Warsaw Tourism Organization
we bring the industry together
We are a public-private association, established upon initiative of the Warsaw Municipality. The Warsaw Tourism Organization brings together all entities operating in the broadly understood tourism industry in Warsaw (tourism organizers, event agencies, hotels, conference venues, institutions of culture, restaurants, etc.). One of the main activities of our Association is supporting the promotion of Warsaw as a tourist and MICE destination by developing various tourism products together with the Association’s Members. WOT’s structures include also the Warsaw Convention Bureau which is responsible for attracting international congresses and conferences to Warsaw.
Culinary Warsaw
Warsaw has undergone a true gastronomic revolution over the last couple of years, becoming a frequent destination of culinary travels. The culinary offerings of our city have already been described by foreign media such as Forbesor the influential blog HappyCow Vegan Guidewhich in 2017 ranked the Polish capital at the top of most vegan-friendly cities.
Responding to this strong trend, the Warsaw Tourism Organization prepared in close cooperation with the city’s Marketing Bureau a premium publication entitled “Culinary Warsaw 2018” [Warszawa kulinarna 2018], which for the very first time has presented the Warsaw’s gastronomic scene – from milk bars, through cult market halls and unassuming bistros, to high-end and starred restaurants. Currently, 15 restaurants are among the members of the Warsaw Tourism Organization.
Restaurants recommended by the Warsaw Tourism Organization:
Cultural Warsaw
Every month there is more than 100 cultural eventstaking place in Warsaw. Institutions of culture in Warsaw offer a rich program of exhibitions and accompanying events, often of international nature. In view of this, the Warsaw Tourism Organization launched a project called “Cultural Warsaw” [Warszawa Kulturalna].
The project makes use of any new and fresh idea, but is also based on employing the existing and proven solutions in promoting this field, such as:
- the “Visit a museum after work” [Odwiedź muzeum po pracy] folder presenting Warsaw’s institutions of culture associated in WOT and their cultural and event-related offer;
- the “Visit a museum after work” [Odwiedź muzeum po pracy] Facebook profile page targeting the industry, but also the people of Warsaw perceived here as potential ambassadors of Warsaw and the city’s tourist offer. We use it to publicize the current exhibitions and events taking place in museums and galleries associated in WOT. Together with our partners, we organize competitions and various promotional activities to disseminate the news of Warsaw museums’ offer to an even wider audience.
A part of our Cultural Warsaw project was also creating a leaflet called “Discover Warsaw Museums” to enable mutual recommendations between our members who are the Warsaw’s institutions of culture. Our goal here was for the tourists and guest to these venues, while visiting them, to learn that they could also go and see other sites located at a specific distance from the place where they are now.
Education and Development
Fostering the long-term and sustainable development of Warsaw tourism, WOT has been working with local higher education schools in various educational projects and undertakings to develop professional competence of the industry personnel and professionals of the future. In cooperation with Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Academy of Finance and Business Vistula), and the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, we run the projects detailed below.
If you are a school of higher education, a business, or another entity, and are interested in cooperating with WOT in a similar manner, please contact us at office@wot.waw.pl.
Training tourism and hospitality personnel and professionals of the future
Frigate (Free Gate) is an innovative project based on proven research tools, aiming at developing the offer of schools and other educational institutions for the youth and adults to match the expectations of local employers, and in this way to facilitate pursuing a career in this field.
We invite to this project only the most prestigious employers from the leading industries, including the tourism industry. Their feedback will inform the projects and programs run by the Warsaw Municipality, and serve as the basis for modifying the teaching programs in Warsaw schools in accordance with the needs of the employers and the labor market.
In June and July 2018 we had the first meetings to determine the needs of the employers from the tourism industry (hotels and tour operators), and to eliminate or mitigate the problems encountered when trying to hire fully competent employees. The meetings were attended by Marriott and Accor hotel chains’ representatives and selected DMCs’ representatives.
The next stage will see the guidelines being developed for teaching curricula at vocational schools with professional profiles outlined for the most demanded professions, such as a waiter, a chef, and a receptionist. Working meetings between the representatives of vocational schools and the hotels will take place every month, so that the jointly proposed solutions could be implemented in 2019.
The idea to establish an information sharing platform, effectively enabling the employers to affect the education policies, came from the Warsaw Municipality, and the “Industry Survey of Employers’ Needs” has been completed by the Warsaw School of Economics, with Warsaw Tourism Organization serving as a partner for the entire project.
Sounding board for academic teaching curricula
Together with the University of Physical Education in Warsaw we plan to conduct, on a regular basis, industry consultations concerning the educational program undertaken by this university, so that this program matches the requirements of the dynamically changing market as well as possible. The nearest consultation session is planned for February 2019.
Student practices and traineeships
Detailed information for WOT members about the opportunities to work in that area with the students from the Warsaw School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Academy of Finance and Business Vistula) will be released soon.
Expert professionals sharing their knowledge and expertise
Through WOT, all Warsaw schools of higher education offering tourism-, hospitality-, and gastronomy-related courses can invite experts and professionals from the local industry to share their knowledge and expertise with the students during guest lectures and workshops.
Study visits to Warsaw facilities
WOT is also always keen to help organize study visits of the students of Warsaw higher education institutions with hospitality-related courses to hotels and conference venues.
New products for revitalized Praga
The project New products for revitalized Praga [Nowe produkty dla rewitalizowanej Pragi] was inspired by a study prepared by the Warsaw Municipality entitled “Integrated Revitalization Programme of the capital city of Warsaw until 2022” which is a continuation of revitalizing activities included in the “Local Revitalization Programme of the capital city of Warsaw for the years 2005–2013”.
