IBTM World 2022 in Barcelona summary
The theme of this year's IBTM World in Barcelona was culture and its relationship with the meetings industry. Poland was represented at the fair by 16 partners. In total, the IBTM Trade Fair was attended by over 10,000 participants, 2,200 exhibitors from 150 countries worldwide, and according to the organisers, over 100,000 business meetings were held.
Tourism is a meeting of cultures – the culture of the visited and the visitor, and creating experiences based on the culture of a place is, in turn, the main activity of professionals in the meetings industry. Building awareness among our consumers is a long-term process, which is why promotional campaigns for individual destinations should be complementary and address leisure and business tourism equally.
This year's IBTM World Trade Fair marked the 20th anniversary of the Poland Convention Bureau POT for the last time. Among the 16 Polish exhibitors were city convention bureaux from Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań and Wrocław. It is worth highlighting that the first three mentioned cities were ranked in September this year among 99 cities that are ‘the most cultural’ – The Most Cultural Cities for International Meetings. The aforementioned report prepared by the IBTM trade fair team helps to narrow down the options for anyone planning an international meeting where culture is paramount. Interestingly, the top three ‘cultural’ cities in Poland practically correspond to the first three Polish cities from the ‘ICCA Ranking Report’ but this time Warsaw appears first in the city ranking, followed by Kraków and Poznań – said Aneta Książek, Chief Specialist in the Department of Poland Convention Bureau POT.
The Polish meetings and events industry was represented by employees of city convention bureaux, hotel chains and hotels, recommended DMCs, congress and conference facilities and the national carrier.
Convention Bureau – Wroclaw
International Exhibition and Congress Centre EXPO Kraków
Furnel Travel International
Hotel Bristol, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Warsaw
ICE Kraków Congress Centre
JAN-POL DMC Poland
Kraków Convention Bureau
Leonardo Hotels Poland
LOT Polish Airlines
Lublin Conference Centre
Mazurkas DMC Poland
Poznań Convention Bureau / Poznań Congress Centre
Tarifa Corporate Events (operated by EventUI)
DMC Travel Project
Vengo DMC Poland
Warsaw Convention Bureau
This year, the culminating event at the Polish IBTM stand was the #DestinationPoland Happy Hour. A large group of Polish and foreign friends celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Poland Convention Bureau.
Participation in IBTM was extremely important for our convention bureau in Wrocław. Like the Poland Convention Bureau POT, this year we turned 20, being the first local convention bureau in Poland. I consider the fair to have been very successful. Most of the meetings were valuable and allowed us maintain the contacts already made and gain many new ones – said Agnieszka Szymerowska, President of the Management Board of Convention Bureau-Wrocław.
The foreign edition of THINK MICE magazine was also presented at the booth.
More about IBTM Trade Fair in 2022
During IBTM World 2022, the speakers presented the latest market trends and marketing research, including the Global Meetings & Events Trends report presented by AMEX, at educational sessions.
In addition, the annual IBTM World Trends Watch Report 2023, prepared by Alistair Turner, Managing Director of Eight PR, showed how current global events shaped culture, influencing professionals in the meetings industry as well as the people who attend meetings.
During the event, IBTM announced that it had signed a new three-year contract with the Barcelona Convention Bureau and Fira de Barcelona stipulating thatIBTM World, including the 2025 edition, will be held in the Catalan capital. The new deal builds on the existing 18-year relationship between the three organisations.
The next edition of IBTM will be organised at Fira Gran Via on 28–30 November 2023.
Commenting on the conclusion of the event in Barcelona, David Thompson, IBTM World Event Director, said, ‘IBTM World 2022 has been a success, exceeding all expectations, with more one-on-one and higher-quality business meetings per attendee than in 2019. It was great to receive feedback from attendees that there was such a high demand for business talks and that many exhibitors and buyers had already scheduled additional meetings to take place in the coming weeks.