The coronavirus pandemic has had a drastic impact on Krakow’s tourism industry. Will Krakow ever return to the pre-pandemic level of tourism? The city authorities prepared the document “Krakow’s sustainable tourism policy for 2021-2028”, which is to answer this question and what will the tourism policy look like in the coming years.
Pandemic = collapse of tourism
Due to the pandemic, there was a collapse in tourist traffic in Krakow. Foreign tourism has practically died down, and the Krakow airport is recording drastic drops in the number of passengers. Pre-pandemic tourism and the idea for the future are described in over a hundred-page document on tourism policy for 2021-2028. It was prepared by the Tourism Department of the Krakow City Hall. The document is ready and the councilors will take care of it soon. If adopted, it will become the basis of the city’s official tourism policy.
What is the document all about?
“The program was ready before the pandemic, but it had to be verified and adapted to the current situation. We hope that after the pandemic is over, we will start rebuilding tourism in our city, so as to regain its important role in the socio-economic life, not to overgrow the tourist function in the future, while increasing the quality of services and the quality of life of the inhabitants” – emphasized Elżbieta Kantor in the autumn, director of the Faculty of Tourism.
Like many documents of this type, it is full of clerical phrases and specific language. What is striking is the fact that it was only the shock in the form of a pandemic that forced Krakow’s authorities to look at the problems that residents have been reporting for years, such as depopulation of the center, which has been appropriated by tourists, or loud, drunken night-time “tourism“.
Krakow tourist statistics were on the rise (pre-pandemic times)
Krakow has always boasted about growing tourist statistics. In 2019, the city was visited by approximately 14 million people, including over 3 million foreign guests. At that time, tourists left PLN 7.5 billion in the city (compared to PLN 6.48 billion in 2018). Tourism in Krakow was primarily about quantity, not quality. What officials pay attention to in their study.
“The structure and development trends in the tourism market until 2019 and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic indicate the need to change the approach to the development of tourism from quantitative to qualitative, without throwing inhabitants and space (especially cultural heritage) from a state of relative balance” – reads Krakow’s sustainable tourism for the years 2021-2028 ”.
The situation was analyzed before the pandemic. The authors point out that tourism is an important part of the city’s GDP, but not the dominant one. In 2016, tourism was responsible for 8% of the city’s entire GDP. It is estimated that tourism creates 29,000 jobs in Kraków permanent jobs, and at the peak it generates over 40 thousand. The share of the tourism economy in employment in the entire economy of Kraków exceeds 10%.
Mainly foreign tourists spend the night in Krakow
Mainly foreign tourists use the accommodation base in Krakow. In 2019, as much as 95.5% of them stayed in Krakow for at least one night. In the case of domestic tourists, it was 66.9%.
Rooms and apartments for rent offered as part of the global Booking or Airbnb portals, are very present in Krakow. The problem is that many of these short-term rental places are not officially reported anywhere. Which doesn’t mean they’re not reported. Nevertheless, it is difficult to determine their total number. However, in 2020, in the database of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in the records of facilities providing accommodation services, other than hotels and camping sites, in Krakow there were 1,646 facilities offering 32,181 beds, which is over 50% all accommodations in the city.
Short term rentals were also on the rise (pre-pandemic times)
A survey among residents from 2019 was also cited regarding their attitude to the increase in the number of short-term rental premises. Almost 80% agree with the opinion that short-term tourist rental allows residents to earn, and approx. 65% believes that it broadens the city’s accommodation offer. On the other hand, 50% agree that the development of such a lease is conflicting, and almost 60% state that it causes depopulation of districts and should be subject to interference by city authorities.
The growing role of business/congress tourism
The officials’ study also drew attention to the growing role of business and congress tourism. In 2019, the Krakow meetings industry took 48th place in the world and 29th in Europe. In 2019, 8,400 business meetings were held in Kraków, 78% of which were domestic. The largest share (over 2/3) was constituted by congresses and conferences, which were over 5.6 thousand. Corporate and incentive events were ranked second (over 2.6 thousand).
