Meetings Week Poland was held for the 11th time. This year’s edition of the conference, entitled “Platform for cooperation and its development through innovative solutions,” took place on June 12-13, 2023. The aim of the conference was to strengthen the development of the industry through innovative solutions and a cluster approach, as well as education and professionalization within the industry.
The panel discussions focused on the following issues:
– The value of cooperation between representatives of different fields within the industry and its impact on other sectors of the economy. Cooperation between the industry and government and local authorities. What are the benefits of cooperation between universities, event agencies, and hotels for the development of the industry? What do economic missions offer Polish companies? Is cooperation profitable?
– The potential of GPT chat and other artificial intelligence solutions in the MICE industry. How to use artificial intelligence? What are the benefits for the MICE industry? What challenges does the industry face? Will translators no longer be needed?
– Festivalization of trade fairs – an example of innovation. The process of transforming traditional trade fairs into more dynamic and experimental events.
– The value of meetings and events from the customer’s perspective. Customer needs and industry realities – research results.
– Legal pitfalls in the activities of event organizers… not only in tourism.
– Poland – an attractive and safe destination – how to convince others that this is the case? Examples of case studies of mega events acquired for Poland:
– ICCA Congress in Krakow
– World Urban Forum WUF in Katowice
– Routes Europe in Łódź
– The impact of mega events on the promotion of Poland and the development of the industry – we are a system of interconnected vessels.
– A new dimension of business transparency – requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
– The meetings industry in Poland today and tomorrow: where are we, what lies ahead?
– New strategies and development plans, as well as opportunities for obtaining funds to finance innovative solutions in the industry.
The conference also featured workshops:
– POT expert workshop as part of the Creators’ Laboratory – Poland Convention Bureau:
– Social Selling on LinkedIn, during which Rafał Szymański, an expert in social selling and B2B sales on LinkedIn, pointed out that “we already have over 24,000 Polish companies on LinkedIn with more than 10 employees, so they could be customers of the MICE industry. At the same time, these companies employ 37,000 people in HR departments in decision-making positions. We will talk about how to reach them using LinkedIn, so that it is Social Selling and not Social Spamming, during today’s Creators’ Laboratory session,” and he also said, ”I am happy to receive questions from participants, because it shows that the event and hotel industry is aware of the importance of social media in the process of acquiring and maintaining relationships with business customers.”
– Workshop for hoteliers – Polish Chamber of Commerce for the Hotel Industry, during which important issues related to the hotel market in Poland were discussed, including the organization of collective management of copyright and related rights, and the results of the SOIT Barometer for 2020-2022 and the Incentive Travel Forecast for 2023 were presented.
A broad sectoral overview of the topics discussed during all thematic panels of this year’s event was provided by 46 experts, including representatives of the Polish Tourist Organization, industry organizations, employer organizations, and state institutions.
Here are two quotes from the organizers:
“The new formula of MWP 2023 – cross-sectional discussions covering the entire Meetings and Events Industry – proved to be spot on. Participants’ opinions on the content were very positive. The fact that RPSiW TUgether took responsibility for organizing the event demonstrates the maturity of the organization, but also builds a solid foundation on which we can develop our industry celebration in the future. We opted for a stationary formula in order to emphasize networking, which we do not have time for on a daily basis during this period of intensive reconstruction. The human dimension is extremely important to us, because events and the industry are created by people. Discussions about strategy and professionalization clearly show the directions of development for MICE, which, as research has shown, has not yet returned to 2019 levels,” said Łukasz Adamowicz, President of the TUgether Meetings and Events Industry Council.
“I am delighted that the Polish Chamber of Commerce for the Hotel Industry has joined as a co-organizer of MWP 2023 and that MWP is being held in a hotel for the first time. The conference was well attended by hoteliers, and we also held a workshop specifically dedicated to them. We discussed important issues concerning the hotel market in Poland,” said Marcin Mączyński, Secretary General of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for the Hotel Industry, Vice-President of the TUgether Meetings and Events Industry Council.
Meetings Week Poland 2023 was organized by the TUgether Meetings and Events Industry Council in cooperation with the Polish Tourist Organization. The conference took place on June 12-13, in the conference rooms of the Airport Hotel Okęcie in Warsaw.
Source and photos: Polish Tourist Organization
