Poland at the IMEX 2022 trade show
'It's good to be back’ – this was the motto of this year’s IMEX trade show, during which the Polish Tourism Organisation was the traditional organiser of the Polish national stand (G440) and a promotional action called Destination Poland.
After a two-year hiatus, the IMEX 2022 trade show was once again organised in a stationary form, which favours the use of additional promotional tools. This is particularly important considering this year’s abundance of reasons for celebration and promotion.
Together, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the PTO PCB, linked with the 20-year presence of the PTO in the ICCA association.
An energetic Polish touch was provided by the Musical Mornings by Barbara Giewont and Michał Jurkiewicz, who gave a singing welcome in the central gallery to the exhibitors from over 100 countries of the world, as well as over 2,800 organisers of meetings and events (hosted buyers). After the concerts, the guests headed to the main entrance to the trade show (Hall 8), which was also decorated with pictures signed with the phrase ‘Destination Poland’, presenting Polish congress cities and regions. Apart from the conference offer, we also decided to focus on nature, in doing so following the latest trends and expectations of the organisers.
Besides that, similarly to the IBTM in Barcelona, both at the stand and beyond it (ICCA Reception), along with the Kraków Convention Bureau we actively promoted the hosting of the ICCA congress, which will take place in November in the capital of Małopolska. While doing so, we also promoted other Polish regions and congress destinations, to which we shall organise study tours after the congress. Moreover, we tried to nicely merge all of this with the 20th anniversary of the IMEX trade show, which has a long tradition of cooperation with the PTO, including several important projects, e.g., the CSR campaign – IMEX Challenge 2010.
The 20th anniversary of the Poland Convention Bureau of the PTO was grandly celebrated on the second day of the trade show as part of the Polish Happy Hour, organised at the Polish stand. The celebration included the organisation of a business card contest, where the main prize from the Kraków Convention Bureau was a voucher for a stay before or after the ICCA congress. There were also backstage conversations and a sweet snack in the form of a birthday cake and singing ‘Happy Birthday’.
Another attraction – marking the anniversary of the PTO PCB – was the award ceremony for seven people from various sectors of the industry. They are those who, due to their cooperation, activities and involvement, have become the ambassadors of Poland. Albums about Poland and diplomas of recognition from the President of the PTO were given to:
Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group
Gorazd Čad, CEO of Toleranca Marketing and Editor-in-Chief of Kongres Magazine
Dr Rob Davidson, Managing Director of MICE Knowledge
Senthil Gopinath, Chief Executive at ICCA
Mariska Kasteloo, CEO at World of MICE
James Rees, ICCA President
Kerstin Wuensch, Editor-in-Chief, tw tagungswirtschaft
By way of contacts established under the Strategic Alliance of National European Conventions, we also thanked our colleagues from foreign conventions for their support in becoming the host of the ICCA congress. The hallmark of our allies will be handcrafted brooches which refer to the tradition of Kraków (blue colour, a peacock feather, red beads and royal gold).
Aiming at sustainable development and neutrality in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, the PTO PCB has actively joined the People & Planet Pledge campaign, submitting the Polish National Stand for the programme. In return for limiting paper materials for distribution, waste sorting and the use of ecological tableware (plates, cutlery) during the happy hour, our stand was labelled with a green number and listed in the IMEX-EIC People & Planet Village.
We view our journey towards sustainable development as a continuous process; we keep bettering ourselves and we are setting increasingly challenging goals for ourselves. We also encourage active help for Ukraine by organising activities of the CSR type during meetings and events in Poland. Such an offer is worth building; it is yet another element through which we can show our support and solidarity, and while doing so, benefit from this by attracting and preparing new valuable events. We hope that the ‘Destination Poland’ promotional campaign will contribute to strengthening the international competitiveness of Poland, and it will restore the demand for business tourism services, which will be reborn after the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, so said Aneta Książek, the chief specialist in the PTO Poland Convention Bureau.
During the three days of the trade show (May 31st – June 2nd), the PTO Poland Convention Bureau, assisted by the PTO Overseas Centre in Berlin, conducted numerous individual business meetings, which were supplemented by the individual offers presented by 13 exhibitors of the Polish national stand:
Convention Bureau – Wrocław
DMC Poland
Furnel Travel International
Gdańsk Convention Bureau
Hotel Narvil Conference & Spa
ICE Kraków Congress Centre
Kraków Convention Bureau
LOT Polish Airlines
Mazurkas Travel
Poznań Convention Bureau
Travel Projekt DMC Poland
TRIP Group (Centrum Kongresowe Plus sp. z o.o.)
Warsaw Convention Bureau