Thank you for attending ITM Warsaw 2012!

The 2012 edition of ITM Warsaw International Tourism Fair has just ended. It took place at the Warsaw International Expocentre Expo XXI on January 27-29 2012.

ITM Warsaw 2012 was a success – the fair expanded, the number of exhibitors increased by over 60% and guests by over 32%. It was also enlarged by a special allocated part dedicated to business tourism and a number of debates, seminars and other accompanying workshops.

The fair was visited by over 2100 business guests and over 4300 individual consumers – over 6400 visitors altogether. The number of visitors rose by 32% comparing to the previous edition, whereas the increase of the number of business visitors was exceptionally striking, what obviously strengthens the business profile of the event.

The number of exhibitors increased by 60%. There were more than 160 exhibitors from over 24 countries, such as Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Algeria, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, India, Nepal, Armenia, Greece, Italy, Andorra, Scandinavian countries (including Norway), Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania, Macedonia (FYROM), Australia, Canada and Poland.

The stands were set up by countries, regions, cities, travel agents, tour operators and incentive agencies, hotels, conference centers, airlines, and many others. They presented their offers for individual and business clients.

There were 25 exhibitors in the ITM Business Tourism part. We also had a pleasure to receive a group of hosted buyers from Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada and Poland. They took the opportunity to attend many fruitful meetings with the ITM Warsaw exhibitors.

Not only did the exhibitors praise the perfectly chosen date of our event, but they also appreciated a very well designed exhibition venue, central localization of the fair, a highly satisfying number of visitors and a lot of additional attractions.

However, what they seemed to appreciate the most was the business aspect of the fair: a great number of business guests, including hosted buyers invited by the organizers, online meetings arrangements system and very comfortable conditions for business meetings.

ITM Warsaw brought over 30 additional events, including the summary of the year 2011 in tourism industry and forecasts of trends in tourism for 2012, presentations of destinations, debates, seminars and workshops, trade award prize-giving ceremonies and networking evenings.

Turkey was the partner country of ITM Warsaw 2012. It was also organized under the honour patronage of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, the Marshal of the Mazovian Voivodship and the President of the City of Warsaw.

We are very satisfied with this year’s edition of the fair. ITM Warsaw has been growing year by year, which shows the accuracy of our predictions concerning the need of an international travel fair organized in winter. Winter is the most suitable and frequently chosen season for such events all over the world. Poland needs a fully professional fair organized in the city center of the capital . We are trying to be this professional: this year we were the only ones in the country to provide the hosted buyers program.

We intended to create a venue for every-year meetings for the tourism industry, where the participants would have an opportunity to exchange ideas, inspirations and to establish new business relationships. It seems that we have succeeded. I am persuaded that this uptrend will continue and next year the ITM Warsaw will receive even more guests.

We obviously have a lot of work ahead. We are dedicated to enhance our fair year by year, thanks to the suggestions of the tourism industry representatives. Our goal for the next year is to ensure that all the stands are professionally prepared and that they have a complete set of marketing materials until the very last hour of the exhibition. We also wish to enlarge and select even better our group of hosted buyers. .