The conference industry is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, Poland saw a more than doubling of the number of events, congresses and conferences. Statistics show that these are most often held in hotels, which can make up for some of the pandemic losses by organising events.

After two years of pandemic stagnation, the conference segment is increasingly contributing to their bottom line. Hotels are also noticing that event planning is taking place more in advance than before, even several months in advance.

“We are seeing a continued increase in interest in conference services. Clients have noticed that it is possible to get together, that it is desirable on the part of employees, and this year we have progressed all the time. Now, we already have a lot of enquiries about organising events for 2024 and beyond, which shows that clients are planning for the future, they want to return to normal relationships and business meetings”, says convention sales manager at the Leonardo Hotels chain Kamil Sawicki.

The events industry has started to make up for the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, with nearly 12,600 meetings and events held in Poland last year, attended by at least 50 people each time, according to the ‘Meetings and Events Industry in Poland 2023’ report. Poland Convention Bureau of the Polish Tourist Organisation (PCB PTO).

All the cities analysed showed an average increase of 120 % in the number of events last year (Wrocław – an increase of 195% y-o-y, Warsaw – 125%, Poznań – 183%, Bydgoszcz – 67%, Krakow – 5%). Most of these were corporate and incentive events (51 %) and conferences and congresses (42 %). Such events are mainly held in hotels, which are already receiving enquiries for the organisation of events and conferences in Q3 and Q4 2024, and even in 2025.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński