Dorota Wojciechowska, the organisations tourism director, on the destinations exciting plans to engage with the travel trade and what British tourists can expect to look forward to on their next trip.
Poland Tourism Organisation?s tourism director sat down with Travel Bulletin to talk about all things Poland, engagement with the travel trade, as well as her own personal favourite spot to holiday in!
Plans for 2022
In 2022, the Polish Tourism Organisation (PNTO) will be focusing on promoting city breaks to well-known cities such as Krakow, Warsaw, Wroc?aw and Gdansk as well as lesser known cities such as Lublin, Poznan, Katowice and Kielce. We would like to show Brits the rich culture and diverse culinary experiences on offer in our cities. Each city gives tourists a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in a one -of-a-kind experience. We will also be continuing our online presence by running digital marketing campaigns across our social media channels, working closely with media, bloggers, influencers and travel agents. The pandemic has shown us the importance of the internet in a customer's buying journey.
As a public body, we are at the beginning of this journey and our role is to inspire and educate both the general public and travel agents. Poland has a lot of traditions that won?t be found anywhere else in the world and that tourists can look forward to this year. Most of them stem from relics of pagan culture or folk traditions (sometimes combined with religious observances), like Drowning of Marzanna ? an effigy of the wintry Slavic witch-goddess associated with plague and death or pouring water on strange people on Wet Monday (Easter Monday). It is said that if you don?t wake up early on Wet Monday, you will be awoken by having water poured on you. This happens all over the country.
Agent engagement
The PNTO has always been open to work with the UK travel trade. As a result of the pandemic, over the last two years we have had to replace study tours with webinars and e-meetings. In 2022, we would like FAM trips to be taking place again. We feel that now is the time to start travelling again and want to educate the UK travel trade by inviting them to visit Poland. This year, we will also be participating at the WTM.
Where is your favourite spot to holiday in Poland?
Definitely the Malopolska region, which is located in southern Poland with Krakow as its capital city. This is one of those places where you can have both a city and nature break in one. There is no need to convince anyone to visit Krakow, as the city is nothing short of spectacular. In terms of nature, there is rafting on the Dunajec River which is not the type of rafting where you?re holding on to the boat for your dear life, but rather a leisurely day on the tranquil Dunajec river in the Pieniny National Park, or visiting Zakopane ? Poland?s best-known mountain resort, famed for hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
