretary of PSSI, WFAIS UJ).
In addition to paper presentations, the scientific program includes five invited lectures. A significant part of the program will be an industry session organized in collaboration with the Krakow Technology Park. Eleven companies developing and using AI-based technologies will showcase their solutions and participate in panel discussions.
The ECAI 2023 Conference has received significant organizational support from the Mayor of Krakow and the Jagiellonian University. The Krakow Technology Park and AGH are also involved in the organization. The event has received scientific patronage from numerous important universities and organizations, including the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, KI-PAN, Poznań University of Technology, University of Economics in Wroclaw, and many others.
The inaugural session of the conference will be graced by the presence of the vice-rectors of the Jagiellonian University.
The conference is organized by Symposium Cracoviense, a PCO with 25 years of experience in comprehensive organization and support of scientific and business meetings throughout Poland. Symposium Cracoviense is a Recommended PCO by the Polish Tourism Organisation - Poland Convention Bureau.
For more information about the conference, please visit the official ECAI 2023 website.
Krakow the host City
Kraków is a city with a thousand-year-old history. Kraków’s Old Town is a unique treasury of works of art, historical monuments and historic buildings, representing almost all architectural styles, from the Middle Ages to the present day. For hundreds of years, the Main Market Square has remained the heart of the city. It is the largest town square of medieval Europe, preserved in unchanged form since 1257 and included in the first list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites already in 1978. Kraków is also a city vibrating with cultural life. In the year 2000 it was chosen to be the European Capital of Culture and in 2013 awarded the title of UNESCO City of Literature.

Source: PolandCVB



Convention Bureau Wrocław is a new member of ICCA!

We are happy to announce that the Convention Bureau - Wrocław returns to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
Joining this international Association brings for Wrocław many benefits, especially a wide range of new opportunities that ensure attracting congress, conferences and seminars to the capital of the Lower Silesia region. It is an opportunity to gain new contacts and promote our city in the international area.
ICCA was founded in 1963 on the initiative of travel agencies for the purpose of more efficient, mutual cooperation in the face of the rapid development of the international conference market. ICCA also publishes the most famous and respected report each year, showing the size of the market, which is a motivator for the development of a destination, but also a decision-making element when it comes to choosing a destination. The Association includes the largest specialists in the field of service, transport and organization of international events.
The activities of the Convention Bureau - Wrocław perfectly fit the assumptions and ideas of the Association, among others, by providing annual statistics of meetings from the local market in accordance with the applicable ICCA criteria and the activities undertaken. Membership in ICCA is an additional source of opportunities for acquiring prestigious events to Wrocław, which is the overriding goal of CBW.
The year 2022 is a special time for the Polish meetings industry. By the choice of Krakow, which is this year's host of the 61st ICCA Congress. Due to the fact that the ICCA Congress will be hosted in Poland for the first time, quoting the words of Krakow's authorities, it is proof of the mature position of the meetings industry, on the other hand, it creates great opportunities for its further development, determining success not only in the host city but for the whole country.
The Convention Bureau - Wrocław supported Krakow's offer in acquiring this important industry congress.



Destination Poland at IMEX 2022

Polish Tourism Organisation is the organiser of the Polish national stand (G440) which will showcase the offer of both national (Poland Convention Bureau PTO) and regional convention bureaux, companies involved in professional meeting planning, as well as conference venues.
We’re excited to come back to Frankfurt and IMEX. 2022 is an anniversary year for the Polish meeting industry. 20th birthday of Poland Convention Bureau and the 20th anniversary of its membership in ICCA. Main international celebrations will be held at IMEX, you can expect the birthday cake (HAPPY HOUR, June 1st - 5 pm.) as well as for musical mornings.
Morning concerts will take place every morning at the entrance of the fair. Designed to greet the incoming visitors, they would give them a boost of energy and, above all, encourage them to visit the Polish national stand. In this way, we communicated the joy of being able to meet in person again.
As the ICCA Congress will be organised in Poland for the first time, it will be subject number one in our promotion at IMEX. As well as a campaign #Destination Poland which will be presenting 6 Polish cities which will host ICCA Post Tours/Fam Trips.



Welcome to the Poland: Online Site Inspection

Looking ahead at “post-coronavirus” times, the Polish Tourism Organisation – Poland Convention Bureau has launched the first edition of Poland: Online Site Inspection, a comprehensive online guide for meeting planners. It allows event organisers to interactively and individually explore the many congress, conference and event facilities Poland has to offer – from anywhere in the world and at any time.
As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, new regulations were introduced to prevent the disease from spreading. As a result, many organisers are announcing their plans to reschedule meetings and events to a later date. In addition, some events are undergoing rearrangement and will apply a different formula, taking advantage of available online tools.
Municipal and regional convention bureaux regularly monitor the situation in particular cities and regions. Supported by Poland Convention Bureau of Polish Tourism Organisation the CBs implement new solutions intended to help destinations stay relevant among foreign and Polish meeting planners.
- Our meetings guide is an introduction to the conference and events potential of Poland. It contains information about the best and most highly recommended venues and service providers operating in Poland. In addition, we would also like to encourage all meeting planners to contact the regional and city convention bureaux – local experts who are happy to help with any MICE-related request - comments Robert Andrzejczyk, President of the Polish Tourism Organisation.
Set in the heart of Europe, Poland has at its disposal all the assets required for the meetings sector’s intensive development and for drawing more international events of all scope. Among them mention is certainly due to state-of-the-art hotels, numerous conference and exhibition centres, unique venues, first-rate transportation infrastructure, as well as organisations and companies ready to provide professional services aimed at business meetings in all size groups.
Intangible goods, cultural offerings, unmatched ambience and atmosphere all constitute major high points of Polish cities seeking the attention of tourists, meeting organisers, and investors.
Virtual events might be all the buzz right now, but we believe that planners are eager to get back to face-to-face meetings as soon as possible. Poland will wait for you!
#PolandOnlinelSiteInspection
#Polandwillwait



