The main goal of 2018 Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report is to paint the biggest possible picture of the condition of Poland’s meetings and events sector in 2017.

Data presented in this year’s edition cover more than 22,000 meetings and events, each attended by at least 50 participants. Conferences and congresses account for half of them, corporate and incentive events constitute the second group, while trade fairs and exhibitions recorded the smallest share in the overall sample. The list of dominating sectors includes commerce and services, economics and politics, technology and the medical industry. Half of all the discussed events lasted one day and close to one-third of them engaged foreign participants. By comparing these results with previous editions of the report, which covered events for groups of at least 10 participants, it becomes clear that 2017 saw a continued growth of the number of meetings and events presented annually in Poland Meetings and Events Industry.

In addition to general information about events staged in Poland in 2017, the latest edition of the publication discusses the specific features of three types of events (conferences and congresses, corporate and incentive events, trade fairs), encompasses extensive ‘portfolios’ of cities (profiling the activities of particular convention bureaus representing metropolises and regions) and a study by Dr Natalia Latuszek of the Poznań University of Economics on the competitiveness of Polish cities in the international meetings market.

“The report is a tool that sums up last year’s achievements of the meetings industry and showcases its contribution to the growth of the national economy. In Poland the business of organising professional business meetings, conferences, congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions is estimated to generate more than 1% of the national GDP plus provides a strong and positive impetus for other related branches. Its development is one of the key promotional priorities of Polish Tourism Organisation, whose structures have included Poland Convention Bureau (PCB) since 2002”, says Robert Andrzejczyk, President of PTO.

The 2017 condition of Poland’s sector of meetings and events is presented on the basis of data obtained from three sources: submitted by convention bureaus representing cities and regions, congress (PCOs) and incentive travel organisers recommended by Polish Tourism Organisation, and international organisations and associations (ICCA and UIA).

2018 Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report is available on www.pot.gov.pl