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01.05.05, 20:05
FAIR PLAY
Cover Story: Fair Boom
By Michal Jeziorski
28 January 2004
Targi Kielce (Kielce Fair) holds more than 25 trade fairs annually. The year
2003 was in many respects a record year for the Kielce fair center. Targi
Kielce recorded a major increase in trade-fair space rented and a growth in
the number of exhibitors.
For the first time in the history of the Kielce fair center, rented space
reached 60,000 square meters in 2003 and was more than 30 percent larger than
in 2002. The number of exhibitors increased by more than 10 percent. Most
important, the number of foreign exhibitors grew by 25 percent over 2002. All
this makes Targi Kielce the fastest growing trade-fair center in Poland at
the moment.
"We estimate that the share of Targi Kielce in the Polish trade-fair market
increased by several percent in 2003 in terms of space rented and the number
of domestic and foreign exhibitors," said Tomasz Raczyński, president of
Targi Kielce.
The largest, most prestigious trade-fairs organized in Kielce include the
International Defense Industry Show (MSPO), the Autostrada-Polska
International Road Construction Fair, the Plastpol International Plastic and
Rubber Processing Fair, the International Metal Fair, the Agrotech
International Agricultural Technology Fair, the Sacroexpo International
Exhibition of Church Construction and Equipment, Religious Art and Items of
Worship, and the Transexpo International Public Transportation Fair.
Plans call for introducing two new specialized fairs in Kielce. The
infrastructure of the Kielce fair center permits the organization of
technologically advanced events. The Plastpol fair features machines for
processing plastics under a normal production cycle, and energy consumed by
this machinery over three days is equivalent to the amount consumed by a city
of more than 10,000. Overall, specialized industrial events targeted at a
specific audience-professionals in a given sector-have been the most
successful in Kielce, also in financial terms.
Targi Kielce offers 30,000 sq m of area in exhibition pavilions and more than
60,000 sq m of open exhibition space. As the only center in Poland, Targi
Kielce has a special site for the dynamic presentation of heavy-duty
construction machinery and military equipment.
The exhibition grounds are being continually modernized. Investment in fair
infrastructure in 2003 exceeded zl.2 million. Investment projects primarily
included thorough modernization of pavilions A and B, with the laying of a
modern floor to cover power, water, sewage and Internet wiring at all points
of the pavilion, construction of a high-standard restaurant/conference center
and thorough modernization of the Exhibitor Service Office. An identical
flooring system has been used with success for several years in the largest
exhibition center in Switzerland-in Geneva.
In 2004, investments to the tune of more than zl.4 million are planned.
Another pavilion with an area of 5,500 sq m will be completely modernized and
restructured. It will be equipped with top-quality air-conditioning, new
exhibition infrastructure and a restaurant complex.
Targi Kielce looks into 2004 with optimism. Raczyński says it has for years
been focusing on the international aspect of its exhibitions. "In this, we
see a chance for the development of the company," he says. "Poland's
accession to the European Union will be a new landmark for Polish fairs. We
count on increased interest in the Polish market among companies in Western
Europe. The burden posed by customs barriers-which for many smaller companies
abroad were until now a problem when it comes to making a decision to join a
trade-fair-will be reduced. The gradual introduction of the single currency
will also make business easier. On the other hand, competition will arise in
the Polish trade-fair market from fair centers in Central Europe, especially
Germany, but also the Czech Republic."
