Tourist plans of Poles in pandemic
Wpis dostępny jest także w języku:
polski
During the next holiday under the sign of the coronavirus, Poles no longer want to give up their trips. More than 62% are planning a summer holiday and three-quarters will spend it in the country, showed a study by the National Debt Register of the Economic Information Bureau “Poles tourist plans in the pandemic”. For many companies in the sector, this could be a chance to come to the rescue, as debt in the Polish tourism industry has increased by almost 30% since the outbreak of the pandemic.
According to a survey commissioned by IMAS International and conducted by Krajowy Rejestr Długow BIG SA, most Poles will take advantage of the holiday season and go on holiday this year. Most will choose a domestic destination (75%). Nearly one in six (17%) plans to vacation both in Poland and abroad, while 8% will choose to travel only to another country.
Destination: Poland
For more than a third of holidaymakers, the argument for spending their holidays in Poland is the ease of organising such a trip. Slightly more than one in four respondents declared that they always choose the domestic destination. A similar percentage indicated that Poland is safer than another country. In turn, 23% of those planning a holiday will spend it in the country to support the domestic tourist sector.
– The pandemic has intensified a kind of economic patriotism among Poles. We pay more attention to where our money goes and how we can help businesses affected by the crisis. This is an expression of solidarity, but also of thinking about what will happen after the pandemic. Without customer support, many places and businesses, including our favourites, could disappear. In the case of the tourism industry, for a long time its functioning was prevented or hampered by restrictions, which resulted in a significant increase in debt. This year’s holiday season will therefore be extremely important for them, as debts in this business reach 23 million zlotys – says Adam Łącki, president of the National Debt Register.
From the appearance of the coronavirus in Poland in March 2020 to the beginning of June this year, the debt of the tourism sector has increased by almost 30%. Tourist companies from the provinces of malopolskie (PLN 5.7 million), mazowieckie (PLN 4 million) and slaskie (PLN 2.1 million) and pomorskie (PLN 2 million) are the most in arrears.
Vouchers to rescue tourism
Poles are also encouraged to spend their holidays in the country by the Tourist Voucher. This benefit was indicated by nearly one in six people going on holiday (17%). According to the press office of the Polish Tourist Voucher Service and Promotion Branch, by June this year Poles had activated nearly 1.8 million vouchers and so far used PLN 440 million under the programme. Vouchers activated but not yet used amount to 900 million PLN. Within the framework of the programme a total of 3.5 billion PLN may go to Polish companies.
Apart from the Tourist Voucher, an extremely important aspect in making up for losses in tourism, but also in related industries, such as gastronomy, transport and hotel industry, is the course of vaccination. According to the results of the KRD survey, the inability to travel freely through covid restriction is inconvenient for 60% of Poles. For half of the respondents, the restoration of such a possibility for the vaccinated is an argument to accept the vaccine against coronavirus. For one in five, it is even one of the main reasons for making such a decision.
Of course, accommodation facilities are also counting on increased tourist traffic. This holiday Poles are most likely to book a stay in private accommodation (42% of indications). Every third holidaymaker will stay in a guesthouse, a slightly smaller group (30%) in a hotel. Every fifth tourist will choose agrotourism as their accommodation base.
We will not save on leisure
Poles are not going to tighten their belts on their longed-for holidays. Most, 38%, will spend between 1 and 3 thousand PLN per person on this year’s holiday trips. A similar percentage of respondents (37%) will spend slightly less – in the order of more than 500 PLN to a maximum of 1,000 PLN per head. 12%. spend more than PLN 3,000 per person on holidays.
– Not everyone will be able to afford holidays this year. Among those who are unlikely to decide on a summer holiday, the most common reason is the lack of money (36%). Almost one fifth prefer to put the amount aside. The fear of coronavirus infection is also still strong, mentioned by one in four of this group. Just as often, the reluctance to go on holiday is due to fear of crowds and crowds after the lifting of restrictions on tourism – said Adam Łącki, president of KRD. Other reasons for cancelling a trip also included higher prices during the holiday season (18%) and restrictions on tourist attractions and travel (16%).
Pandemic’s impact on tourism
The National Debt Register also asked Poles about their plans to travel once the epidemic situation has stabilised and restrictions on travel and tourism services have been lifted. The majority, nearly 69%, of those surveyed said they would return to travel and travel as much as they did before the pandemic. Almost 13% after experiencing lockdowns appreciated the opportunity more and want to travel ore than before Covid-19. However, in opposition to this attitude is a very similar percentage of respondents (11%) who were discouraged from travelling by the pandemic. Almost 8% do not intend to travel at all.