ICE Kraków voted best congress centre in Europe!


On 29 January 2022, the ICE Kraków Congress Centre was voted best congress centre of 2021, reaching a score of 4.96 on the “Kongres” magazine’s five-point scale.
The outstanding score has earned ICE Kraków a gold certificate for quality for the third year running. The certificate is awarded by mystery guests who pay anonymous visits to congress venues in Central and Eastern Europe to assess their location, comfort, accessibility, customer service, safety, catering and branding and marketing.
“This is the seventh time when mystery guests at our conventions have given us such high scores in contrast to other venues in the region. The certificate is all the more valuable given that recent months and years have been extremely challenging for us and other representatives of the meetings industry. I am delighted to say we have made the most of the temporary downtime to adapt to the new realities and prepare new communication and business strategies. Together with representatives of Kraków’s MICE industry we have developed the KRAKÓW NETWORK Protocol. We were inspired by the ICCA Kaohsiung Protocol and realised that Kraków is a truly attractive and flexible destination,” says Izabela Błaszczyk, Director of KBF – operator of ICE Kraków.
The anonymous assessment is conducted by the “Kongres” magazine published in Slovenia. The journal is distributed to international experts in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Italy and Slovenia.



Project NEWS from the WORLD nominated in the AAE International Awards


The project News from the World SKKP Academy - Congresses and Conferences contra COVID-19 was nominated in the Assocation of Association Executives International & European Awards 2020, in the category - Best National Association Project. Selected projects  will be recognized as ‘Success Stories’ and presented for the international audience.
SKKP Polish Conference & Congress Association is the oldest meetings industry association in Poland, gathering the most professional and influential people from the Polish MICE industry. One of the SKKP key projects is the Academy.
The SKKP Academy is a unique set of trainings aimed at providing extensive knowledge on the organization of conferences and congresses in an interesting and unusual way. The program was prepared by expert practitioners. They  share their knowledge acquired over many years while working for different sectors of the meeting industry including venues, PCOs, CVBs and international associations.
At the outbreak of the crisis associated with COVID-19, there was a sudden need for knowledge transfer and access to proven know-how from international organizations regarding ways to deal with this unique situation. Reliable and checked information is necessary to make right decisions. This need also applies to the world of congresses and conferences, hence the impulse to create an idea for providing verified information from the world to the industry in Poland in the form of articles under the common title Congresses and Conferences contra COVID-19.
In the series of articles from the News from the World - SKKP Academy, important aspects of the meetings industry from the international market are raised. These are examples of good practices, researches, new trends and innovative projects, case studies, etc. The authors the articles are Anna Górska and Katarzyna Sadowska – Cioch, both AAE members.
One of the SKKP strategic goals is to raise knowledge and skills of the Polish industry in order to develop and maintain a professional conference services in Poland. The project helps to achieve this goal by providing the Polish industry with inspiration, to encourage them to implement creative solutions in their businesses.
All articles (in Polish) are available on the SKKP website.



POT and PLL LOT announce the launch of the National Support Programme for the Meetings


