Warsaw vs. COVID-19. The capital's tourism has lost as a result of the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit tourism hard, including in Warsaw. Last year, compared to 2019, the number of tourist arrivals in the capital shrank by two-thirds, although the effects of this decline on the city's GDP were not as drastic, according to a report by the Warsaw Tourism Office. 

From January to December last year, Warsaw recorded 3.3 million tourist arrivals. This is 6.8 million fewer than in 2019. The largest drop – as much as 75 percent – concerned foreign tourists. In the period under review, they made only 700 thousand trips to Warsaw. Domestic tourist traffic, on the other hand, decreased by 64%: from 7.3 to 2.6 million.

In the year of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the collapse of tourism occurred in the second quarter. Although a rebound was noted in the summer due to the easing of epidemic restrictions - especially in the case of domestic tourists - by the end of the year, with the second wave of infections, the number of arrivals dropped significantly again.

Where did the tourists visiting Warsaw come from in this special year? The vast majority, almost 80%, were Poles, which confirms the trend of choosing nearby destinations due to restrictions on tourist traffic. Among the foreign guests, the most visitors were from Germany (over 20%), Great Britain (18%) and France (9%), with a large proportion of them being people of Polish origin.

More and more attractions

The Old Town was consistently considered the biggest attraction by both Poles and foreigners. However, in their assessment, tourists from Poland and abroad only agreed on the first place in the ranking of attractions. The podium among domestic tourists included Łazienki Królewskie and the Palace of Culture and Science, while foreigners distinguished the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Royal Castle.

The attractiveness of the city is growing year by year. Not only Warsaw itself has more and more new places worth visiting, but also the entire metropolitan area. In 2020, you could take advantage of the attractions of the largest indoor water park in Europe, located just 50 km from the center of Warsaw, or visit the modern headquarters of the Józef Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek.

What does tourism give to the city?

According to data developed in cooperation with the Warsaw Tourist Office by Mastercard, in 2020 tourists spent PLN 5.8 billion in Warsaw – mainly in places related to retail, gastronomy and fashion. Among foreigners, the most was definitely spent by the British (especially Londoners) and among Poles – by Krakowians.

Due to the pandemic, the estimated contribution of the tourism economy to Warsaw's GDP (taking into account, among other things, tourist spending) amounted to PLN 12.9 billion - PLN 36% less than in 2019. The decline could have been more severe if it were not for the fact that a significant part of the services included in the tourism economy - for example, transport or catering - are also used by residents.

Despite the industry being frozen for a large part of 2020, estimated investment in tourism in Warsaw – including transport, culture and accommodation – reached PLN 7.1 billion and increased compared to 2019. 7 new hotels were opened, and the accommodation base increased to over 50,000 beds.

As Paweł Moras, director of the Warsaw Tourism Office, emphasises, the past dozen or so months have been an exceptionally difficult test for cities around the world. – Fortunately, in Warsaw we are already seeing positive signs of a return to normality: more and more visitors from both Poland and other countries are visible on the streets. We hope that the next report will be much more optimistic, although it will undoubtedly take the industry several years to return to equilibrium – adds Paweł Moras.

The annual report "Tourism in Warsaw" has been published for the sixth time. The entire report can be downloaded at https://wot.waw.pl/wiedza/

Source: Warsaw City Hall