Poznan top draw on exhibition circuit
Three events kicked off there this week and about 750 exhibitors are expected at the fairs: the Infosystem International Fair of Electronics, Telecommunications and Computer Engineering; the Poligrafia International Fair of Printing Machines, Materials and Services; and the Multimedia, Publishing Festival and New Media Fair.
Last year, the three drew 56,730 visitors and 398 exhibitors from 15 countries, according to the Polish Corporation of Trade Fairs and Economic Exhibitions Organizers.
Poznan will host 26 international fairs and exhibitions this year. If this year is anything like 1995, these events will bring about 940,000 conference goers to the city and a boost to the local economy.
Poland is expected to host a total of 314 trade fairs and exhibitions in 24 cities this year, the corporation said. Although Poznan is the reputed trade fair leader, other Polish cities, such as Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Warsaw and Kielce are offering some competition.
Some host more trade fairs and economic exhibitions Ą Warsaw (49), Bydgoszcz (45), Katowice (28) Ą than Poznan, but no city has the facilities or the attendance.
Zofia Strzyý, from the Poznan International Fairgrounds' office of promotion and advertising, pointed to the city's big, well-equipped facilities and its reputation, 75 years of hosting trade fairs, as some of the reasons it attracts the largest crowds.
Poznan's fairgrounds boast 141,000 square meters of space, almost twice as much as its nearest competitor, Warsaw's BUDEXPO, with 76,000 square meters. The next closest is Kielce's Centrum Targowe with 59,000 square meters.
Poznan also draws 39% of all the exhibitors who come to Poland, the corporation said. The Poznan International Fair had the most exhibitors, 3,145, in 1995. Also, it hosts the fair that draws the most visitors. The Polagra International Agro-Industrial Fair, scheduled for Sept. 19-24, is the granddaddy, drawing more than 215,000 visitors last year, according to the corporation.
Other cities can not boast about having the biggest facilities, but they do try to sell trade fairs and economic exhibitions on their locales.
Warsaw, for example, has its trump card Ą it's a world capital. "Everything's here," said Teresa Ochmanska, executive director for Biuro Reklamy SA, which has organized 21 trade fairs this year in Poland.
"Warsaw is the capital of Poland," she said. "Here are all the central organizations and ministries and decision-makers. ... So why not Warsaw."
The city is also more centrally located than Poznan in the west. People in the far reaches of Poland can take a direct train to Warsaw, giving it easier access than Poznan, Ochmanska said.
Of the 21 fairs the Warsaw-based Biuro Reklama company organizes, 20 are in the capital. The remaining one is the Baltexpo Marine Exhibition, and what better place than Gdansk. The type of fair can also dictate location.
Last year, the three drew 56,730 visitors and 398 exhibitors from 15 countries, according to the Polish Corporation of Trade Fairs and Economic Exhibitions Organizers.
Poznan will host 26 international fairs and exhibitions this year. If this year is anything like 1995, these events will bring about 940,000 conference goers to the city and a boost to the local economy.
Poland is expected to host a total of 314 trade fairs and exhibitions in 24 cities this year, the corporation said. Although Poznan is the reputed trade fair leader, other Polish cities, such as Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Warsaw and Kielce are offering some competition.
Some host more trade fairs and economic exhibitions Ą Warsaw (49), Bydgoszcz (45), Katowice (28) Ą than Poznan, but no city has the facilities or the attendance.
Zofia Strzyý, from the Poznan International Fairgrounds' office of promotion and advertising, pointed to the city's big, well-equipped facilities and its reputation, 75 years of hosting trade fairs, as some of the reasons it attracts the largest crowds.
Poznan's fairgrounds boast 141,000 square meters of space, almost twice as much as its nearest competitor, Warsaw's BUDEXPO, with 76,000 square meters. The next closest is Kielce's Centrum Targowe with 59,000 square meters.
Poznan also draws 39% of all the exhibitors who come to Poland, the corporation said. The Poznan International Fair had the most exhibitors, 3,145, in 1995. Also, it hosts the fair that draws the most visitors. The Polagra International Agro-Industrial Fair, scheduled for Sept. 19-24, is the granddaddy, drawing more than 215,000 visitors last year, according to the corporation.
Other cities can not boast about having the biggest facilities, but they do try to sell trade fairs and economic exhibitions on their locales.
Warsaw, for example, has its trump card Ą it's a world capital. "Everything's here," said Teresa Ochmanska, executive director for Biuro Reklamy SA, which has organized 21 trade fairs this year in Poland.
"Warsaw is the capital of Poland," she said. "Here are all the central organizations and ministries and decision-makers. ... So why not Warsaw."
The city is also more centrally located than Poznan in the west. People in the far reaches of Poland can take a direct train to Warsaw, giving it easier access than Poznan, Ochmanska said.
Of the 21 fairs the Warsaw-based Biuro Reklama company organizes, 20 are in the capital. The remaining one is the Baltexpo Marine Exhibition, and what better place than Gdansk. The type of fair can also dictate location.
