Newstrack

Polish specialist programme to be launched for the trade

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

Rafal Szmytke

The Polish Tourist Organisation has announced plans of setting up a Polish Specialist Programme to educate the travel trade in India about Polish products and the potential of developing tourism in the country. This is the first time that the country has expressed interest in the India outbound market. Under the specialist program, PTO plans to invite select tour operators to Poland, as well as educate Polish tourist operators about the specific needs of Indian clients. A delegation comprising Rafal Szmytke, president, Polish Tourist Organisation and Emilia Kubik, project manager, was present along with the consul general, H E Janusz Bylinski as well as Polish tour operators in Mumbai where they discussed the potential of investing in the Indian market.

The country is very keen on selling new destinations within Poland, including the Baltic Sea, Lower Silesia, Masuria, as well as the winter capital Zakopane and the salt mines of Krakow. Kubik commented that Indians were one of the best tourist clients, in terms of spending capacity and that the government was improving its investments in shopping malls and palace-converted hotels in the region to further woo tourists. Besides looking at family and FIT travellers, the salt mines in Krakow hold convention centres that could be popularised for MICE activities.

Poland had 16 million visitors in 2007 and the contribution of tourism to the GDP of the country was six per cent. "There is growing Indian investment in Poland, particularly in the film industry as well as the resident Indian community there," said Bylinski. Poland's inclusion in the Schengen visa agreement in December 2007 is an added benefit to tourists who can use the country as a good gateway to other EU nations. Presently, LOT Polish Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa offer good connections between the two countries. Said Kubik, "Poland is the perfect place for Indians who seek new destinations."