Krakow’s tourist offer, which enjoyed the greatest popularity until the pandemic, is the so-called city break (short weekend stay), congresses and conferences, religious tourism. The most competitive area of Krakow tourism is gastronomy, and the most attractive is medical tourism.
Types of tourists visiting Krakow
The program includes an interesting analysis of the “type” of tourists coming to Krakow, indicating which tourist is the most desirable. So far, three groups have been the most numerous: the purist of culture and art, the weekend conformist, and the banal hooligan. The last tourist is most often noticed by the resident – loud, often drunk, focused on cheap entertainment, not exploring the city.
Looking for Homo Consumens
From the city’s point of view, the most desirable tourist is the creative homo consumens. As we read in the study: He is not only a passive addressee of the offer created by the city but also acts as an active participant in the market and acts as its reviewer. Until now, however, this type of tourist was poorly present in Krakow.
The study focuses on the so-called night economy, where it was emphasized that the most desirable attractions should be sophisticated and advanced entertainment, which, based on the traditions of the city and its cultural potential, may generate significant income for municipal institutions. However, the dominant element of Krakow’s city nightlife is the so-called simple entertainment.
On this occasion, there is also a statement that “looking at the administrative decisions of the authorities as the only means of fighting the pathologies of nightlife is a naive approach”.
The study highlights the process of gentrification that affects the Old Town most acutely. It was emphasized that this process began there after 1989, but that it was not directly caused by tourism.
Recommendations for Krakow’s tourism policy
The plan for Krakow’s tourism for 2021-2028 contains a total of 9 recommendations for its implementation. Reconstruction of inbound tourism to the city is to take place, among others through:
- increase in management efficiency,
- integrated marketing communication,
- support for the commercialization of the offer of local entrepreneurs,
- mitigating conflicts of interest and values.
As we read in the study, “the challenge for Krakow in the process of rebuilding tourism is the management of the place, taking into account the commercialization of the offer, integrated marketing communication, mitigating conflicts between residents and visitors (or between various groups of competing service providers), regulation of access to selected zones considered to be tourism, and tools for acquiring financial resources, organizational structures, as well as skillful involvement of residents in the provision of services for visitors ”.
Restoring the tourism will take several years!
The tourism plan for 2021-2028 explicitly states that the collapse of tourist traffic due to Covid-19 is a huge risk for entrepreneurs in the form of a lack of revenues, costs, and debts. The study states that the process of restoring tourism will take several years.
Among the many recommended activities are:
- Initiating and creating innovative package services based on the cultural and sports offer and events, taking into account all attractions and values of Krakow and Małopolska as well as premium products, including in cooperation with the Małopolska Tourist Organization.
- Support for the development of public and private investments with a potential for the reception of tourist traffic and the ability to diversify.
- Partnership of the local government with the tourism sector in the implementation of promotional activities on emission markets.
- Cooperation with global booking portals in the field of knowledge exchange, promotion and respect for the city’s identity as a historical center.
- Management of special areas and cultural parks in the spirit of sustainable spaces and services.
- Supporting solutions that improve the quality of guide services, including in special areas.
- Development of legislative solutions for the protection of the urban landscape with the participation of the tourism sector.
- Jointly building a competitive congress offer of the city, its promotion and lobbying with the use of the most effective marketing tools, e.g. a congress package, the Polish Congress Ambassadors program.
- Concentration and commercialization of unique events (including exhibitions, festivals, etc.) with a prestigious national and international rank.
- Creation of a platform for information and commercialization of the offer of cultural institutions and events.
- Engaging creative industries and non-tourism services.
- Increasing the integration of tasks of other municipal institutions (Krakow Film Commission, Krakow Festival Office) with the tourism economy.
The preparation of the document was preceded by diagnostic analyzes. Research was also carried out on the attitudes and expectations of residents, and during the pandemic, an interview with entrepreneurs regarding their economic condition and proposals for measures to rebuild tourism in Krakow.
The entire document on Krakow’s tourism policy for 2021-2028 is available here (102 pages long and in Polish language, mind you!)
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug
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