An annual meeting of directors of Polish Tourism Organisation International Centres was held on 23-24 October in the seat of the Polish Tourism Organisation in 8 Chałubińskiego Street. In its course President of the Polish Tourism Organisation Robert Andrzejczyk accentuated that next year POT will undergo extensive and positive changes.

Just like every year directors of Polish Tourism Organisation International Centres (Zagraniczne Ośrodki Polskiej Organizacji Turystycznej - ZOPOT) came to Warsaw to hold an annual meeting. Heads of centres in Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Tokyo, Moscow, Stockholm, Rome, Kiev, New York, London, and Beijing met with, i.a. President of the Tourist Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) Robert Andrzejczyk and Vice-Minister of Sport and Tourism Dariusz Rogowski.

In accordance with the plan, on the first day of the meeting ZOPOT directors held individual talks with Patryk Antonik and Piotr Głod, heads of the Department of Marketing Instruments, to discuss mainly summaries of annual activity and plans for the future.   

Directors of POT International Centres dined with Vice-Minister of Sport and Tourism Dariusz Rogowski and took part in individual meetings with POT President Robert Andrzejczyk. “Next year the Polish Tourism Organisation can anticipate great changes. First, we shall increase the budget for the promotion of Polish tourism by 25%, i.e. 10 million PLN. Secondly, promotion will place greatest emphasis on deploying online tools, including social media”, said President Andrzejczyk. “In the course of the meeting with ZOPOT directors we enjoyed a chance to discuss plans for their activity in 2018. We are convinced that additional funds and the introduction of innovative marketing techniques will provide a positive impulse for the growth of Polish tourism”, added Robert Andrzejczyk.

The second day of the meeting planned plenary sessions, at which ZOPOT directors met representatives of the POT central office in Warsaw responsible for specific fields. The discussion focused on, i.a. the principles of organising fam trips as well as solutions rendering cooperation between the central office and international offices more efficient. Other topics included cohesive visual communication and questions concerning current work. 

“The meeting gives rise to optimism. I hope that this forecast of changing marketing instruments to more innovative ones will prove conducive. The world is undergoing transformations and thus we too must change together with it. Standard promotional channels are slowly becoming a thing of the past just like our whole pre-Internet world. I am extremely pleased with reflections concluding that we shall slightly shift accents towards new technologies”, explains Director of ZOPOT in Kyiv Włodzimierz Szczurek.

In turn, Dominika Szulc, Director of ZOPOT in Brussels, stressed that joint meetings make it possible to plan and collectively conduct constructive activity. “The end of the year is slowly drawing near and it is very important to become acquainted with guidelines for the next year and to pursue joint activity in accordance with our strategy. I believe that this meeting abounded with positive signals since we shall embark upon numerous tasks connected with new technologies and the Internet. This is the sort of work that we already do, and like doing, because it produces actual effects with which I am extremely pleased”, said Dominka Szulc.