On November 21-22, the Meet the Bidder Grand Edition and the international conference Meeting Industry Sustainability Forum (MISF) took place at the Arche Hotel Krakowska. During the event, Mazovia Convention Bureau acted as host destination partner, organizing the Mazovia Cocktail with a wine tasting from Winnica Dwórzno, to which Meet the Bidder exhibitors were invited, and a piano concert of Fryderyk Chopin’s works during the MISF summary. In addition, Mazovia Convention Bureau welcomed hosted buyers with a dinner at the Elixir restaurant combined with a tour of the Vodka Museum, and provided surprises in the form of prizes from the Mazovia Basket during the summary of the two-day event.
During meetings with meeting planners, it was also emphasized that an important area of activity for the Mazovia Convention Bureau, operating within the MROT, is broadly understood research on the meetings industry in Mazovia. A study on the economic impact of the meetings industry on the Mazovia economy, entitled “Mazovia Events Impact 2023,” is currently underway, co-financed by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. The results of the study will be presented in December 2023.
The event was hosted by Arche Hotel Krakowska, which is the host hotel partner. This year’s destination partner for Meet the Bidder was the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency – Go Türkiye, which, together with Turkish travel agencies and hoteliers, presented the opportunities for the development of MICE and luxury tourism in Turkey.
77 exhibitors
The organizers brought together 77 exhibitors from around the world offering services in over 40 countries.
Representatives of hotels and hotel chains from around the world, including: Associated Luxury Hotels International, Aquilla Collection, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts, Barcelo Hotels, Clermont Hotel Group, Gloria Hotels&Resorts, Grecotels, Iberostar Cuba Hotels and Resortss, Lindner Hotels, Almanac X Alcron Prague, Ambasador Hotel Split, Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich, Kempinski High Tatras, Jardin Tecina, Orca Praia, Swissôtel The Bosphorus.
Representatives of hotels in Poland: Lemon Resort SPA on Lake Rożnów, Sofitel Victoria Warsaw, Marriott Warsaw, Golden Tulip Warsaw Centre, Leonardo Hotels Polska, MCC Mazurkas Hotel, Mercure Gdansk Stare Miasto, Radisson Blue Gdansk Stare Miasto.
DMC – representatives of agencies from Central America, China, Croatia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Spain, the Philippines, Georgia, South Korea, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, South Africa, Romania, Slovenia, Tanzania, Turkey, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
Airlines – Emirates, PLL LOT.
And others, including Norwegian Cruise Lines, Polferries, XOXO Wifi, Mazurkas Transport, Suntago Water World.
Hosted buyers from Lithuania, Italy, and the United Kingdom
Meet the Bidder was aimed at professionals from the tourism industry, in particular organizers of incentive trips, events, luxury trips, and tailor-made trips. There were 111 registered buyers. Foreign hosted buyers from Lithuania, Ukraine, Austria, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom also attended at the invitation.
A new formula was also developed for buyers who arrived early and, after attending a certain number of meetings, received a voucher for Suntago Water World or a voucher for a drink at the Panorama Bar in the Warsaw Marriott, the Sky Bar in Barcelo Warsaw, or Leonardo Hotels in Warsaw.
After the meetings, Meet the Bidder Grand Edition 2023 offered participants other attractions:
Tea Time Networking with Spanish Cocktails – Spanish wines and cheeses as an opportunity to share your impressions and meet people you didn’t get to talk to earlier;
T-Rex – Travel Experience Expert Night – The “Travel Invitations Game” formula allowed committed buyers to win many attractive travel invitations funded by exhibitors in the following categories: Let’s Taste – delicacies from selected destinations, such as wine or cognac from Georgia; Let’s Enjoy – including, for example, a voucher for seven days of unlimited mobile internet with XOXO WiFi in any country from a selection of over 140 countries worldwide; Let’s Stay – hotel stays, including a six-day stay with meals at Iberostar Varadero, four nights at the invitation of the Malta Tourism Authority Warsaw, three nights at Playitas Resort, Fuerteventura, a stay with a safari at Aquilla Collection in South Africa; Let’s Fly – airline tickets funded by PLL LOT and Emirates.
Prizes for everyone and Meet The Bidder Post Tours
No one left empty-handed that evening. The finale was complemented by a Mazovian basket of surprises. An apple with a number meant, for example, a voucher for a rafting trip on the Wkra River, a voucher for camper rental, a family ticket to Julinek Park, a voucher for the Ossów Cultural Park, a voucher for a tour of the Dwórzno Vineyard, as well as lavender mist or a bottle of Solaris wine.
Meet The Bidder Post Tours is already a tradition for the organizers to introduce foreign guests to the beauty of our country.
Warsaw Sightseeing, November 23, 2023 – on the occasion of B2B meetings for participants who came from far away and wanted to explore the capital, a guided tour of Warsaw’s Old Town and part of the Royal Route was organized with the support of the Warsaw Convention Bureau.
Gdańsk Post Tour (November 23-24, 2023) – a group of hosted buyers, invited by the Gdańsk Convention Bureau, the trip’s partner, had the opportunity to take a guided tour of the Old Town and the European Solidarity Center. They also saw modern venues in Gdańsk hotels, starting with the Museum of the Second World War and visiting the Baltic Philharmonic.
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The public task entitled “Mazovia Events Impact 2023: Study of the economic impact of the meetings industry on the Mazovia region” was co-financed by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism in accordance with agreement no. 2023/0007/0118/UDOT/DT/BP of May 23, 2023.
