The whole process was extraordinarily competitive. Gdansk team feels no shame in having been closely beaten by a tough competitor who themselves learnt a great deal from earlier losses.
Three finalist teams of Prague, Gdansk and St.Petersburg arrived May 18th in Frankfurt to give life-time presentations in front of ICCA International Congress & Convention Association Board of Directors. All shortlisted destinations spent past 6 months working hard to complete second bid to host ICCA 2017 Congress. They managed to rise quality of final bids and demonstrate that team listened intently to all ICCA feedback and took on every piece of advice after site inspections held in the region.
Gdansks presentation was highly professional and competitive. Nevertheless it came up against a fantastic team from Prague who had the advantage of losing the bid for the 2016 Congress and had a chance to learn from previous mistakes.
The whole process was extraordinarily competitive. Gdansk team feels no shame in having been closely beaten by a tough competitor who themselves learnt a great deal from earlier losses. They cordially congratulate to fantastic competitors from Czech, who are an inspiration for all Central/Eastern European region.
Whats more all three destinations with the process that lasted almost a year managed to create a strong network, especially Gdansk team has gained an enormous amount from going through it. Within last year city experienced fantastic international and national media publicity receiving free media exposure regarding ICCA bidding process with almost 30 publications. Gdansk estimate its value for over 13,000 euros. Moreover Gdansk Convention Bureau together with city officials managed to place meetings industry as one of priorities in Gdansk economic development and city strategy. Any future bidding for any international association meeting will be stronger and more successful. The process has strengthened Gdansk congress team, helping stakeholders to work better together.
2017 ICCA Congress in Prague is a WIN-WIN situation for everyone: Gdansk/Prague/St.Petersburg and last but not least ICCA delegates. There surely will be a strong cooperation set between especially two neighboring countries Czech Republic and Poland. Congress held in central Europe will showcase their innovative approach to business in the region that remains one of a few economies worldwide performing really well despite economic situation. Poland keeps its position as 23rd biggest economy worldwide.
Eastern countries together build a great environment for meetings business and attracts more meetings every year. According to latest ICCA annual country and city rankings Poland ranks 23rd worldwide and Czech Republic 26th. Congress attendees will have a chance to learn from market representatives their key to success but also failures they experienced.
ICCA Congress bidding process is a competition between the 90 countries in ICCA membership and it is getting tougher and tougher. Great advantage of being part of it is that all shortlisted candidates became more competitive and professional. Congratulations to Prague, Gdansk and St.Petersburg.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
