10th edition of FPT – summary

This is the tenth time that the tourism industry has had the opportunity to meet during Tourism Promotion Forum. Over two hundred participants had the opportunity to listen to debates, expert duets, promotional duels and presentations of speakers. This time, the exceptional, anniversary edition took place in the Orientarium in Łódź. 37 experts from Poland and abroad appeared on stage, including deputy ministers of tourism from Bulgaria and Cyprus.

Orientarium is the newest tourist attraction in Łódź, where the fauna and flora of Southeast Asia will be presented. Modern pavilions and the largest water reservoir, which is 2.5 thousand m3 and its depth - 6 m. Orientarium will be part of the Łódź ZOO.

The forum was divided into three sessions:

1. International promotion of tourism.
2. Promotional organizations and tourist business and infrastructure.
3. Different faces of tourism promotion.

The invited experts included ministers of tourism from various countries, heads of ROT and LOT, representatives of Polish tour operators, representatives of hoteliers and air carriers, and many other people associated with the broadly understood tourism industry.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the entire tourism industry has joined in helping refugees. Everyone who could help in any way got involved. Some began organizing transport, others accommodation. It all began with the rapid creation of the Tourism Ukraine initiative, which brings together practically the entire tourism industry.

About the promotion of national tourist organizations in Poland

First the pandemic and now the war will have a significant impact on tourism throughout Europe. Hence, during the first debate, the speakers discussed the promotion of national tourism organizations in Poland. Among other things, issues related to building the country's image were raised. Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Sport and Tourism in Poland, took part in the debate.

"Based on the current pandemic and geopolitical situation related to the war in Ukraine, the main challenge for us is to build the image of Poland as a country attractive to tourists, safe, friendly, with a rich tradition and history," said Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism.

The future of ROTs and LOTs

In the second session on tourist organizations and tourist business and infrastructure, the topic of suspending work on the new tourist promotion act was raised at the beginning. Will further talks on reforms of the POT-ROT-LOT system still make sense? Similarly, talks on the introduction of a tourist fee are not being continued at the moment. The Act on the "new order" also does not include any provision on a tourist fee. So what is the future of ROTs and LOTs? Why is there no local tourist organization in every commune? Our experts from various tourist organizations tried to find answers to these and many other questions.

There are no new threads in this section. The subject has been discussed for several years. The Warsaw Tourism Organisation, together with the Forum of Regional Tourism Organisations and metropolitan LOTs, presented its position in 2018. The issue of the tourist fee that should be included in the new act was best summed up by Izabela Stelmańska - president of the Mazovian Tourism Organisation: "Indeed, the fee should be introduced and it should also be mandatory. It should also go to where people actually work for the development of tourism, i.e. mainly to regional and local tourism organisations".

The second session ended with a debate on involving airports in the promotion of tourist destinations. Every day, there are thousands of travelers at airports, whose eyes are drawn to the advertisements of many tourist destinations. Travel agencies, airports, airlines, tourist organizations, cooperating with each other, are able to jointly promote a given destination and increase the number of travelers. The following people discussed this: Piotr Burwicz, Vice President of Rainbow, Michał Fijoł, Member of the Board for Commercial Affairs at PLL LOT, Piotr Henicz, Vice President of Itaka, Tomasz Kloskowski, President of the Management Board of Lech Wałęsa Gdańsk Airport, Dariusz Kuś, President of Wrocław Airport, Agnieszka Szymerowska, President of the Wrocław Tourist Organization (WROt) and the Convention Bureau – Wrocław, Barbara Tutak, president of the Warsaw Tourist Organization.

In her speech, the president of our association said:

"Our stand launched at Okęcie Airport builds a good experience of staying in Warsaw. In addition to supporting a positive image, it has a utilitarian character because through the QR codes placed on it, it provides practical information needed by tourists who have chosen Warsaw as their travel destination.”

The topics of the remaining panels included:

– attempts to answer the question; “How to include regional and local spirits in the promotion of the country?”

– the help that the tourism industry provides to refugees from Ukraine. We subscribe to the words of the President of PHH, who said that there is no one in Poland today, in the industry, or among private individuals in the industry, who would not get involved in helping in some way. We observe this on our own Warsaw soil.

An important part of the Forum program were presentations.

– Maciej Maj, President of Openfield, Wiola Samborska, Director of CEE Hydropolis presented the results of the study “The Role of Women in Polish Tourism”.

– CEOs of tour operators and airlines presented their new offers regarding outbound and domestic tourism.

source: Your Tourism and own study.