Represented by its Belgium-based International Office, Poland Convention Bureau of Polish Tourism Organisation took part in an industry workshop staged by BBT Online. The meeting was staged in the creative post-industrial scenery of De Kruitfabriek near Brussels. This was the first real-time industry meeting in Brussels to be attended by Polish Tourism Organisation since the pandemic outbreak.

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The workshop’s setting was truly exceptional - a historical factory that inspired the hip residential/service district now in development. Once considered an area to avoid, in the years to come the former working-class district is expected to transform in a favourite place among artists and enthusiasts of culture and entertainment.

The concept of the event, originally planned to take place in June, has become adjusted to new sanitary conditions. Meetings have been scheduled in spacious, well-ventilated factory rooms, keeping a safe space between participants, who were wearing masks and had constant access to disinfectants.

The meeting was inaugurated by a panel discussion featuring leaders of Belgium’s meetings industry, dedicated to staging meetings and events in a brand-new reality. This section was moderated by Eric Moris of Business Pass Travel & Incentive Company (Business Owner/Managing Director). Subsequent meetings with 36 exhibitors involved convention bureaux representing Malta, Switzerland, the Austrian cities of Graz and Salzburg, hotels, airlines, as well as representatives of Wallonia and Flanders.

“With meetings industry all over the world transformed in recent months, we are particularly glad to meet in Belgium, the headquarters of numerous major international organisations. Attending the workshop is our way of expressing solidarity with the European meetings sector. In addition, it is a way of maintaining and establishing business relationships and educating in these challenging times”, said Dominika Szulc, Head of POT’s International Office in Brussels.

Importantly, the meeting acted as an opportunity to showcase #PolandOnlineSiteInspection, a brand-new tool aimed at the meetings industry. Available at pot.gov.pl, the catalogue is recommended for everyone planning to bring their meetings and events to Poland. While Warsaw was in the centre of attention, Poland Convention Bureau representatives were also asked about Gdańsk, Wieliczka, Małopolska, as well as unique venues for smaller groups - atmospheric one-of-a-kind places ensuring that a meeting staged in Poland will be unlike anything else.

More than 60 select representatives of corporations and associations plus organisers of business events, including conferences and incentive trips, hailing from the Belgian market, attended the workshop.

The BBT Online magazine pursues the mission of providing reliable information, implementing tools supporting the process of event planning, as well as initiating operations intended to bring the industry closer together. Its offer reaches 10,000 readers from the Benelux and 10,000 connections from neighbouring countries (Netherlands, France, United Kingdom and Germany).