Mining for meetings in Silesia

Paul Colston became a miner for the day during a whistle-stop tour of Silesia, a region of Poland fast reinventing itself for hosting business events. Silesia Convention Bureau’s first ever press tour. A unique programme was designed to showcase the post-industrial contrast that lies at the heart of the region. It is a region previously renowned for its heavy industry, but now transformed and pivoting towards showing off the natural beauty, including the Beskid Mountains and the local cuisine, heritage and culture. Magda Mazgai and Jaroslaw Marciuk of the Poland Convention Bureau co-organised the event with the Silesia Convention Bureau with the main goal of raising awareness of the Silesian Voivodeship. What shone through was an enthusiasm for a new offer on the international meetings market – a region dripping with authenticity. The programme provided an opportunity to examine two extreme faces of the region over two days. First, came a visit to the heartland of Poland’s industrial heritage in Zabrze, where our group was decked out in miners’ clothes and equipment and sent down the historic Guido mine. The former colliery now is more of a museum with two significant event spaces and offers educational tours of the mine, providing an insight into the coal mining process. In fact our group was not there just to admire event spaces, but was put to work via a teambuilding challenge to construct a metal structure able to hold a conveyor belt structure. We certainly built up a sweat as we scuttled through low tunnels at a depth of 355m and got a literal taste (and plenty of dust) of the gruelling labour effort required. (Some might say it was the only honest day’s work this journalist has ever done). There are four main chambers in the mine – Research Chamber No. 8, Compressor Chamber, Pump Hall and Mechanical Workshop. All halls contain arich seam of learning about the region’s extensive mining heritage and each chamber can accommodate from 80 to 180 people. There followed a treat of a lovely lunch – Rolada Slaska washed down with some local beer – in Europe’s lowest restaurant, which sites at the bottom of Guido mine. While the mine’s official guide Robert Paluch, a former miner shared his experiences, many of the international delegation would have benefited from having an interpreter, as with a subsequent visit to a heritage centre, where there was an opportunity – having thoroughly washed our hands from the mining experience – to try our hand at baking some local treats Even more special, one of the hosts had on display some personal Olympic cross country skiing memorabilia. So, come back to this region in the winter and there are many slopes and cross country routes for those that like to ski. After the hard graft came an oasis of nature at the Aries Hotel & Spa Vistula., where preserved elements of a historical tourist past combine with a beautiful location among the mountain forests. The group later sampled the fine dining experience at the Polka restaurant. Although the Aries had small meetings space, there are other much larger conference venues in the vicinity, including Wisła, one of the largest 5-star hotels in the region. “The meeting in our facility was a great opportunity to present the full potential of the hotel and its possibilities for organising unusual events,” said Pavel Skochilas, director of Aries Hotel & Spa Vistula. With Poland moving up to 17th place in the latest ICCA rankings, there is clear evidence of the growing importance of the Polish meeting market. In terms of the Silesian Voivodeship, the primary city in the region is Katowice, which provides excellent air lift from the Katowice-Pyrzowice International Airport (KTW). Silesia also boasts the largest metropolis in Poland and its cluster of several cities are inhabited by 2.2 million people. The industry legacy is evident, but so is the region’s revitalisation of post-industrial spaces. The region is now one of the greenest areas in Poland. Silesia Convention Bureau recently published a report on the supply side of the business events market in the region, the first study of this type in Poland, so is obviously keen to make its mark underground and overground to attract and service event organiser needs. The study was carried out by the Research and Development Center of the University of Economics in Katowice in co-operation with the University of Physical Education in Katowice. Both universities are members of the Silesia Convention Bureau consortium. The next stage will be to examine the demand side of the business events market. The bureau has also prepared a programme, Green Silesia – designed as a study visit for event planners and tour operators. It includes forest activities and more heritage-based outdoor activities. Whether your conference is industrial or post-industrial in nature, Silesia could provide the perfect and undiscovered backdrop. There is a rich meetings seam to be mined for sure. [su_image_carousel source=”media: 2055916,2055915,2055914,2055913″ limit=”49″ slides_style=”photo;” controls_style=”light;” crop=”none” align=”left” max_width=”700″ dots=”no” target=”self”]