The goal of the programme is to offer airline tickets to representatives of science, culture, sports, business and other circles (so-called Congress Ambassadors) so that they could actively participate in the process of bringing successive international meetings and business events - conferences, congresses and trade shows - to Poland.
The National Support Programme for the Meetings Industry is based on the assumptions of the Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme since 1998 run together by Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) and non-governmental Polish Conference and Congress Association (Stowarzyszenie Konferencje i Kongresy w Polsce - SKKP)
The complex and long-term process of securing events, with particular emphasis on international congresses, brings financial benefits to all of its participants, i.a. congress venues, hotels, entrepreneurs offering professional services in the field of event planning, transportation companies, host cities, as well as airlines. An additional value of this part of the MICE sector constitutes transfer of knowledge, technology and potentially new investments.
“The meetings industry is a so-called sector of the future offering high-quality services and the sale of intellectual property. It is among the most advanced economic sectors of developed countries. In Poland it is estimated to account for more than 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), creates hundreds of thousands of jobs and generates a multi-billion turnover. Its growth is among the key promotional priorities of Polish Tourism Organisation, with Poland Convention Bureau (PCB) supporting our operations. This is why we are glad to have the backing of Poland’s national carrier PLL LOT”, said Robert Andrzejczyk, President of Polish Tourism Organisation.
The list of key factors decisive about selecting a given destination as the host of an event includes its transportation options (i.a. flight network), availability of high-class congress infrastructure, accommodation and the region’s research and science specialisation. The involvement and support (also financial) of cities and regions, dedication of representatives of authorities, and the role of the so-called Congress Ambassador, who secures events together with convention bureaux, are also gaining in importance.
The offer of our country to a large degree matches the requirements posed by organisers. Poland’s top selling points are its central location in Europe, the continuously expanded network of flights (thanks to Polish Airlines LOT and Warsaw hubs), high security level, affordable prices and available infrastructure plus the support guaranteed by 11 Polish convention bureaux specialized in the field of MICE.
The National Support Programme for the Meetings Industry, operated by PLL LOT, is aimed at the most active Congress Ambassadors and representatives of cities and regions. The airline tickets, which they may apply for, will enable them to take the Polish congress offer to decision makers - owners of international event brands.
“Polish Airlines LOT, the leader of traditional carriers of Central and Eastern Europe, will fly 10 million passengers in 2019. Once the Central Transportation Port is launched, we are expecting this number to grow to approx. 25 million passengers a year. LOT offers convenient connections with major Polish cities, the potential hosts of trade shows and congresses, more than 100 of the largest cities all over Europe and key non-European capitals. Our additional advantages include a well-arranged network of flights, new fleet and convenient schedule. LOT will work on expanding its offer aimed at the MICE sector. We are going to increase our share in the discussed market and together with Poland Tourism Organisation support Poland’s promotion among meeting planners. The National Support Programme is among the initiatives that will help make this happen”, added Michał Fijoł, Chief Commercial Officer, Polish Airlines LOT.
Recently the cooperation and synergy of operations conducted by regional and municipal convention bureaux, local ambassadors, the meetings industry and the support of local and national government made it possible to, i.a. bring WADA’s World Anti-Doping Conference 2019 to Katowice (where it is estimated to attract approx. 2,000 representatives of all communities involved in the fight against illegal drugs in sports). Also this year, the European Consortium for Political Research 2019, the largest annual global meeting of political scientists and sociologists attended by more than 2,000 researchers, was staged in Wrocław. Next year, Poznań will host the International Congress of Historical Sciences (ICHS) 2020, which is expected to draw more than 2,000 historians from all over the world.



Destination Poland at IMEX 2022


Polish Tourism Organisation is the organiser of the Polish national stand (G440) which will showcase the offer of both national (Poland Convention Bureau PTO) and regional convention bureaux, companies involved in professional meeting planning, as well as conference venues.
We’re excited to come back to Frankfurt and IMEX. 2022 is an anniversary year for the Polish meeting industry. 20th birthday of Poland Convention Bureau and the 20th anniversary of its membership in ICCA. Main international celebrations will be held at IMEX, you can expect the birthday cake (HAPPY HOUR, June 1st - 5 pm.) as well as for musical mornings.
Morning concerts will take place every morning at the entrance of the fair. Designed to greet the incoming visitors, they would give them a boost of energy and, above all, encourage them to visit the Polish national stand. In this way, we communicated the joy of being able to meet in person again.
As the ICCA Congress will be organised in Poland for the first time, it will be subject number one in our promotion at IMEX. As well as a campaign #Destination Poland which will be presenting 6 Polish cities which will host ICCA Post Tours/Fam Trips.



UIA ranking with more events from Poland


On 7 May 2020 UIA (Union of International Assiociations) published its latest statistics report „61 International Meetings Statistics Report 2020” covering 2019, where Poland recorded an increase compared to the previous year.
Poland, with 103 events (according to UIA criteria) was 24 in the world ranking presenting 100 countries. Among 100 cities from around the world, Warsaw was ranked 41, and Kraków – 51. Compared to the previous year, the number of events from Poland registered in the UIA database increased by 23.
In Europe, Poland ranks 14 out of 39 countries included in the ranking. Among 50 European cities, Polish metropolises took respectively 22 (Warsaw) and 30 (Kraków) position.
In addition, UIA has registered in its database:
* by 10 events from Gdańsk, Poznań i Wrocław,
* by 3 – from Katowice and Łódź,
* by 1 – from Białowieża, Jastarnia, Lublin, Wieliczka and Zakopane.
The full report is available on the UIA website after logging in to the member profile.
The UIA is a research institute and documentation centre that for more than 100 years has been collecting and submitting information about the market for international meetings of non-governmental associations and intergovernmental organisations plus development directions and trends. Its International Meeting Statistics Report ranking is based on collected data about international meetings that simultaneously match the following four criteria: they last at least three days, they gather at least 300 participants, at least five nationalities are represented, at least 40% of the participants are from countries other than the host country.
UIA forecasts an increase in the number of regional congresses compared to the global category, attributing it to the phenomenon of glocalisation1 and the number of global meetings taking second place to regional events. The most conspicuous change recorded by the UIA involves a geographical shift of congress settings to the East, from Europe to Asia. While Europe continues to be attractive to associations, Asia is picked increasingly often as many cities are joining efforts aimed at international associations. Interestingly, the UIA also continues to record a growing number of congresses attended in person, in spite of forecasts claiming and recent experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, they will be making way for virtual meetings.



