It took me some time to pronounce the destination. Lodz, Łódź in Polish. As we Dutch would say ‘Lotsz’ but here in Poland, we pronounce it like Woodssz.

Have you ever been to Lodz?

When I told Polish people that I would cover Lodz during my tour, I noticed some different facial expressions and received different reactions. This made me even more curious because, on purpose, I didn’t do any research upfront, I wanted to explore the city without any expectations. I wanted to create my own opinion.

When I arrived at Lodz at the camping as the only guest, I was welcomed by a friendly lady who looked a bit surprised when I said that I was alone. She explained to me that I can only stay for 2 nights because the camping closes for a private party on Friday. That’s remarkable for a camping but it is what it is, and said that I will leave on Friday before 10 am, as she asked me.

An intense day in Lodz

The next day Jakub from the Lodz Convention Bureau created a full schedule to show me all the ins and outs of his city, starting with breakfast in the Tobaco Hotel, where he worked for a couple of years. No better start the day with a good meal and I needed energy for the full day, starting at 8 am and going around in the city, capturing the impressions for at least the next 12 hours in a row.

The team of Tobaco Hotel joined us for breakfast and showed us around. This gave me already the first impression of the industrial influence of the city.

Orientarium ZOO Lodz is a hit!

The next stop was the Zoo where they opened the Orientarium including large meeting rooms and facilities for groups, which is a huge added value for the city. One of their biggest asset for the destination to position themselves as a business destination.

Post-industrial heritage

After we drove to the Vienna House hotel in Lodz.

A 19th-century factory turned into a luxury hotel

What a stunning hotel. Again here, the industry heritage is visible in every part of the hotel, which I love. This was, by the way, the only place I googled before arrival. I must say in reality it looks even more fabulous than in the pictures.

The sales manager showed us around and finished the visit having an interview with the general manager of Vienna House Andel's Lodz. She's a huge ambassador of the city and very passionate about her work.

The last visit before lunch. I’m still confused by the different ‘food’ times here in the country. Lunch is the most important meal and starts late, like today at 14:30. This is common. So in case you do business, make sure you had a good breakfast, so you will have energy. Something I still need to get used to, and that after 2 months ;-).

EC1 City of Culture

I was lucky when I entered EC1 City of Culture, there was an exhibition going on, just business as usual.

It's a huge area including a postindustrial congress venue which host numerous exhibitions like science, science for kids, planetarium and under construction film industry and comics industry. Next this area is still growing and expanding and is just behind the main train station.

Creativity and art

Finally, at lunch, my battery was a bit empty. Robert, the colleague of Jakub, joined us for lunch. That’s something I appreciated so much and learned from Christophe, his love for good food. It was lovely weather and we sat outside on the terrace of Winoteka Restaurant, talking about the challenges and opportunities of the city, and sharing my first impressions of Lodz as a MICE destination with the team.

Something that I found really interesting in Lodz is that there’s a huge community of startups with the focus on art and creativity. As you know I’m a fan of the startup community and mentality which I would love to integrate in our industry. I wouldn’t associate this city with creativity but due to its industrial character, the history and the presence of many students (60.000), it gives a different twist to the city.

At the end of the day, I had a nice conversation with the community manager Anna who showed me around in their event space of the Art Inkubator. 

We walk around in the city and finished our day at Dinner at OFF Piotrkowska Center - the first post industrial area opened for citizens and tourists.

After a long day, many conversations, impressions and information I was tired, information overload. Jakub brought me back to the camping at 9 pm where I started to get my camper ready for departure for the next day.

Just another day in Poland…..

At 6 am I woke up from noise around my camper. I was surprised and thought it will go away. But then I thought… no, this is not happening. The camping has a private party today and what do they need, exactly a party tent. And that tent needs to be set up not even 1 meter from my camper? Then I heard a Polish man laughing and saying welcome to Poland.

Why is this happening to me? I looked outside my window and saw a group of workers started to build a huge tent. No sleep anymore and got out of my camper, the men were spotting my reaction and said friendly Dzien Dobry and laughed. But again I saw they were a bit surprised that I was just alone, especially when I drove away, just an hour later. 

Sharing knowledge and experience

Later that day I parked my camper in the city center and gave a presentation in the Puro Hotel. I shared my personal story and information about B2B influencer marketing, and I challenged my audience. I wanted to receive their input on what we can do to change the image of Lodz in general, and in relation to the current situation in Ukraine.

It was great to hear what kind of information the audience had because I do believe that collecting the knowledge and experience of several, local and international people is one of the best ways to find solutions.

My thoughts about Lodz

I can honestly say that Lodz is a totally different destination, sometimes you don’t feel that you’re in Poland in case you would compare the destination with Wroclaw, Poznan or Warsaw. Lodz has its charm and it’s huge industrial legacy and that makes the destination stand out from the others. It’s definitely unique in Poland.

Yes, and I’m not going to hide it, the city has a lot of work to do. For example, maintenance on the roads or some parts of the city need a makeover. But I do see the progress made in the past years and the huge potential for the years to come. First of all for the national market but also for the international market. Indeed, it’s a 1,5 hours drive from Warsaw airport so not ideal for international groups. But on the other hand, sometimes you have to make an effort to create a special experience and surprise your client.

Then it was already time to say goodbye to Lodz, a very short but intense visit. Thank you Lodz Convention Bureau for your support and for being a guest in your city.

Up to my last destination in Poland, Krakow.

PS entrepreneurs, looking for a new idea? Create a new camping near the city of Lodz!

Photo credits: Jakub Rosly

#MariskaJourney Partners