Starting in 2003, large-scale Warsaw trade fairs and expositions will take place in a new, modern fair center. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2000 on the Millennium Plaza Center, located at the corner of Jerozolimskie Avenue and Bitwy Warszawskiej Street, across from the Zachodni Train Station. The investor is a company formed this year by Warsaw's Centrum borough and the French company Bouyges. On the 7-hectare site a multifunctional center will go up. It will include a exhibition-congress center of 20,000 sq. m in area, two hotels, an office complex, a retail-serives area, parking for 2,000 cars and a shopping center. Currently preparation work on the enormous project is underway.

Warsaw doesn't have a genuine fair-exhibition center of European standard yet. Despite this, with each passing year it becomes a more attractive fair city. This is thanks to the large number of specialists in the capital, more than anywhere else in the country, an absorbent consumer market, the continuing construction boom in the capital, and the role Warsaw plays among the capitals of Central and Eastern Europe.

In the scale of events organized, Warsaw is second only to Poznań as the largest trade fair center in the country. During the year about 60 large-scale trade fairs and exhibitions take place here, and this number is growing. That is why all the available exhibition and fair venues available in the capital are used to hold these events.

Trade Fair Venues

Trade fairs are most commonly held in: the Palace of Culture and Science, the Mokotów Fair Center on Bokserska Street, the Torwar Sports Center on Łazienkowska Street, the Exhibition-Fair Center in Wólka Kosowska, and occasionally buildings of the Physical Education Academy, the Warsaw University of Technology, and hotels - the Victoria, Holiday Inn and Marriott.

The Palace of Culture is the favorite among exhibitors and the public and it fills the role of the capital and national congress center. The exhibition halls in the Palace do not possess the equipment typical of a fair center, it lacks the proper technical infrastructure, but the building has dozens of assets that make it an exceptionally attractive place to hold these types of events. Even guests who have come to Warsaw for the first time don't need to ask the way. The tallest building in the capital is located smack dab in the center, making it a major landmark. Excellent connections to all points in the city and country is assured by the neighboring Central and Œródmieœcie train stations, the WKD suburban rail station, the subway and numerous trams, urban and suburban bus stops. Both guests and exhibitors from outside of Warsaw have a more convenient stay thanks to the immediate proximity of 12 hotels.

Organizers of conventions and international gatherings at the Palace of Culture have the 5,000-seat Congress Hall at their disposal, as well as conference halls for 600, 400, 150 and 50 people, and smaller rooms for up to 20 people. The Congress Hall is equipped with an amplification system allowing simultaneous translation in up to eight languages. The Warsaw Congress Center occupies an area of 6,700 sq. m, and the entire area available for events in the Palace of Culture is 15,000 sq. m.

Exhibiting companies also choose the Palace of Culture because it is easy to advertise and hold promotional activities in the area around the building. A variety of accompanying events can be organized here like art exhibitions, fireworks displays, street-theater performances, etc.

In order to enlarge the exhibition area during the largest of trade fairs, temporary halls and tents are erected around the building. They can be seen during events like Instalexpo, the Tourism Fair or the Gas Station Fair.

Last year 33 national and international fairs and exhibitions were held in the halls of the Palace of Culture. In addition to that, 21 conventions, congresses and conferences with the participation of Polish and foreign guests took place in the Congress Hall, as well as 86 concerts.

Of all the Warsaw fairs, the Computer Expo attracted the most guests. It takes place simultaneously in the Palace of Culture and the Mokotów Fair Center on Bokserska Street. The Fair Center was built especially for exhibition purposes. It covers an area of 20,000 sq. m and is made up of a cross-shaped hall with parking for around 400 cars. The hall is steel-framed, 132 meters long, 32 meters wide and 8-9 meters high. A truck can drive into it for easy loading and unloading. Exhibitors also have at their disposal reception, office and restaurant areas and space for freight forwarders. The hall's structure permits unhindered arrangement of the exhibition area and freedom of use. Nowea International GmbH of Düsseldorf, the owner of trade fair sites, and the managing Robexpo Sp. z o.o. plan to expand the center.

After time off for refurbishment, the Torwar Sports Center reopened in fall 1999 for regular trade fairs and concerts. The fairs (e.g. musical and computer) are held on the main ice-skating rink, with an area of approx. 2,000 sq. m, in the spectator stands (for about 5,000 places) and in the training hall (660 sq. m in area).

With each passing year the tourism fair at the Physical Education Academy enjoys growing popularity. Some Warsaw hotels also serve as the venues for expositions and fairs, for example at the Victoria.

The Exhibition-Fair Center in Wólka Kosowska has been up and running for a couple of years now. It is located 8 kilometers past Janki, on the Warsaw-Cracow road. The center offers 5,000 sq. m of exhibition area. Beside it is an office building, housing the activities of companies from China, Hong Kong, Austria, Germany, Italy, India and Vietnam. In September 1998 a permanent exhibition of building materials and interior decoration was opened in an area of 2,000 sq. m. In addition, there is a customs warehouse, a hotel, parking, a bank branch and tennis courts all at Wólka Kosowska.

Among all the large Warsaw trade fairs and expositions 33 of them are of an international character. Regular fairs take place every month, though there are fewer during the summer.

These events all take place annually at approximately the same dates. The most popular of them are: the Computer Expo (in 1998 158,500 guests attended), the International Book Fair (in 1999 it had 45,000 visitors), and the TT Warsaw Tour&Travel (in 1998 there were 44,164 visitors). These three events were also leaders in terms of the number of companies exhibiting: Computer Expo (in 1998, 852 exhibitors, of them 327 foreign from 33 countries), the International Book Fair (in 1999, 800 exhibitors, of them 480 foreign from 35 countries), and the TT Warsaw Tour&Travel (in 1998, 453 exhibitors, 237 of them foreign from 34 countries).

Organizers

Some of the organizers of Warsaw trade fairs are:

• Biuro Reklamy S.A. - Warsaw Fair Management
• Miedzynarodowe Targi Polska (International Fairs - Poland) Sp. z o.o.
• Miejskie Centrum Targowe (Municipal Fair Center) Sp. z o.o.
• Doramm Targi Wystawy Promocje (Fairs Exhibitions Promotion)
• Oœrodek Postepu Technicznego (Technological Progress Center) NOT Sp. z o.o.
• Roboexpo Sp. z o.o.
• Centrala Handlu Zagranicznego (Foreign Trade Headquarters)
• Ars Polonia.

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