Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tourism enterprises, as main actors in the
'new' market had to consider their own eco-
nomic goals in a wider context. Traditional and
modern demand-management policies have
run alongside each other. Satisfying the
demand for holidays abroad has met the needs
of Polish tourists, but it has not contributed
much to the national or regional economies.
The need for national tourist products and
socio-economic development has called for a
new approach to tourism policy aiming at
improvement of the quality of services and utili-
zation of the national and regional potential for
innovation in tourism. On the basis of regional
and tourism development strategies, many
regions are now seeking new tourism products
in order to provide meaningful incentives for
Polish and foreign tourists to visit these areas.
Poles to visit the regions of their country and to
generate more income for them.
The complexity of tourism products is indi-
cated in some tourism strategies in Poland but
therearemanyobstaclestobeovercomeinimple-
menting development. Tourism businesses prefer
to sell flexible products which can be cheaper
than complex ones and can find clients relatively
quickly, usually without considering the fact that
foreign tourists prefer complexity. It has to be
pointed out, therefore, that market success for
Polish tourism depends on a change of attitude
on the part of tourism managers (and tourists
themselves, perhaps).
Public-private partnership: a means of
tourism development?
Public-private partnership (PPP) in tourism has
received little attention from Polish writers
(Oszoro, 2000; Marciszewska and Miecznikowski,
2003; Zysnarski, 2003; Marciszewska, 2004b;
SDTPV, 2004), and the discussion has been
largely based on foreign literature. According to
Linder (2002, p. 26) there are at least six distinc-
tive uses of the term, each invoking certain pre-
mises about the relevant problems to be solved
and how best to solve them.
Taking into account that:
partnership as power sharing can alter
business-government relations in fundamental
ways [and] . . . as a management reform,
partnerships are promoted as an innovative
tool that will change the way government
functions, largely by tapping into the discipline
of the market.
Selected Features of the Tourism
Sector in Poland
The institutional structure of the tourism sector
in Poland is intended to complement the
macro-scale market economy. The Department
of Tourism is an integral part of the Ministry of
the Economy and undertakes many initiatives
on behalf of government, that foster partnership
in tourism, including common market research,
seminars, restructuring and educational reform
in the tourism sector.
Tourism policy-making in Poland is framed
in terms of guardianship of the resource base.
The concept of sustainable development is a
major plank of the Polish tourism strategy as
developed by the Ministry of the Economy. This
indicates that the government is both concerned
about safeguarding the future of tourism and of
future generations of the Polish nation. Tourism
policy is thus intended to be socially compatible
and economically rational.
Unfortunately, little attention is paid to
tourism market control in Poland. Tourism
demand is therefore generated by those who
wish to go abroad for their holidays, while
regional and local tourism products suffer due
to the small number of visitors out of season.
Currently, the Polish regions look to more
profitable foreign rather than domestic visitors.
Intervention by the regional authorities can be
a means of encouraging greater mobility of
(Linder, 2002, pp. 31, 26)
PPP applied to the tourism sector in
Poland has the potential to bring the following
social and economic benefits:
improve quality of services for tourists;
integrate tourism promotion abroad;
develop new tourist products based on the
attractiveness of the country;
improve managerial skills of employees in
the sector; and
improve the quality of education for the
sector.
Membership of the EU has required a new
service quality which tourism enterprises have
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