Belgian tour operators opt for Warsaw. The capital of Poland hosted the congress of Selectair, an association of 100 independent travel agencies from Belgium. Polish Tourism Organisation and PLL LOT were the partners of Selectair 2018.

The congress of Selectair, an association of 100 independent travel agencies from Belgium, was staged at Hotel Sofitel on 4-7 October. This time the Belgian tour operators decided to choose Warsaw as their target destination. Previous editions of the congress were held in Croatia and Germany, respectively. Selectair offers Poland a chance to boost the sales of tourist products among Belgian tourists. The congress was attended by 85 participants. 

Selectair congresses, organised in various destinations worldwide, are aimed at making agents familiar with the potential and tourism-related offer of a given destination. Thanks to the efforts of the Polish Tourism Organisation International Office in Brussels, the discussed edition was successfully secured by Warsaw. Its main objective involves positively increasing the sales of trips from Belgium to Poland in the years to come.

The representatives of Selectair explored Warsaw in a variety of ways: through an urban game and themed trips (Food Tour, Beer Tour and Bike Tour). The Bike Tour proved to be most popular and was selected by two-third of all participants, confirming the potential of bike tourism and its promotion in Benelux. On the first day the guests attended a Chopin concert. Belgian visitors ended their stay in Warsaw with a tour of the Polish Vodka Museum.

An important item of the programme included workshops with the local industry held on Friday 5 October and involving 17 companies recommended by Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) and Warsaw Tourism Organisation, which specialise in the comprehensive organisation of group travel packages and services for congresses and incentive trips staged in Poland. Poland Convention Bureau POT prepared an industry workshop with representatives of the Polish sector.

The list of guests from Belgium included mostly agents that constitute independent tourist organisations. In addition, Warsaw was visited by members of the country’s largest tour operators, such as TUI, Imagine and Transeurope, specialising in tours of Europe (and Poland as well). Moreover, representatives of the Belgian trade press, i.a. editor-in-chief of Travel Magazine, the largest publication in the Belgian market, were also invited. The congress organisers received highly positive feedback, with Selectair already proposing POT to stage a fam trip for its members in the next year. The trip will be aimed at showcasing Poland’s other seminal tourist highlights. A more detailed programme will be arranged in the years to come.

Selectair (https://selectair.be/) is an association of 100 independent travel agencies from Belgium, predominantly Flanders, specialising mostly in recreational tourism. The discussed bureaus sell readymade products, but also produce their own packages. As Selectair is not dependent on any of the tour operators active in Belgian market, its members can sale their own programmes and products.

Polish Tourism Organisation and PLL LOT were the partners of Selectair 2018. The national carrier handles daily flights from Warsaw to Belgium. Mazurkas, a company that received a certificate of recommendation from Polish Tourism Organisation, was responsible for staging the Warsaw-based congress as the winner of a competitive bid organised by Selectair.