Poland maintains a stable position in ICCA’s 2019 statistics

On 12 May 2020 International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) published its latest statistics report covering 2019, with Poland ranked 19th (out of 114 countries) with 213 association meetings. For many years now Poland has been maintaining a stable position in the listing and is the only Visegrád Group member state to be ranked in the top twenty.
The 2019 city rankings captured 425 destinations, with Polish contenders in the following order:
* Warsaw - 34th with 71 meetings,
* Kraków - 48th with 54 meetings,
* Poznań - 143rd with 21 meetings,
* Gdańsk - 159th with 19 meetings,
* Wrocław - 191st with 15 meetings,
* Katowice - 267th with 10 meetings,
* Łódź - 307th with 8 meetings.
Recording an impressive increase in the number of association meetings compared to last year, Gdańsk moved up 37 places. Last year’s newcomer, Łódź climbed 48 spots. These results demonstrate the growing importance second-- and third-choice destinations have for international association conferences.
Crucial for securing Poland’s stable position in the latest ICCA ranking, information about events meeting ICCA’s assessment criteria was collected thanks to Poland Convention Bureau POT’s cooperation with municipal and regional convention bureaux and professional congress organisers (PCOs) recommended by POT. The outcome is particularly inspiring when you consider that the total number of meetings captured worldwide dropped from 13,891 in 2018 to 13,254 in 2019. Despite this downturn, Europe still hosted the largest number of events in 2019 (53%). The U.S.A. remained in the top country spot, while Germany and France dominated in Europe, with the latter moving up to take third position from Spain.
One of the most prominent associations of the meetings industry, ICCA operates in almost 100 countries all over the world and comprises of over 1,100 member companies and organisations specialised in handling, transporting and accommodating international meetings and events. For more than 50 years it has been collecting and analysing data and creating communication channels in the field of arranging international business meetings. On the basis of collected data, ICCA compiles an annual ranking discussing meetings that simultaneously meet three conditions:
* they are held on a regular basis,
* they have a proven attendance of at least 50 participants,
* they rotate between at least three countries.
ICCA membership generates numerous benefits: it provides a cost-effective way to win and attract events representing the meetings industry and offers access to a global network of contacts, making it possible to do business on a worldwide platform representing all sectors of the industry. Members of ICCA have access to a database of more than 72,000 conferences staged by more than 5,000 associations and containing information about the history of each conference and data about particular associations. Finally, ICCA guarantees a strong education programme aimed at its members.
 



Polish Congress Ambassadors and Patrons recognized in Katowice


Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala acknowledging the latest laureates of the programme and officially announcing new jury members for 2020-2023 was hosted by the city of Katowice. In addition, it marked the launch of the National Support Programme for the Meetings Industry to be implemented by Polish Tourism Organisation and Polish Airlines LOT.
The International Congress Centre in Katowice hosted participants of this year’s Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala, which on 21 October announced the programme’s latest winners. Jury members decided to present 18 titles of Polish Congress Ambassador and 3 titles of Polish Congress Patron to institutions that last year were particularly focused on supporting the organisation of conferences and congresses. Also presented during the Gala, this year’s Gala Patron statuette went to the MPT Group in recognition of technological and logistics support provided to the previous edition.
Having hosted the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in 2018, Katowice received a special distinction due to its contribution to the development of the Śląskie (Silesia) region. Arranged by the MPT Group, the event in question was attended by 20,000 participants.
Members of the new Jury of the Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme, implemented in partnership with Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) and Polish Conference and Congress Association (Stowarzyszenie Konferencje i Kongresy w Polsce - SKKP), were also introduced during the Katowice meeting. Supervising the course and execution of the Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme, the jury selects individuals distinguished by the Honorary Polish Congress Ambassador title and institutions distinguished by the Polish Congress Patron title. Jury members are appointed for a three-year term by President of Polish Tourism Organisation and President of Polish Conference and Congress Association. Upon the motion of Robert Andrzejczyk, President of POT, and Paula Fanderowska, President of SKKP, Prof. Marek Pewełczyk, Vice Rector for Science and Development at Silesian University of Technology, was unanimously voted the Jury Chairman for 2020-2023.  
In addition, the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala in Katowice witnessed the inauguration of the National Support Programme for the Meetings Industry. Run together by Polish Tourism Organisation and Polish Airlines LOT, the project is intended to promote Poland abroad by offering airline tickets to representatives of science, culture, sports, business and other circles, so that they could actively participate in the process of bringing international business meetings and events to Poland.
During the Programme’s launch Robert Andrzejczyk, President of Polish Tourism Organisation, emphasised that the meetings industry is a so-called sector of the future that already today generates about 1% of the national gross domestic product. “The growth of this sector is among the key promotional priorities of Polish Tourism Organisation, with Poland Convention Bureau (PCB) supporting our operations. This is why we are glad to have the backing of our national carrier PLL LOT”.
The Vice President of Polish Airlines LOT also drew attention to the significance of this field and declared his involvement in the development of this sort of initiatives. “LOT will work on expanding its offer aimed at the MICE sector. We are going to increase our share in the discussed market and together with Poland Tourism Organisation support Poland’s promotion among meeting planners. The National Support Programme is among the initiatives that will help make this happen”, explained Michał Fijoł, Chief Commercial Officer, Polish Airlines LOT.
The Polish Congress Ambassadors Programme keeps on growing. This year the group of 252 Ambassadors has been joined by successive 18 individuals hailing from various cities and representing various research facilities. The cities in question are distinguished by prominent academic centres aspiring to actions aimed at building their own brands as MICE destinations and placing emphasis on the development of local clubs. The annual meeting of the industry and scientific community in Katowice thus became an opportunity to announce the establishment of four Congress Ambassador Clubs. Kraków, Warsaw, Wrocław and Poznań officially formalised their partnership and entered agreements between POT, SKKP and local convention bureaux. Venue operators also co-create the clubs (MPT, operator of Poznań International Fair, in Poznań; KBF, operator of ICE Kraków, in Kraków).
“Heretofore local experiences show that the synergy of academic potential, the institutional support of local government and the establishment of a platform for cooperation with the business community constitute the right path to accomplishing the goal of boosting the number of congresses and conferences and a significant development of the meetings industry”, claimed Paula Fanderowska, President of Polish Conference and Congress Association. She also expressed her hope that the Ambassador Local Clubs project will keep expanding.
As usual, organisers of the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala managed to arrange and implement two side events. On Monday, the Silesia Meetings Challenge conference was organised by Polish Conference and Congress Association and officially opened by Agnieszka Jędrzejczyk-Wojciechowska, Vice President of Polish Tourism Organisation. A presentation kicking off the discussion was given by Teresa Buczak, Head of POT’s Department of Strategy and Marketing. Talks focused on growth perspectives of the Silesian meetings industry and stressed the significance of initiatives such as the creation of Local Ambassador Clubs that can effectively secure events for a given city and region. Aneta Książek, Chief Conference Expert with Poland Convention Bureau, took part in one of the panel discussions.
A day after the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala, a meeting of destination marketing organisations representing cities and regions was attended by delegates of convention bureaux from Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Katowice, as well as Lublin, Toruń and Łódź plus special guests from Gdynia (Gdynia Municipality) and the region of Śląskie (Silesian Tourist Organisation). The sessions also involved Marta Wiśniewska, MICE Section Manager, Sales Support Department, Polish Airlines LOT, and Paula Fanderowska, President of Polish Conference and Congress Association. The discussion was centred on topics connected with the National Support Programme for the Meetings Industry and operations of Local Ambassador Clubs.
“The new objective of local clubs will be to support and secure beneficiaries of the National Support Programme for the Meetings Industry. We are looking forward to this cooperation and hope that the Programme will encourage our sector to boost the effectiveness of actions aimed at bringing events to Poland. Programme-related details will be submitted by Local Congress Ambassador Clubs, at regional meetings attended by representatives of PCB POT and PLL LOT”, added Aneta Książek, Chief Conference Expert, Poland Convention Bureau.
The Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala was held under the honorary patronage of Anna Krupka, Secretary of State with the Ministry of Sport and Tourism.
The Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala was organised by the city of Katowice, Polish Tourism Organisation and Polish Conference and Congress Association.
The next edition of the event will be staged in the Muzyczny Theatre in Gdynia on 7 October 2020.



