Tourism direct GDP (2024) | Tourism direct employment (2024) | Travel exports (2024) |
|---|---|---|
2.6% of total GDP (same share as in 2023) | 2.0% of total employment (same share as in 2023) | 11.9% of total service exports (down 1.9 percentage points since 2023) |
OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2026
National tourism strategy: forthcoming
Responsible government agency: Ministry of Tourism and Sport
National tourism budget: PLN 114.9 million (2024)
Key tourism policy priorities and actions:
Developing an integrated, long-term tourism strategy - Working with key stakeholders to create strategies across 12 specific subsectors of tourism and developing the National Tourism Strategy.
Supporting tourism data and digitalisation – Building and maintaining the Tourism+ data portal and the system of Public Registers on Tourism.
Improving resilience to climate change – Revitalising degraded national parks and nature reserves in regions of tourist importance and the promoting solutions to support eco-tourism and sustainable tourism.
Tourism is an important driver of the Polish economy. In 2024, the tourism sector was estimated to be worth PLN 173.2 billion and to have generated 4.8% of the country's GDP (including direct and indirect revenues). The accommodation and food services sector employed 144 100 people in full-time equivalent jobs, an increase of 5.3% compared to 2023. Travel exports amounted to PLN 56.0 billion, accounting for 11.9% of total service exports in 2024. In nominal terms, this was a decrease of 11.2% compared to 2023.
In 2024 the number of international overnight tourists reached 19.7 million, an increase of 3.9% compared to 2023. Germany remains the largest source market accounting for 32% of international arrivals, followed by Ukraine (18%), the United Kingdom (5.5%) and Belarus (3%). International arrivals increased by 8.6% to 21.4 million in 2025.
Domestic tourism remains an important part of the sector. In 2024, the number of domestic tourist trips reached 52.9 million, including 21.4 million long-term trips (more than 4 overnight stays) and 31.4 million short-term trips (1-3 overnight stays), which was 1.3% higher than in 2023.
The Ministry of Sport and Tourism is responsible for the management, legislation, and regulation of tourism in Poland. The Ministry also supervises the Polish Tourism Organisation, which is responsible for the marketing and promoting of Poland as a tourist destination, as well as developing and operating the Polish tourism data system. The Polish Tourism Organisation has tourism offices in 16 established and emerging markets, and co-operates with tourism organisations and other entities involved in regional tourism promotion and development. Due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the work of the Polish tourism office in Kyiv has been suspended.
At the regional level, tourism development is the responsibility of regional and local governments. Poland’s 16 Regional Tourism Organisations and 124 Local Tourism Organisations co-ordinate between local and voivodeship (i.e. regional) governments and representatives of the tourism sector. The joint activities focus on developing tourism products and the tourism data system, consumer marketing, national and international promotion, and the development and modernisation of infrastructure.
The Tourism Expert Council was reactivated in September 2025, acting as an advisory and consultative body for the Minister of Sport and Tourism. Its key tasks include providing advice on proposals to support the tourism sector, strategic consulting, and initiating activities to foster digitisation, sustainable development, and innovation.
The State budget for tourism in Poland is increasing. In 2024, PLN 114.9 million was allocated to tourism, including PLN 88.2 million for the Polish Tourism Organisation. This represents an overall increase of 4.2% compared to 2023 when the budget for tourism was PLN 110.3 million and the Polish Tourism Organisation received PLN 84.5 million.
Source: OECD, adapted from the Sport and Tourism, 2026.
The ‘Report on the State of Tourism Economy in Poland and the National Tourism Policy goals until 2030 with an Outlook until 2036’ was drawn up in 2024. This report allowed Poland to better understand the key tourism subsectors and future policy goals. Poland is now intending to develop 12 specific subsector strategies with the participation of non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders to make up its lead document, the National Tourism Strategy. The subsector strategies will be based on the following themes: meetings, international conferences and events; hotels, restaurants and catering; the Poland Brand; nature; cycling; spa; organised and packaged tours; water; culinary; rural; horse-riding and cultural tourism. The National Tourism Strategy will propose solutions for innovation, improving quality of human resources, sustainable development and the country’s promotion.
