Invited speakers

Prof. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose is the Princesa de Asturias Chair and a Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. He is the Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre LSE and was Head of the Department of Geography and Environment between 2006 and 2009. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Innovation Research, University of Stavanger, Norway.

• He has been President of the Regional Science Association International(RSAI) (2015-2017) and served as its Vice-President in 2014. He was also Vice-President (2012-2013) and Secretary (2001-2005) of the European Regional Science Association.
• He has a long track record of research in regional growth and inequality, fiscal and political decentralization, institutions, discontent and populism, innovation, migration, and development policies and strategies. This research has been frequently used by policy- and decision-makers, acting regularly as advisor to international organizations and governments.

Prof. Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz is Full Professor of Geography at the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland). Member of the University Council and many scientific boards and associations. His research interests include economic geography, location of economic activity, organisation and dynamics of socioeconomic space, regional and local development, urban and regional policy. He participated (and still participates) in several international research projects (including those implemented under Horizon 2020 EU programme). He authored or co-authored more than 300 publications (edited, among others, by Wiley-Blackwell, Ashgate, Routledge, Edward Elgar, Springer) as well as many reports for policy-makers.

Prof. Lech Suwala is Full Professor of Urban and Regional Economics at Technische Universität Berlin, Germany  He is a geographer and economist, with working experience in both science and industry at the crossroads of regional economics, economic geography, and economics of urban and regional planning. His expertise includes family firms and regional development, spatial creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship research, as well as European and regional planning among many other topics. He held positions as a Visiting Professor for Geography and Spatial Management at Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland and Visiting Associate Professor for Innovation/Creativity Management at Ritsumeikan University Osaka (Japan), and Research Associate at the Institute of Economic Geography at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, among other positions. Newest (co-)edited books published are Key Concepts in Economic Geography (Schlüsselbegriffe der Wirtschaftsgeographie, in German, in press , UTB) and Family Firms and Regional Development (2021, Routledge).

PANELISTS:

Grzegorz Biedroń – a member of the local government since 1992, during this period he was, among others, arrangements of the Mayor of Limanowa and the councilor of the City Council in Limanowa. Long-term Director of the Complex of Educational Institutions in Słopnice, and in 2016-2018 President of the Krynica-Żegiestów S.A. Spa. Since January 2019, the President of the Małopolska Tourist Organization.

Continuously since 2006, he has represented the inhabitants of the Limanowa, Sądecki and Gorlice counties in the Sejmik of the Lesser Poland Voivodship. Chairman of the Regional Development, International Cooperation and Promotion Committee and member of the Audit Committee of the Commission for Cooperation with Poles and Polish Diaspora Abroad and the Carpathian Strategy Committee.

Involved in the preparation of Tourism Development Directions for Małopolska and the Małopolska 2030 Development Strategy for the Małopolska Region, vice-chairman of the Małopolska Information Society Council, member of the committee for the development of the “Voivodship Spatial Development Plan”.

As the vice-chairman of the Program Council for the Development and Promotion of Tourism in Małopolska, he actively participates in the cooperation of local government officials, tourist entrepreneurs, the scientific community and industry organizations operating on the tourist market in Małopolska.

As the president of MOT, he effectively promotes the brand of Krakow and Małopolska abroad, and at the same time fights to protect the interests of the tourism industry. Its activities include cooperation with many state institutions and entities related to tourist services, such as: Polish Tourist Organization, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.

Since 1981, he has been certified as a Beskid guide. He is a long-time tour leader and a lover of the mountains – especially the Beskids and Tatras.

Jan Błoński – has been working in the hotel industry for twenty years. He has extensive experience in managing hotels and increasing their operational efficiency. He joined Louvre Hotels Group in November 2012 as the manager of the Campanile Kraków hotel. Since 2017, he has been the Regional Director responsible for South of Poland in terms of optimizing financial results, ensuring the quality of services provided, supporting and motivating hotel teams, complying with network and industry standards and procedures, and cooperating with investors of hotels operating under the Louvre Hotels Group brands, both managed by the chain and franchised. In 2019, he is a member of the categorization committee evaluating hotel facilities in the Malopolska Region. A graduate of the Pedagogical University and the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, participant of training programs of the École Supérieure Internationale de Savignac and the Paris business school ESSEC.

Sylwia M. Groszek – spokesperson / Vice-President of the Management Board of PSNiT. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University and postgraduate PR school at the Institute of Journalism of the University of Warsaw. She has been associated with the ski industry for 16 years. Even before the establishment of the industry organization Polish Ski and Tourist Stations, she was responsible for the organization of the annual, nationwide conference of ski resorts. She belonged to the strict founding group that formed the seeds of PSNiT until the creation of the organization in 2009. Initiator and originator of the pro publico bono – SAFE STOK project.
In 2013, she was awarded the honorary badge “For merits for tourism”. It tries to introduce the industry to international structures (NSAA, FIANET) as well as to initiate a debate on the development of the industry and show the directions of development of ski and tourist resorts that appear in Europe or in the world. An advocate of dialogue and cooperation in every field. Currently, it is introducing two new industry products industry magazine as well as a portal for tourists POLAND WINTER.