Sector of medical meetings in the light of pharmaceutical industry regulations


The city of Wisła will host a meeting dedicated to certification rules for scientific events targeted at health professionals. Anna Kacprzyk, Manager for Innovations and Business Ethics, will be the keynote speaker.
“Sector of medical meetings in the light of pharmaceutical industry regulations” is the leitmotif of a keynote speech dedicated to certification rules for scientific events targeted at the healthcare milieu. The speech will cover not only the currently valid rules, but also changes planned in the discussed field. Moreover, Dr. Anna Kacprzyk, a representative of Employers' Union of Innovative Pharmaceutical Companies INFARMA, will draw attention to potential threats for conference venues and hotels set in tourist and health resorts.
According to the website of the Polish Conference and Congress Association, “Regulations introduced in January 2019, and expanded in January 2020 to cover the criterion of geographic setting, will prove particularly severe for conference venues and hotels set in tourist, health and holiday resorts, etc. This is why a Memorandum was prepared upon the initiative of our association, with the meeting aimed at reaching a shared position of communes and the hotel-conference industry, represented by trade organisations and affected entrepreneurs, that we wish to submit to INFARMA”.
The meeting with Dr. Anna Kacprzyk is scheduled to take place in Hotel Gołębiewski in Wisła on 24 September (12 noon - 2pm). If you are interested in becoming a part of the conference, confirm your participation by sending an e-mail to biuro@skkp.org.pl.



New certified trainings for the industry of congresses and events


The Academy of Polish Conference and Congress Association project was launched on 14 October 2019, not coincidentally the National Education Day. Its programme of training sessions was developed by experienced experts, representatives of the meetings industry.
The Academy involves unique trainings aimed at using intriguing and unusual methods to pass on extensive know-how in the area of staging conferences, congresses and events. Its list of goals encompasses developing competencies and identifying predispositions to planning, developing, implementing and coordinating events. The sessions predominantly focus on the practical aspects of the career of a meeting planner, but still take into account theoretical knowledge in the field of marketing communication, law and project management.
The primary objective of the Academy of Polish Conference and Congress Association is to professionalise services aimed at organisers of congresses and conferences, advance knowledge, improve skills and reinforce the professional status of people operating in the market of congresses and conferences. The trainings will be divided into four sectors, depending on the specific profile of operations run by the ordering customer, with particular thematic modules differing in content. After attending a training session, participants will become accredited by Polish Conference and Congress Association.
Lecturers Anna Górska, Vice President for International Cooperation at Polish Conference and Congress Association, and Katarzyna Cioch, Vice President for Research and Development, argue that “The Academy is intended to inspire a discussion about educating the industry as a whole and meant to determine if the Polish meetings sector is sufficiently educated and, consequently, competitive and professional. The international character of the project, the fact that it benefits from the expertise and examples provided by foreign organisations plus grants accreditations, is what makes the Academy virtually peerless in Poland”.



