Travel plans of Poles – POT survey

From May 4, hotels and accommodation facilities will be able to reopen while maintaining precautions. A survey conducted among tourists on behalf of the Polish Tourism Organization shows that over 30 percent of Poles want to go on a short trip in May or June. A new factor has emerged that is decisive for trips: increased hygiene standards.

Among the most important factors usually taken into account when organizing trips, a new one has appeared, related to the current epidemic situation - the introduction of increased hygiene standards by the facility. This factor is important for 82% tourists, including half of them (41%) - very important. Therefore, The Ministry of Development, together with the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, has prepared guidelines for hotels, facilities and guesthouses, allowing them to function during the pandemic. These activities are related to the second stage of defrosting the economy, in which the government decided to open hotels, accommodation services and some tourist attractions from May 4.

― Our goal was primarily to increase the safety of employees and guests of tourist facilities during this difficult time. We want to stimulate the industry and enable it to operate during the epidemic. We are convinced that opening the accommodation base, while maintaining good practices and precautions, will allow the tourism industry to earn money again, ― said Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Development.

Poles are hungry for travel. According to a study commissioned by POT, as many as 30% of Poles are planning a tourist and leisure trip with at least one overnight stay in the next few weeks. As many as 87% of them want to travel around Poland – most often to the mountains (34%), the seaside (27%) or the lakes (16%).

― This allows us to look optimistically at the prospects of this year's holidays and is certainly a good forecast for the tourism industry. Domestic tourism will be the first to recover. The Polish Tourism Organisation, in order to reinforce this positive message and help Poles avoid coronavirus infection, will launch a campaign promoting safe travel around Poland on 4 May, added the president of the Polish Tourism Organisation, Robert Andrzejczyk.

The simultaneous opening of some tourist attractions, including museums and other cultural sites, will also be of great importance for tourism. In a study commissioned by the Polish Tourist Organisation, as many as 78% of respondents pay attention to this. The vast majority of tourists, 64%, will choose paid accommodation facilities, while 16% intend to visit family or friends.

The survey was conducted on April 22-26, 2020 by ARC Rynek i Opinia sp. zoo, on a representative sample of Poles aged 18-64; 1,030 respondents.