Polish cities ready for tourists

For several days now, hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions across Poland have been adapting to new regulations and returning to business. Polish cities taking part in the #CityWillWait campaign are no longer waiting, and are ready to safely welcome returning tourists. That is why the campaign will continue under the slogan #CityIsReady #JestemGotowi.

The readiness to safely receive tourists and guests means to be or not to be for many entities in the tourism industry. Moreover, according to April research conducted on behalf of the Polish Tourism Organization (POT), despite the current restrictions, 30 percent of Poles are planning at least one tourist trip in the coming weeks, including overnight stays.

Their tourist information points have been adapted to the new rigors and have already opened in Gdańsk, Warsaw, Kielce, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Sopot, Poznań, Olsztyn and Toruń. In the latter, the first foreign guests appeared on May 14 and came from… Mexico (they had been in Poland for a long time).

This proves how important the advisory and promotional support provided by local city and metropolitan tourist organizations or the relevant departments of city offices is. One of the initiatives in this category was the #CityWillWait campaign. A positive message and cooperation proved to be the key to success. Every day, photos and videos with a characteristic colored frame and hashtag could be seen on social media. They reminded residents and tourists about the most interesting places and attractions that can be visited after the easing of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. It started with Gdańsk (the originator of the campaign), Łódź, Poznań and Warsaw. Lublin, Olsztyn and Toruń soon joined, and shortly after that Sopot, Kielce, Opole, Kraków, Szczecin and Gdynia joined. Today, there are 13 cities - united, supporting each other and working together. Thanks to the support of the media, information about the campaign reached 1.4 million recipients, and other cities started to join the campaign that has been ongoing since the beginning of April.

The campaign also gained recognition abroad. It was included in the catalogue of good practices "An ECM Guide to Sustainable Recovery", published by European Cities Marketing - a European network of over a hundred cities.

The initiation of the process of defreezing the economy in Poland has prompted the cities participating in the initiative to continue it, but under the new slogan #CityIsReady and #JestemGotowi. This time, the emphasis will be on promoting already available tourist attractions and safe forms of spending free time in the cities participating in the campaign. The POT research cited at the beginning indicates that in the near future, interest in resting in the bosom of nature will dominate. However, it is worth recalling that green areas constitute about 1/4 of the area of Poznań and Gdańsk. In Toruń and Olsztyn, it is 30 percent, in Gdynia 47 percent, in Warsaw 42 percent, and the record holder is Sopot with a result of 60 percent.[1]. The natural potential is enriched by the cities' access to the sea (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot), rivers (Warsaw, Toruń, Kraków), lakes (Olsztyn, Poznań, Lublin), forests and parks, and geological reserves (Kielce). These proposals will become a natural complement to the city's tourist offer, based on cultural heritage, and in many cases the activities of the MICE sector (fairs and congresses). This can become an impulse for the development of sustainable tourism and micro-tourism. Trips to these places are facilitated by the functioning bicycle rental systems.

You can find out which cities are ready to welcome tourists and what they have to offer on their websites and social media channels:

More information:

[contact details]

Gdańsk Tourist Organisation: Ewa Stolarek: ewa.stolarek@visitgdansk.com

Warsaw Tourist Organization: Magdalena Świderska-Harrison: magdalena.swiderska@wot.waw.pl

Local Tourist Organisation in Toruń: Magda Tierney, biuro@lottorun.pl

Lublin City Hall, Tourism Development Office: Marcin Kęćko, mkecko@lublin.eu

Kielce City Hall, Sports and Tourism Department, Piotr Głowacki, piotr.glowacki@um.kielce.pl

Sopot Tourist Organization: Alicja Kaczorowska-Rohde, a.kaczorowska@visit.sopot.pl

Krakow City Hall, Tourism Department: Monika Moskwa, monika.moskwa@um.krakow.pl

Gdynia City Hall, Promotion and PR Department, Katarzyna Mysiak, k.mysiak@gdynia.pl
Lodz Tourist Organization: Hubert Koper, hubert.koper@lodz.travel

Olsztyn City Hall, Promotion and Tourism Office: Ewa Szemplińska, szemplinska.ewa@olsztyn.eu

Opole City Hall, Promotion Department: Łukasz Śmierciak: lukasz.smierciak@um.opole.pl

Szczecin Shipping Tourism Events: Małgorzata Miszczuk: spokesman@zstw.szczecin.pl

[1]  https://biqdata.wyborcza.pl/biqdata/7,159116,25025157,fala-upalow-szukasz-schronienia-zobacz
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