Sharing emotions for 8 years!
A total of 1.35 million people attended more than 1,100 events. These figures sum up the first eight years of the ICE Kraków Congress Centre at the very start of its ninth year. With hundreds of congresses, conferences, business meetings and concerts as well as cultural and social events organised since the venue first opened its doors in 2014, Kraków has strengthened its position as a leader in the meetings industry. ICE Kraków is operated by the Kraków5020 company.
The ICE Kraków Congress Centre is a business and cultural highlight of the city. Thanks to its location in the very heart of the City of Kings, it is a perfect venue for a variety of events. As a multivenue facility, it can host up to three events in a single day. A music festival in the Krzysztof Penderecki Auditorium Hall, an evening banquet with a view of Wawel Castle in the foyer and a product showcase in the conference rooms on the third storey – since its opening in 2014, ICE Kraków has been offering virtually infinite opportunities to audiences and clients alike. The venue is also the source of unforgettable emotions – it hosted the world-famous stars of the Film Music Festival and the ICE Classic series, as well as Diana Ross, Chris Botti, Zbigniew Wodecki, Garou, Dire Straits, Grzegorz Turnau, and Zbigniew Preisner. These are just some of the many doyens of the music world, who performed on the stages of ICE Kraków.
The fact that the venue is widely recognised and appreciated in the European MICE industry is evidenced by the mountain of awards and distinctions, including: Meetings Star Award (2015 and 2016), A’Design Award (2015), The Plan Award (2015), Gold Meetings Star (2019, 2020, 2021), MP Power Award (2014, 2017, 2020, 2021) and the ICCA Best Marketing Award (2021).
New Hospitality
The functionality and architecture of the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, a brainchild of the Ingarden & Ewý studio, enable the city to attract the biggest congresses and conferences. Between 2014 and 2022, the venue hosted a total of 292 events, and their share in its offering is growing all the time. In 2023, the conferences and congresses organised there will attract more than 30,000 guests to ICE Kraków. These events, which are organised at the foot of the Wawel Hill, bring the greatest benefits to the city – they build the image of a hospitable and modern city and stimulate business tourism and economic growth. ‘This new hospitality is a value that guides us in developing the potential of ICE Kraków’, says Izabela Błaszczyk, president of Kraków5020, the venue's operator. ‘We strive to bring together the various players on Kraków’s market and give organisers and participants of events the best. Thanks to the Kraków Network project, we can offer a bundle of services that allows clients to choose the most affordable option for organising events, inviting competing event agencies or hotels to work with us. We promote the concept of ‘comcuperation’ – cooperation between entities that would normally compete with each other.’
This year on 6–9 November, ICE Kraków will host one of the world's most important events in the meetings industry, the 61st ICCA Congress. Bringing the event to Kraków is an enormous success not only for the city, but also for all of Poland. The congress is one of the most important annual events in the meetings industry worldwide, bringing together close to one thousand of the most experienced professionals in organising international conferences and congresses. The event will be an opportunity to discover current trends as well as blaze new trails.
(Sustainable) development of ICE Kraków
‘The biggest challenge that we faced in the last eight years was the pandemic’, says Paula Fanderowska, Vice-President of Kraków5020. ‘Event organisers learned from the experience gained during the successive waves and lockdowns, which is why they increasingly implement hybrid events. That is exactly why a hybrid studio has been set up at ICE Kraków, which also provides a plan B in case an event is cancelled. These types of studios in venues are becoming the new post-pandemic standard, which is becoming more and more popular around the world.’ The hybrid studio complements the rich offering of the venue. Since spring 2022, when all restrictions were lifted, life has returned to ICE Kraków. This year, the venue hosted more than 100 events, attended by a total of 110,000 guests.
The position of the local and national leader is linked with a variety of obligations – some of them concern the utmost attention to production quality, while others refer to shaping attitudes, educating the general public about the activities of ICE Kraków, and taking care of the immediate surroundings of the venue. That is why ICE Kraków hosted the working sessions on the Kraków Network protocol – a strategy for operating in a post-pandemic reality prepared by representatives of Kraków’s MICE industry. The Protocol identifies a list of key strategies, which include the need to establish innovative business models based on shared risk management, promoting hybrid events, digital restructuring, and strengthening Kraków's competitive edge by engaging local representatives of the MICE industry.
In 2017, Aleja Kongresowa (Congress Avenue) was created thanks to a joint initiative of the City of Kraków, KBF (the then-operator of ICE Kraków) and the Management Board of Green Areas in Kraków. As part of this initiative, trees are being planted by representatives of ICE Kraków together with the organisers of the most important congresses. It is a way to highlight the positive impact of the MICE industry on the development of the capital of Małopolska and to commemorate the events hosted by our venue. As of today, 35 newly-planted trees line Congress Avenue. Representatives of Kraków Network are also involved in CSR activities. They take part in the Poland Business Run, a charity drive benefitting the Małopolska branch of the Polish Association of the Deaf, and they also support #RatunkoweKalorie – a fundraiser whose aim is to pay for hot meals for medical professionals at the J. Dietel Specialist Hospital in Kraków.
The venue also hosts a social event for city residents – Good Morning ICE Kraków. Every three months, ICE Krakow Congress Centre turns into Krakow’s largest playground for children. The event also has an educational aspect – a free selection of workshops for the youngest visitors and for their parents, too, who happily take part in them.
Kraków5020, the operator of ICE Kraków and its hybrid event studio, is a municipal company established by the Mayor of the City of Kraków to build and manage the image of the city and its promotion in cooperation with numerous partners. Its main task is to strengthen Kraków's brand as a modern European metropolis – attractive, open and tolerant; a city of world cultural heritage and a thriving academic centre. Business Coordinates and New Hospitality are the key focal points for the development of the City of Kraków in the areas of economy, innovation, science and culture.
The company is also responsible for running PLAY KRAKÓW, the city’s VOD platform, PLAY KRAKÓW NEWS, the Kraków Network and Power of 4 projects, the ICE Classic and Good Morning ICE Kraków series, the Wyspiański Pavilion and the Official InfoKraków City Information Network.
The name of the company – Kraków5020 – refers to the city's location, which is at the intersection of the 50ºN parallel with the 20ºE meridian.