Web Summit, which has been attracting thousands of participants from all over the world since 2009, has been held in Lisbon since 2016. In 2018, the organizers signed an agreement with the Portuguese authorities, which assured the capital of organizing the event for 10 years. However, everything indicates that the contract will not be extended after 2028.
One of the reasons is the growing number of participants – this year's edition gathered a record 71.4 thousand. people. Lisbon venues such as Altice Arena and FIL have reached their capacity limits. Transport infrastructure is also becoming a problem, including the lack of sufficient places to land and park private jets. Additionally, according to information from “Puls Biznesu”, the organizers of the Web Summit may expect even higher fees from the future host than the current EUR 11 million per year, which may pose a challenge for Portugal.
The daily describes that this year representatives of Web Summit visited Poland, meeting with key stakeholders in Warsaw, Krakow and Gdańsk. The Ministry of Development and Technology (MRiT) confirmed that high-level talks took place and Poland is being considered as a potential host of the event.
“We see added value in the possible organization of the Web Summit event in our country – with the participation of other Central and Eastern European countries – in the near future,” said the press office of the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism in a response sent to “Puls Biznesu”.
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Warsaw seems to be the most serious candidate. The capital has a National Stadium that can accommodate nearly 60,000. people, as well as a well-developed accommodation base and convenient air connections. Nevertheless, adapting the stadium to the needs of Web Summit would require the construction of an additional congress center, for which – as Żaneta Berus, president of the Event Industry Association, reminds in an interview with “PB” – there has been a lack of funds for years. The cost of building such a facility in its shell state is estimated at PLN 3-4 billion.
At the same time, Lisbon will probably not give up without a fight and will negotiate conditions to keep the conference at home.
Web Summit – a magnet for technology leaders
Web Summit is an event that attracts an increasing number of participants every year, including technology industry leaders, investors and start-ups from around the world. Almost 2,000 people took part in this year's edition in Lisbon. investors and over 2.7 thousand start-ups. The speakers included: general manager of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team Toto Wolff, tennis champion Maria Sharapova and vice president of Microsoft Brad Smith.
More in “Puls Biznesu”.
