Poland Took the Virtual Podium at the Last IBTM World

As it happens every year, the Polish Tourism Organization welcomed its national stand at IBTM World 2021, taking on a totally virtual form this time. According to the organizer's report, the Polish profile was the 3rd most viewed at the virtual event fair.

The Polish national stand (F118) showcased the offer of 16 convention bureaux, professional congress organisers (PCOs), professional destination management companies (DMCs), and congress venues, whose representatives took part in more than 260 online meetings during the three-day event staged on 8-10 December 2020. According to official data supplied by its organisers, IBTM World Virtual has closed with nearly 13,000 business meetings and over 1,400 hours of live and on-demand educational content viewed on IBTM TV. Hopefully featuring an onsite component, IBTM World 2021 will take place in Barcelona from 30 November to 2 December 2021.

Poland’s virtual national stand was composed of individual profiles introducing every sub-exhibitor through graphics, overview, video, a presentation of available products with an option of directly accessing a dedicated website, as well as a marketing package for download. The main profile of Poland Convention Bureau of Polish Tourism Organisation additionally featured city graphics by Tytus Brzozowski. The list of showcased products included Poland Online Site Inspection, Safe MICE Venue, Poland Meetings and Events Industry Report, an IBTM World Virtual-dedicated edition of the THINK MICE magazine, and PLL LOT’s flight network for the forthcoming winter season. Visitors to the Polish national stand could navigate between the profiles of particular sub-exhibitors. Each company had a single representative acting as the host of its virtual stand, responsible for managing the meetings schedule and adding colleagues to conference calls whenever required. In addition, the drop-in feature was available to enable hosted buyers to take part in talks also outside of the meetings schedule.

“After IBTM World Virtual wrapped up, we asked our sub-exhibitors for feedback. The vast majority gave a positive assessment, emphasising that all meeting forms (virtual and onsite) that provide an opportunity to present their offer should be recognised as a method of promotion and a chance of securing events for Poland. The more than 260 meetings arranged during the virtual event is a highly promising result, although obviously in many cases we were left wanting more, as hosted buyers did not accept all invitations. Still, we should keep in mind that this type of things also happens during onsite events. While there were some technical issues connected with the quality of calls, the concierge-led support monitoring the timeliness of both clients and exhibitors was greatly appreciated. To reassume: the collective voice of our industry reassured us that investments in the tool (both financial and related to logistics and content) were profitable and provided a chance to confirm our readiness to work in the brand-new reality”, summed up Aneta Książek, Head of Poland Convention Bureau POT.

Aimed at supporting the meetings industry in rebuilding the demand for meetings and events hosted by Poland, Polish Tourism Organisation prepared a special offer for exhibitors interested in becoming involved in the online Polish national stand at IBTM World Virtual. Regardless of the formula they will adopt, POT is planning to arrange similar offers for exhibitions planned for 2021.

Recommended reading: Polish industry at IBTM World Virtual