Silesia Convention Bureau (SCB) is a product consortium associating entities working for the development of business tourism in the Silesian Voivodeship. SCB operates within the structures of the Silesian Tourist Organization and is a specialized structure dealing with the promotion of the entire Silesian Voivodeship as an attractive meeting place.
The pandemic year of 2020 and the subsequent years were a very difficult period for the meetings industry in the world. What is the current situation in the Silesian Voivodeship?
Last year was a great success for the MICE industry in the region. Before the tragic year of 2020, both in Poland and in the Silesian Voivodeship, we observed a dynamic development of the industry, among other things, thanks to new hotels and facilities intended for organising business events. The industry has also been highly professionalised. However, the post-pandemic year of 2022 turned out to be positive, and we can observe a very large increase in the number of business events. The latest data for the capital of the region — Katowice — show that 2022 was in this aspect a period of return to the pre-2020 state. According to the information contained in the report “Business tourism market in Katowice in 2020-2022”, in 2022, a total of 6,426 business events were held in Katowice, the largest of which was the WUF11 World Urban Forum.
How do you intend to promote Silesia as the best MICE destination in Poland?
The Silesian brand has numerous competitive advantages in the field of business tourism development. As one of the smallest voivodeships in terms of area, it is one of the most geographically, historically and culturally diverse regions in Poland. It is a mixture of very different areas — the Beskidy Mountains and Cieszyn Silesia in the south, the Upper Oder region in the west, the Silesian Metropolis in the centre and the Polish Jura in the north. On the one hand, you have little old towns with castles and palaces; on the other, young urban centres with revitalised post-industrial facilities. These natural and urban contrasts create a unique region in the country. The distinctive features of the brand also include the best developed communication network in the country, a large economic potential, a strong scientific centre and rich infrastructure as well as service facilities with numerous hotels, conference centres and restaurants. All this also makes the region an attractive destination for organising business events of various nature.
What are the most important strategic targets and the nearest operational plans of the Silesia Convention Bureau?
The Silesia Convention Bureau started operating in January this year. So this year will be important and very intense for us in many ways. All planned activities are aimed at strengthening the interest of the Silesian Voivodeship as an attractive destination for MICE, and as a result, increasing demand for business tourism services in the region. Among the goals we plan to achieve in the coming year is destination promotion; we can accomplish this through the organisation of study tours, collecting the data necessary to create reports on the state of business tourism in the Silesian Voivodeship, and the development of a database of service providers from the whole region. In addition, we plan to participate in domestic and foreign industry events, obtain membership in international organisations and conduct educational and integrating activities in the region.
Thank you for the interview.
