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Forum , organised on behalf of the UN in December in Katowice , which attracted and registered over 10,000 participants from all over the world . In contrast , international trade fair events in Poland will face many challenges and are not expected to rebound until 2023 .
Looking further at the map of plans coded by the Eventseye portal for central and eastern Europe , Poland is followed by Ukraine with 142 events planned ( mainly in Kiev ) and the Czech Republic with 129 events divided almost equally between Brno ( 63 events ) and Prague ( 66 events ).
In the next places were Belarus – 56 , Romania – 41 , Latvia – 37 , Slovakia – 36 and Hungary on just 15 events planned . It should be noted that the Eventseye list is burdened with several inaccuracies resulting , for example , from the unstable political and health situation , which is hard to follow even if you are a portal .
That is why , due to the instability of the world around us , we will continue to observe another , second trend , i . e . developing hybrid events and online events ( unloved by many ). We will not move away from hybrid models as , rightly , many organisers have already noticed their effectiveness in promoting events and achieving greater reach .
However , many organisers need to learn to use these tools properly and also to monetise certain activities skilfully .
After all , trade fairs are a business project , not a charity project , and the organiser needs to make a profit . That is why hybrid solutions are often used for conferences accompanying the trade fair , which are easier to monitor and , moreover , participants are willing to pay for participation in such educational seminars .
Therefore , the multitude of hybrids will force further streamlining of the existing ones and the emergence of new technological tools enabling this
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part of the trade fair to develop freely . This is the third trend I would pick out and is a development also discussed by Małgorzata Musiał , secretary of Poland ’ s Meetings and Events Federation , who sees in the development of online and hybrid events a new opportunity for many organisers to ‘ rescue ’ attendance and build reach in the new reality .
Lack of manpower Another , fourth trend that all organisers in Poland and this part of Europe are currently experiencing is the lack of manpower . Many valued specialists had to retrain because they could not afford the several months of inactivity caused by the pandemic . Now they are in demand again , but many of them have changed to a sector that is more predictable and safer from their point of view .
Many organisers , therefore , will not be able to grow their events as much as they could and would like . So , the next , fifth trend observed is to develop acquisitions and takeovers as this is the best possible time to develop your events through
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“ Organisers
are already
planning to
postpone
original
dates and
counting
on the local
dimension of
events rather
than the
international
one ”
Below : Face to face for security in Kielce , Poland
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an acquisition or joint venture so that you don ’ t have to grow purely organically as this can take years . An example of good acquisitions on the Polish market is the purchase at the end of 2021 of well-known and popular fairs organised for over 25 years by MT Targi Polska , i . e . EUROGASTRO ( Catering ) and TT Warsaw ( Travel ) by the largest player on the Polish market , Ptak Warsaw Expo . The same organiser also bought the event package of another organiser from Łódź , namely Interservis , which offers such well-known brands as Rehabilitacja ( Rehabilitation ), Vet Medica ( Veterinary Medicine ) or Dach Expo ( Roofing ). There will probably be more such examples , as not all organisers can withstand the time pressure and this period of difficult struggle not only with the pandemic , but also with the market difficulties it causes .
Thus , 2022 is set to be marked by challenges , remodelling of the trade fair market and modern technologies , as well as inevitable mergers and acquisitions and a constant search for good specialists .
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