INTRO
“And the European Capital of Culture 2029 is the Polish city of Lublin!” – this announcement echoed across Europe as the Polish city secured the future title. Host cities in the past few years have proven to be more than cultural capitals but hubs for events and congresses. It seems they share a unique charm, atmosphere and desire to transform their urban landscapes with the help of creative industries.
The guiding purpose of the European Capital of Culture project is to showcase cultural richness and diversity across Europe. We could hardly find a city that fits the bill more than Lublin. The project also aims to connect various sectors across cities. We believe that should not be a problem in Lublin, as Mayor Krzystof Žuk, who has helmed the city since 2010, has facilitated many best practice cases across Lublin. The town is among typical examples of modern European Capitals of Culture: compared to larger European metropolises, it is comparably smaller but shares the same pan-European history. At the same time, it faces pressing locally specific yet EU-wide issues. Lublin edged out its competition with a refreshingly original and current theme dubbed RE:union. It addresses the topic of reintegration after disintegration driven by the crisis and the pandemic. More importantly, it aims to improve interpersonal relationships and write a new social contract based on inclusion, not exclusion. Lublin seems ideal for this dialogue. With the infrastructure already erected, we believe the activities for the upcoming European Capital of Culture in 2029 can commence today.
2016 – Simbolic year for the meetings industry in Lublin
– Opening of LCK – Lublin Conference Centre
– Opening of CSK – Centre for the Meeting of Cultures
NEED TO KNOW IN 2024
If and when someone mentions the meetings industry in Lublin and the surrounding region, two words are bound to surface: Lublin Conference Centre and the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures. The former is the engine that fuels the events industry in the city. With a dedicated 40-member team, the venue has been transforming Lublin from a relatively obscure destination to a recognisable meeting destination. Jointly with the neighbouring Centre for the Meeting of Cultures, the two venues have been blazing the trail in all segments of the meetings industry. There is always an ongoing event or at least a plan to host one in Lublin. That is partially the fault of Targi Lublin, the city’s busy exhibition centre.
The hotel scene in Lublin has been restless, too. Right before the pandemic brought the city to a grinding halt, Ibis Style Stare Miasto, complete with a smaller conference centre, opened its doors in 2019. The conference-oriented Focus Hotel Premium Lublin welcomed its first guests that same year. This year, the iconic IBB Grand Hotel Lublin underwent a thorough renovation. By the end of the year, IHG’s 150-key hotel Holiday Inn Express Lublin is poised to reopen with a new conference centre after a comprehensive revamp.
Lublin Convention Bureau formerly operated as part of the Lublin Conference Centre before being incorporated into the regional Tourism Organisation of Lublin. We strongly believe the convention bureau can drive Lublin’s breakthrough internationally, given the city is too frequently overlooked as a meeting destination.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lublin is a university hub, home to almost 60,000 students, including 9,000 Erasmus students from abroad. Students make up nearly 20% of the population. This youthful energy is contagious and omnipresent, giving Lublin a unique charm. Lublin has nine universities that cover 200 various courses. Moreover, the city is home to eight scientific research institutes. The most recent addition is the acclaimed Lublin Science and Technology Park. It is plain to see the city has tremendous potential to host international associations’ global conferences. We were left speechless upon learning that no PCO (Professional Congress Organiser) operates within this city with such potential for growth.
BEST INCENTIVE IDEA
In Lublin’s surroundings, you can find the quaint city of Zamość – a Renaissance town built on the principles of an ideal city, as envisaged by Leonardo Da Vinci. We warmly recommend visiting this renaissance outpost and advise that you write to Lublin-based event agency Challenge Box Group for teambuilding ideas. They are masters in team building programmes and have developed a unique incentive titled Vinci. This curated programme will acquaint your team with the life and works of the Italian genius. You can complement the game with a visit to the pentagon-shaped city. The programme is tailored for groups of six to 250 attendees. The innovative event agency has organised over 400 events and continues innovating its offering.
Find out more at www.challengebox.eu.
BEST KEPT SECRETS
Perla Brewery is the genius loci of Lublin, an icon of the city where they have been brewing beer since 1844 on the site of a formerly vacant monastery. For locals, the beer is more than a refreshing beverage. They take pride in the brewery, which has cultivated a sense of belonging. It is also synonymous with quality, and many avid beer drinkers state it is one of the best industrial-brewed beers far and near. Perla Brewery is one of the few independent breweries that the beer behemoths have not taken over. We were most intrigued by the brewery’s hidden, underground story unveiled in 2014. At their production site, you can walk through their underground facilities and explore the beer production in 20 rooms before savouring some of their best samples.
The underground adventure does not end at the brewery’s gates. The entire city is interlaced with underground tunnels you can zigzag through together with city guides. The 280-metre-long journey provides insight into the city’s storied past and tumultuous events, such as the devastating fire in 1719.
PERFECT GIFT
The urban beehive atop CSK’s terrace is one of the city’s most fascinating venues. The lush, bee-attracting plants and trees and the modern architecture pair seamlessly. The honey, diligently produced by urban bees, is of the highest quality, as recent expert analyses have shown. That is why we recommend you purchase a kilogramme of superb urban honey available exclusively in the CSK Culture Store.
COOL MEETINGS
Lublin was the centre of the Jewish community for centuries, earning itself the title of Poland’s Jerusalem and the Jewish Oxford. The Jewish minority represented a significant percentage of the city’s population. In 1602, some 2,000 Jews lived in a town of 8,000 inhabitants; in 1865, Jews made up 39.2% of the population. In 1931, that percentage settled at 34.6%. We heartily advise you to taste the cuisine from those past times in Mandragora Restaurant. We believe the food uncannily resembles the cuisine from the zenith of the Jewish community in Lublin.
LUBLIN, IN A FEW WORDS
The division of the vast Polish land into Poland A and B, largely unknown internationally, is rooted in history and the Vistula River. The border divides Poland into eastern and western parts. Lublin is the informal capital of Eastern Poland and, in our opinion, unjustly overlooked as one of Poland’s best destinations for mid-sized events. The compact town has superb meeting infrastructure, envied by far more renowned destinations. At the same time, it has retained the sincerity and flame other destinations have long lost. Ergo, hurry before your competition catches wind of this Polish gem.
NOTE: The MTLG Destination Update is not a paid advertisement. The Lublin MTLG Destination Update was prepared based on a personal visit of Kongres Magazine’s assessor in October 2024. Based on the evaluation, Lublin will be evaluated according to the Meeting Experience Index methodology. The MTLG evaluation will be prepared by the end of 2024.
Written by Gorazd Čad
