One of the largest travel planning platforms Expedia to move its office to Vilnius for a week

British Telecommunications (BT Group) and Expedia’s UK branch are both temporarily moving their offices to Vilnius this September thanks to the Workation Vilnius programme. The two major UK companies, together with Danish startup OrderYOYO, represent the winning teams. These companies will delegate teams of up to 10 people who will arrive in Vilnius in September, and will combine work and leisure here. The Workation Vilnius programme initiative gives winners a chance to get to know and appreciate our city.

‘Vilnius is increasingly discovered by foreign investors. We are glad that thanks to the Workation Vilnius, more sectoral business representatives will have a possibility of knowing Vilnius: in September we are going to have experts in travel technology and telecommunications and restaurant management services from the United Kingdom and Denmark. We will try to do our best to leave a great impression on them, and who knows, Vilnius may be their next choice in terms of business development’, says Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius.

‘Vilnius is in tough competition with other European cities to attract investment. In the beginning of May, we invited foreign companies to come over here and see for themselves how business and leisure go hand in hand in the city. We are glad that the first attempt has been a great success – almost 100 companies from around the world took part in the initiative, with the UK and Sweden taking the lead. We are looking forward to the arrival of companies that have won the competition. They will be provided with the best match between work and leisure’, said Inga Romanovskienė, Director of the Vilnius Tourism and Business Development Agency Go Vilnius.

The winning companies were evaluated and selected by a panel of judges from the Municipality of Vilnius and Go Vilnius, the city’s official development agency.

Winners – business leaders from Europe and the world

The Workation Vilnius programme provides a possibility for the winners of checking the potential of the city not from dry reports but through commuting to the office, dining in the city and getting to know the community of Vilnius. We hope that the experience of Workation Vilnius will help participants to understand how a modern and green medium-sized city is superior to the overgrown metropolitan areas in terms of transport services, work and leisure. We are sure that different teams will find different, but nevertheless, the best sides of Vilnius!’, said Mantas Katinas, Managing Director of Invest Lithuania.

The BT Group will be the first to arrive in the capital. The largest telecommunications service provider from the UK wants not only to work in Vilnius but also to find ideas for innovations in Lithuania. They will be working in Vilnius from September 3 to 9.

The startup OrderYOYO from Denmark offers innovative restaurant management services that allow you to order food online and through e-applications. A greatly appreciated company has recently gained 5 million EUR investment. The company wishes to test-drive Vilnius 10-16 September.

On 24-30 September, Vilnius will be enjoying the stay of Expedia’s branch from Great Britain. It is a US capital global company, and one of the largest travel technology platform that manages over 200 travel reservation websites and over 150 mobility reservation sites. More than 22 thousand employees work in 30 countries, and in the first quarter of this year, the company’s revenue amounted to 10.4 billion US dollars.

Businesses from all over the world have expressed wish to explore Vilnius

The geography of business representatives who wanted to explore Vilnius in this way was very wide: 31 country. Most applications were from European countries, but companies from South and North America, Australia, Middle East and Far East were also active in applying.

One of the companies decided to participate in the project to check our city as a possible venue for the mission, while others in the application said they wanted to explore Vilnius, its atmosphere, to get to know people and culture. Some of them were registered by Lithuanian-born workers, who thus sought to promote Lithuania and its capital.

The package of the Go Vilnius programme offers to the participants up-to date sharing co-office space Monday Office in business centre Green Hall 2, central accommodation, social and leisure programme. The foreigners will know Vilnius not only through the windows of the office but also from the air balloon or kayak, exploring Vilnius Old Town with the guides, meeting with the mayor and other businesses.