Katowice to host the WADA congress in 2019


On 5-7 November 2019 the whole global doping community will be looking at the International Congress Centre in Katowice. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) selected the city to host the World Conference on Doping in Sport
The contract for organising the discussed conference in Poland was signed in Seoul on 15 November. On behalf of Poland, the document was signed by Witold Bańka, the Minister of Sports and Tourism, who participated in WADA’s Executive Committee Meeting in the capital of South Korea.
The decision about awarding the event to Katowice was made back in May. This will be fifth edition of the cyclic conference currently staged every six years. The list of previous host cities includes Lausanne, Copenhagen, Madrid and Johannesburg. Minister Bańka launched efforts aimed at bringing the conference to Poland.
"This is a remarkably important event both for Poland and the whole sports community worldwide. Key decisions determining the global directions of battle against doping will be made at the discussed conference”, emphasises Bańka.
The World Conference on Doping in Sport is staged by WADA, an independent foundation established by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne in 1999. Its key goal is to coordinate activities against the use of illegal drugs in sports. In 2001 WADA’s headquarters were relocated to Montreal.
It is estimated that the 2019 event will be attended by approx. 2,000 representatives of all communities involved in the struggle against doping in sports. Plans for the Katowice-set event assume, i.a. the election of new WADA authorities and adopting amendments to the World Anti-Doping Code. In addition, WADA’s new international standard will be introduced in the field of education and information.
We are glad to see Katowice decisively building its image of a city of major meetings and events. In October the capital of Upper Silesia co-hosted the 7th European Congress of Small and Medium-Size Enterprises and WOMEX - the World Music Expo. Next year will see the organisation of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Its organisers expect that close to 18,000 delegates from all over the world will attend and that the event will generate benefits for the entire country”, says Aneta Książek, Chief Conference Expert, Poland Convention Bureau PTO.



10th edition of Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report


Summarising the meetings industry’s 2018 accomplishments, analysing factors making a destination attractive for staging corporate, incentive and association meetings, and identifying trends of regions’ development inspired by smart specialisations - these are the highlights of the tenth edition of Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report.
As is the case each year, Polish Tourism Organisation - Poland Convention Bureau compiled a report, whose main goal is to get an optimally broad picture of the 2018 state of affairs in Poland’s meetings and events industry. The data presented in the report discuss 22,152 meetings and events involving more than 50 attendees each. Compared with the previous year, the number of events in 2018 grew by 1,000.
A presentation of the condition of Poland’s sector of meetings and events is possible due to Poland Convention Bureau POT’s ongoing cooperation with municipal and regional convention bureaux, recommended professional congress organisers (PCOs) and incentive travel companies (ITCs), as well as international associations (ICCA and UIA). Each year they collect and submit data, whose analysis allows drawing an optimally comprehensive picture of the meetings industry in Poland. Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that they do not guarantee a full overview of the phenomenon.
This year’s data are complemented by an article by Monika Dembińska of Poznań University of Economics and Business, who analysed the factors making destinations attractive for corporate, incentive and association meetings.
We would like to thank everyone involved in the development of the Report!
We wish you a pleasant read - you will find both the Polish-- and English-language version of the report on our website (PL Report, ENG report).
The Report’s printed version will be launched at the Polish Congress Ambassadors Gala to be held in the International Congress Centre in Katowice on 21 October 2019.



Poland wins a prestigious award in the Netherlands


Poland received the Best MICE Destination 2019 award presented by MICE & Business Travel, the leading business tourism periodical in the Netherlands. Already now the meetings and events sector generates about 1% of Poland’s GDP.

The Best MICE Destination is the most important MICE-related distinction in the whole of Benelux. Besides Poland, the list of nominees also included France and Northern Ireland.

“Modern hotels, numerous conference and exhibition centres, unique venues, first-rate transportation infrastructure, as well as organisations and companies ready to provide professional services aimed at business meetings of all scope proved decisive about our success”, said Anna Krupka, Secretary of State with the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.

The awards ceremony was held on 9 September as part of the Business Traveler & MICE Fair staged by the magazine’s editorial staff in Amsterdam’s Corendon Village Hotel. Congress and meetings industry delegates attending workshops accompanying the ceremony emphasized that Poland is a safe and friendly destination that stages a growing number of meetings dedicated to culture, science and business.

“Poland has at its disposal all the assets required for an intensive growth of the meetings industry and for attracting more international events of all possible sizes”, claims President of Polish Tourism Organisation Robert Andrzejczyk. “We would not be able to achieve this success if it was not for the hard work of our Netherlands-based office operating within the structures of Poland Convention Bureau POT”.

MICE & Business Travel readers also selected winners in other categories. NN Hotels was voted the best hotel chain for the industry of congresses and meetings, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - the top airline.



