An online workshop intended to introduce Nordic travel industry to the highlights of destinations such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary were staged in the second half of September 2020. Ten professionals hailing from various segments of the tourism sector represented each of the involved countries.

In the case of Poland, the list of parties included incentive travel organisers (4 Travel Incoming, Tour Operator, XperiencePoland.com, Poland Pros, Mr Shuttel and Mazurkas Travel), regional (Western Pomerania) and local tourism organisations (Warsaw, Poznań and Gdańsk), as well as hotels (Polish Hotel Holding and Hotel Quadrille Relais & Châteaux). The offer of our neighbours was equally diverse.

The event’s promotion among the Nordic travel industry was based on cooperation with the Travel News publishing house, organiser of the Stockholm-based Travel News Market trade fair, well-known in the Nordic market. Thanks to this partnership, information about the event reached a group of more than 15,000 Scandinavian newsletter recipients and was viewed more than 525,000 times on the publishing house’s websites. In addition, relevant communication relied on databases of regional offices of Czech Tourist Authority and Polish Tourism Organisation, the Aviareps agency (representing Hungary in Nordic markets), Antor Norway and local travel agency associations in Denmark and Finland.

Thanks to the collaboration with Travel News the https://discover-central-europe-2020.events.info.poland.travel page was viewed by close to 700 users, who thus could learn more about the event’s agenda, participants and promoted products and register for one-on-one online meetings with select partners.

Finally, more than 70 participants attended a one-hour Zoom presentation about the current condition of tourism in particular destinations, an inaugural event of the workshop. Most of the 160-plus arranged meetings were viewed as highly informative and likely to pay off in more favourable economic conditions.

A positive effect of the meetings staged by Polish Tourism Organisation’s International Office in Stockholm involved making Central Europe increasingly attractive for Nordic travel agencies previously specialising in services for intercontinental trips, but now wishing to offer clients quickly and safely accessible destinations.