Arranged by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Polish Tourism Organisation, the Polish national stand received the Best Exhibitor Award in the Europe category.

For 18 years all booths at ITB Berlin, the World’s Leading Travel Show, are evaluated by students of Cologne Business School. This year they acknowledged, i.a. the Polish national stand, which received the Best Exhibitor Award in the Europe category. This is Poland’s largest success so far in this competition.  

The booth arranged by Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) was recognized predominantly for its complex offer, interactivity, hospitality and dedicated personnel. Jury members were particularly impressed by the interactive gingerbread baking shows (The Living Museum of Gingerbread in Toruń), water experiments (Hydropolis Centre for Ecological Education in Wrocław) and weaving grass toys (Relax in the Countryside). Numerous competitions were an additional highlight for visiting guests from all over the world.

“I am very pleased with the award and even more with the justification presented by the jury. The Polish booth was appreciated and distinguished not only thanks to its diverse offer of highlights and activities, but predominantly because of its magnificent ambience, exceptional hospitality and professional staff - the very same assets that make Poland the leisure spot of choice for a growing number of tourists”, commented Minister of Sport and Tourism Witold Bańka.

This year’s travel show had the Polish Tourism Organisation putting a booth of total area of 752 sq m at the disposal of participants. 49 Polish exhibitors presented their offer, with active tourism focused on water as its leitmotif.

“The main idea behind this year’s booth arrangements was to get the visitors actively involved. The presented award shows that we successfully achieved this objective”, says Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Sport of Tourism Dariusz Rogowski. “I am convinced that the high quality of services offered by Poland will lead to an even larger interest shown in the country”.

Videos using advanced VR technology were among the tools applied for the purposes of promoting Poland and its tourist highlights at ITB Berlin.

“Once again Polish companies did not disappoint. The Best Exhibitor Award in the Europe category is also an enormous success of Polish exhibitors, whom I would like to sincerely thank for their engagement. I am glad that the jury appreciated the activity of the Living Gingerbread Museum, which last year received the POT Golden Certificate. This confirms the high quality of the products awarded by us”, said President of Polish Tourism Organisation Robert Andrzejczyk.

 The top booth awards were presented on Saturday during a ceremonious gala in Berlin. ITB Berlin 2018 was held on 7-11 March.

However, this is not the only distinction recently awarded to the Polish Tourism Organisation. It is worth noting that in late November 2017 the Polish national stand received second prize in the Homo Turisticus competition for the most original and innovative booth at the TT Warsaw fair. In turn, in February POT was granted the Acanthus Aureus statuette recognizing booths distinguished by the best design and most fitting for marketing strategy implementation.