Poland will host the 17th European Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology (ECCN) in Warsaw at EXPO XXI

Warsaw presents another successful bid and wins the organization of a large European medical congress. More than 700 scientists from Europe will gather in the capital of Poland in 2019 to discuss current developments and achievements in clinical neurophysiology.
The 4-day ECCN Congress is held every 2 years and has never been to Poland before. The last three editions took place in Rome (2011), Brno (2015) and in Budapest only a few weeks ago. During this year's Conference, after getting acquainted with the Polish offer, the General Assembly decided that the next Congress in 2019 will take place in Warsaw. The chosen theme for the ECCN 2019 will be “Shaping the Present and Future of Clinical Neurophysiology”. The host of the event are the Polish Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (PTNK) and the Professional Congress Organizer (PCO) Barceló Congresos, who successfully organized the ECCN in 2002 in Barcelona.
The Scientific Committee work will be joint task and effort by representatives of the European Department of International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (EC-IFCN), headed by Professor Walter Paulus from the Medical University of Göttingen who supported the Polish bid from the very beginning.
The bid application was prepared by Barceló Congresos and presented at the congress in Budapest by the following delegation from Poland: Dr. hab. Anna Pokryszko-Dragan (PTNK), Anna Górska (Barceló Congresos/EXPO XXI Warsaw), and Pawe? Rozen (Warsaw Convention Bureau). Prof. Maria Ejma, president of the PTNK, said: "I am very pleased and more over I am convinced that the strong involvement of PTNK members, the support of the city authorities and the expertise of the selected PCO is a guarantee for success."
Anna Górska, who initiated the efforts to host the congress in Poland more than two years ago, is proud and looks forward to a fruitful cooperation between scientists, Warsaw’s corporate world and local government, thanks to which the Polish capital will host another important international event that will bring latest findings and knowledge to the local community.



Stable position for Poland in ICCA ranking


Poland with 211 meetings secured 19th spot (out of 110) in the latest ranking published by International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) on 13 May 2019. For another year in a row Poland held a stable position in the listing and is the only Visegrád Group member state to be ranked in the top twenty.
The category of cities covers 409 destinations and includes Warsaw (placed 29th), Kraków (45th), Poznań (120th), Wrocław (180th), Gdańsk (196th) and Łódź (355th).
Compared to 2018 Kraków, Poznań and Wrocław climbed approximately 10 spots, with Łódź as a newcomer joining ICCA in early February 2019.
In the European breakdown Poland took 11th spot (out of 41), Warsaw - 18th, Kraków – 25th, Poznań – 68th, Wrocław – 92nd, Gdańsk – 98th and Łódź – 169th (out of 200 spots).
ICCA operates in almost 100 countries worldwide and represents more than 1,100 companies and organisations connected with developing and coordinating meetings, transporting and accommodating. For more than 50 years it has been collecting and analysing data and creating communication channels in the field of implementing international business meetings. On the basis of collected data, it compiles an annual ranking discussing meetings that simultaneously meet three conditions:
1. they are held on a regular basis,
2. they have a proven attendance of at least 50 participants,
3. they rotate between at least three countries.
ICCA membership generates numerous benefits: it provides a cost-effective way to win and attract events representing the meetings industry and offers access to a global network of contacts, making it possible to do business on a worldwide platform representing all sectors of the industry. Members of ICCA have access to a database of more than 72,000 conferences staged by more than 5,000 associations and containing information about the history of each conference and data about particular associations. Finally, ICCA guarantees a strong education programme aimed at its members.




International Congress Centre in Katowice and International Conferences and Entertainment (ICE) Kraków sum up their portfolio of events.


24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24), the most spectacular event hosted by International Congress Centre in Katowice, provided services for 20,000 participants from 200 United Nations member states.

590 rooms at ICC and the directly linked Spodek arena complex were applied tor the purposes of arranging the conference, along with close to 6,000 pieces of furniture and 190 IT/AV devices. The interiors were prepared in such a way as to guarantee event participants a chance to comfortably spend time between sessions. Green relaxation zones, grab-and-go points with snacks and drinks, as well as the main restaurant zone in Spodek’s main floor were available at their disposal. There were 640 standing places by cocktail tables, 400 seats and two leisure zones - for a total of 1,050 guests.

The ICC and Spodek team handling COP24 was composed of 1,924 members, one-fourth of the whole technical staff working on the event. Close to 500 foodservice operators were employed in the main restaurant zone and the grab-and-go points. The former served 1,500 guests an hour, and the latter - 600 participants an hour.

COP24 visitors drank 65,500 coffees, ate 28,000 sandwiches and 30,500 lunches plus took part in more than 2,120 meetings and side events.

Works on preparing Spodek and International Congress Centre for COP24 purposes were launched in early 2018 and encompassed indispensable renovations, inspections, provisioning, arrangement of technical services, cleaning, security, catering and so-called event management. Moreover, additional pavilions were established to house, i.a. booths of participating states, meeting rooms, as well as the media zone.

Ever since it inaugurated its operations in October 2014, ICE Kraków Congress Centre was visited by 1,022,820 participants of close to 800 events.

