With the contract ending and the summit organization publicly expressing its dissatisfaction with a series of supposed inefficiencies in the capital (such as the lack of slots for private jets, something denied by the Government, or accommodation costs), other countries are beginning to position themselves to host the Web Summit in Lisbon. Poland was one of the first to publicly declare that it is in the race, announcing that it is already in negotiations with the organization to host the annual meeting after 2028, the year in which the contract signed between Irishman Paddy Cosgrave’s company and the Portuguese State expires.
A week ago, in statements to the PAP agency, Polish Digitalization Minister Rafał Rosiński said that Warsaw is in negotiations with the Web Summit organization to “transfer it from Lisbon to Poland”. This “involves certain costs, but I think it is worth it”, said the minister. However, he assessed the expenses as “high” and said that, in addition to the Polish capital, the Government will be considering cities such as Krakow and Gdansk.
“We are the largest country in Central Europe, the most innovative and the fastest developing from the point of view of startups. From our perspective and that of the organizers, it would be a very attractive location”, explained the minister.