Air transport accessibility in business tourism destinations in the COVID-19 pandemic – A Central and Eastern Europe perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the role and indicate the changes caused by the pandemic in the differentiation of the level of air transport accessibility for meetings in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Using a network analysis of air connections between the selected largest airports in Central and Eastern Europe (over 1 million passengers), the accessibility of the most important cities in the meetings industry was investigated. The research is based on data sources (Eurostat, Scyscanner.com, International Congress and Convention Association – ICCA reports) in pre- and post-COVID times. The analysis is based on seven cities that host the largest number of association meetings. The study identifies three key observations: slow recovery of lost organizational powers, qualitative changes in the processes of meetings organisation, which is connected with the third conclusion – the dominant position of Warsaw as a regional hub for meeting participants in this part of Europe.

Keywords

• meeting industry
• MICE
• air transport
• air accessibility
• COVID-19 pandemic