Each quarter almost 400 representatives of companies operating in the Kraków meetings industry market get together as part of the Kraków Network platform of knowledge and contact sharing established four years ago by Kraków Festival Office, the venue’s operator. Educational workshops staged in six thematic groups (Hospitality Group, Kraków Food Network, PR Group, Kraków Club of Congress Ambassadors, Kraków Future Lab and Event Group) show that join operations of potential competitors are both possible and effective. From the viewpoint of Kraków, the discussed initiative generated measurable benefits and an opportunity to present itself in the international arena as a responsible and comprehensive destination available for congresses.

While last year the venue’s calendar was dominated by cultural events, in the years to come its operator is planning to boost the number of business projects. Research on the economic impact of the meetings industry on Kraków’s economy confirms that congresses and conferences are increasingly profitable for the city. In 2018 the figures amounted to 1.4 billion PLN spent by participants of business events and close to 2.2 billion PLN of GDP generated by the meetings industry, 3.38% of GDP of Kraków’s whole economy.

ICE Kraków has already become a regular host of numerous international events, including the Impact economic congress, the Open Eyes Economy Summit, Cybersec European Cybersecurity Forum or the prestigious New Frontiers in Interventional Cardiology. The list also includes, i.a. Digital Dragons, the largest video game industry event in this part of Europe, the annual conference staged by the ASPIRE Association, as well as the European Congress of Local Governments, from the very beginning staged in ICE Kraków.

The opinions of event guests are the best recommendation of the discussed venues:
“I must admit that when I was going to Poland I expected an entirely different experience. I believed the stereotype that Eastern Europe is by definition poor and plain. The truth is that Polish cities are in no way different from their counterparts in Germany or the Netherlands. I am truly impressed”, says Fei Luo, a COP24 participant hailing from China but currently residing in Amsterdam.



2018 Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report

The main goal of 2018 Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report is to paint the biggest possible picture of the condition of Poland’s meetings and events sector in 2017.
Data presented in this year’s edition cover more than 22,000 meetings and events, each attended by at least 50 participants. Conferences and congresses account for half of them, corporate and incentive events constitute the second group, while trade fairs and exhibitions recorded the smallest share in the overall sample. The list of dominating sectors includes commerce and services, economics and politics, technology and the medical industry. Half of all the discussed events lasted one day and close to one-third of them engaged foreign participants. By comparing these results with previous editions of the report, which covered events for groups of at least 10 participants, it becomes clear that 2017 saw a continued growth of the number of meetings and events presented annually in Poland Meetings and Events Industry.
In addition to general information about events staged in Poland in 2017, the latest edition of the publication discusses the specific features of three types of events (conferences and congresses, corporate and incentive events, trade fairs), encompasses extensive ‘portfolios’ of cities (profiling the activities of particular convention bureaus representing metropolises and regions) and a study by Dr Natalia Latuszek of the Poznań University of Economics on the competitiveness of Polish cities in the international meetings market.
“The report is a tool that sums up last year’s achievements of the meetings industry and showcases its contribution to the growth of the national economy. In Poland the business of organising professional business meetings, conferences, congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions is estimated to generate more than 1% of the national GDP plus provides a strong and positive impetus for other related branches. Its development is one of the key promotional priorities of Polish Tourism Organisation, whose structures have included Poland Convention Bureau (PCB) since 2002”, says Robert Andrzejczyk, President of PTO.
The 2017 condition of Poland’s sector of meetings and events is presented on the basis of data obtained from three sources: submitted by convention bureaus representing cities and regions, congress (PCOs) and incentive travel organisers recommended by Polish Tourism Organisation, and international organisations and associations (ICCA and UIA).
2018 Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report is available on www.pot.gov.pl 



Prestigious European Congress of Psychiatry in Warsaw


Warsaw hosted the European Congress of Psychiatry attended by more than 4,000 participants from all over Europe. This year’s edition was guided by the motto of “Psychiatry in transition”.
One of the most important research events in the field of psychiatry was this year brought to Warsaw. It was the capital of Poland than on 6-9 April hosted the European Congress of Psychiatry attended by more than 4,000 participants. Considering the rank and prestigious character of the congress, securing the event can be perceived as a considerable success. For the first time ever in 27 years since the launch of the congress, its organisers decided to select a Polish city.
Congress participants discussed subject matter in the field of psychiatry, psychology and clinical research. Prof. Jerzy Samochowiec, President of the Polish Psychiatric Society, emphasises the event’s impressive attendance figures. Sessions attracted 4,265 psychiatric professionals. In addition, Polish researchers constituted a numerous group of participants, with more than 500 Poles involved in the Congress.
The 2019 European Congress of Psychiatry was guided by the motto of “Psychiatry in transition” and staged in the EXPO XXI Conference Centre in Warsaw. Efforts aimed at securing the prestigious event began four years earlier. Each year the congress is held in a different European city.
Complicated and long-lasting process of securing congresses is nevertheless highly profitable both for the host venue and the city that will welcome event participants. According to International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), a congress participant spends an average of 708 USD daily in the host city. In addition, congresses are usually several days long.  
European Psychiatric Association (EPA) has more than 78,000 members from 88 countries and is a leading organisation representing European psychiatry. Each year the association holds the international European Congress of Psychiatry, which acts a platform for discussion and exchanging experiences in the area of mental health.