The mission of the “Integrated Revitalization Programme of the capital city of Warsaw until 2022” is to level the playing field for all districts of Warsaw by creating and initiating key revitalization undertakings in the priority areas and by coordinating selected policies of the Warsaw Municipality in the crucial areas.
The overall goal of the project is to revive these crucial areas in terms of their social and economic activity. Another major goal is to develop the tourism, culture and sports in those areas based on local identity and cultural heritage.
The shared objective of the New products for revitalized Pragaproject is to prepare, in effect of cooperation between various industries and sectors (local government, institutions of culture, tour operators and tourist attractions organizers, hotels, and local associations), the concepts for products which on the one hand would enable effective touristic development of Praga while utilizing its huge cultural and social potential, and on the other hand would support the revitalization program implemented by the Municipality and would counter such negative phenomena as gentrification or the so-called “overtourism”.
Upon a joint initiative of the Warsaw Tourism Organization and the Office of Architecture and Spatial Planning at the Warsaw Municipality, the workshops were held to work out the concepts for new tourism products for Praga in Warsaw.The workshops followed the service designmethodology, which enables creating innovative products and services focusing on customer experience and satisfaction, as well as on the optimization of services in line with the priorities of the implementing organization. During the workshops each participant had an opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences, which spurred some creative ideas in the first part of the event to be then transformed into specific product concepts.
These concepts are available for viewing here (document available only in Polish) – only for WOT members.
Another stage of the project will comprise the implementation tests conducted by the willing members of our Organization. The results of this test implementation will then be assessed, and selected products will be included in the Warsaw tourist offer.
All WOT members willing to run such implementation tests of the jointly developed concepts are welcome to get in touch with us!
Stopover in Warsaw
Project’s objective:
- Making the tourist offer accessible to the long-haul flight passengers for whom Warsaw is just a stopover along their route and who would not otherwise take advantage of the city
- Increasing airline attractiveness
- Boosting the number of visitors to Warsaw
Partners:
PLL LOT (project initiator), Port Lotniczy Okęcie, Warsaw Tourism Organization, WOT members – tour operators, tourism organizers, attractions, restaurants, museums, galleries
Note: The project can be executed with involvement of all interested partners.
The project sets out to design a number of tours aligned with selected flight schedules that would be accessible to PLL LOT passengers who have a transfer in Warsaw lasting at least a couple of hours (but no more than 24 hours). The Warsaw Tourism Organization invited its members to come up with such tour ideas. In effect of the discussions that ensued, the project has been modified – following a number of meetings with all interested parties, AB Poland Travel was selected as the project coordinator to hold further talks with the national carrier on behalf of all other WOT members interested in participating in this project. In parallel, WOT’s Board of Directors met with PPL Okęcie representatives who provided their data on the transit traffic at the Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport. Further developments in the project will be notified as they happen via newsletters, mailing campaigns, and our Association’s website.
Leisure
MICE
Newsletter WOT
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Contact us at:
Warsaw Tourism Organization,
ul. Podwale 13
00-252 Warszawa,
tel. 22 656 69 90,
office@wot.waw.pl
NIP [Tax no.]: PL 5252530970
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Program Committee:
- Deputy Chairperson: Paweł Moras, City Hall of Warsaw (Stołeczne Biuro Turystyki)
- Vice Chair: Loretta Neufeldt-Ziemba, Orbis S.A
- Vice Chair: Bogdan Wieczorek, Supertour
- Committee Member: Kamil Dąbrowa, City Hall of Warsaw (Biuro Marketingu Miasta)
- Committee Member: Piotr Cieśliński, City Hall of Warsaw (Biuro Rozwoju Gospodarczego)
- Committee Member: Michał Kurek, Warszawski Uniwersytet Kulinarny
- Committee Member: Aneta Popiel – Machnicka, Fundacja Belle Epoque, Muzeum Domków Lalek, Gier i Zabawek
- Committee Member: Rafał Patla, Adventure Warsaw
- Committee Member: Davide Odella, EXPO XXI Warszawa
The operations of the WOT’s Program Committee are supported by the WOT office.
Our team:
Mateusz Czerwiński
President of the Board
A graduate of the Institute of Contemporary Culture at the University of Lodz. Started working in the meetings industry in 2008 on-board several MICE agencies, organizing conferences and incentive events both in Poland and abroad. One of the first people in Poland to infuse the events he organized with the solutions proposed by the sustainable events standard BS 8901. In the Warsaw Convention Bureau since 2010, he is responsible for planning and delivering Warsaw’s marketing activities as a meeting destination, communicating with foreign clients, supervising the studies of the local MICE market, and cooperating with the Warsaw scientific community. In 2015-2018, a director of the Warsaw CvB at the Warsaw Tourism Organization. From June 2018, he serves as the Vice-President of WOT.
Barbara Paszkowska
Office manager
A Polish Philology (editing and media major) at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University graduate. She gained her experience both from advertising and media agencies, and from international financial corporations. In Warsaw Tourism Organization since 2013. Now in charge of the office management, working with the Board of Directors and the Program Committee, and cooperating with the Association’s members.
Filip Płodzień
Head of Tourism Promotion and MICE
A graduate of the Jagiellonian University – Faculty of Management and Social Communication. He also completed postgraduate studies 'Modern Promotion’ at the Warsaw School of Economics and 'Territorial Marketing – Promotion of Development of Regions and Cities’ at the University of Warsaw. He has been involved in tourism since the beginning of his professional career, and has gained experience in the national tourism organization. Since March 2020, he is part of the Warsaw Convention Bureau team.