Poland also has the ‘Management Strategy for Integrated Marketing Communication in Tourism until 2030’, developed by the Polish Tourism Organisation. The goals of the Strategy include increased visibility of Poland as a tourist destination, effective management of marketing communication, professionalisation of promotional activities, an increased focus on market segmentation, co-operation with regions, sustainable development of tourism, and increased support for innovation and digitalisation. The Strategy integrates communication and promotion activities for government, tourism organisations and stakeholders.
Digitalisation of the Polish tourism sector, including the development of public statistics for tourism, and investment in solutions based on AI, Big Data and virtual and augmented reality, is a key priority. The ‘Tourism+’ web portal was launched in 2024 to monitor f tourism trends and develop data-driven tourism policy. The system of Public Registers on Tourism provides reliable information to allow tourists and tourism professionals to verify legally operating accommodation facilities. In addition, a new project has been funded to utilise these databases and others to monitor the size and direction of tourist flows using AI (see box below).
The green and digital transformation of tourism, including adaptation to climate change are necessary to increase tourism resilience and sustainability. For Poland, this includes practices like the decarbonisation of tourism, promotion of sustainable forms of tourism and circular economy practices, investing in the blue and green economies and building infrastructure that is resilient to extreme weather conditions. Other areas of focus include supporting eco-labelling, providing sustainable mobility solutions and utilising digital technologies to better manage resources and optimise customer experience.
In 2024, the Polish Tourist Organisation co-ordinated the 'Poland is ECO' project to promote and disseminate the principles of sustainable development and pro-ecological behaviour. The best European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) were promoted using the National Tourist Portal and social media. Workshops, training sessions and presentations promoted the concept of an eco-friendly lifestyle and work in tourism. A promotional project on Cooperation-Innovation-Sustainable Tourism aimed to raise public awareness through discussions, debates and the exchange of good practices on the implementation and development of sustainable tourism at many levels. Between 2023 and 2024, conferences were organised in each of the 16 regions of Poland, with reports developed for each, promoting branded tourism products that implement the principles of sustainable development and utilise the wealth of our country's natural assets.
Financing activities to protect national parks and nature reserves is needed to increase resilience to climate change and to promote eco-tourism, and to support pro-environmental and sustainable tourism activities. Poland intends to revitalise degraded areas in regions of tourist importance and promote solutions to support eco-tourism and sustainable tourism (e.g. cycling infrastructure and hiking routes within the ‘Tourism without Barriers”. Over PLN 6.5 million was allocated to this program from the Physical Culture Development Fund in 2023, followed by PLN 5 million in 2024, and approximately PLN 6 million is planned for 2025).
The issue of safety and security of visitors to Poland is a priority. The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which ran from 1 January to 30 June 2025, focused on enhancing European security. The slogan selected to represent Poland abroad is ‘Security, Europe!’. After the introduction of temporary restrictions in 2024, tourist interest in offers on Poland’s Eastern border declined. To help revive tourism and promote the region as a safe and attractive destination the Podlaskie Voivodeship Tourist Voucher was introduced. The voucher enabled domestic tourists living outside of the region to apply for accommodation subsidies.
In response to the urgent need to restore the functionality of tourist facilities in areas affected by severe floods in September 2024, the Tourism Infrastructure Reconstruction Programme (PLN 70 million) was launched to support investments to reconstruct or renovate existing tourist facilities and accompanying infrastructure that were damaged or destroyed by natural disasters. The reconstructed technical and functional solutions are required to meet modern safety and accessibility standards. The programme is aimed to effectively rebuild physical structures and restore tourism and recreation events in selected regions. The 'Programme to Counteract the Effects of the September 2024 Floods – Tourism Promotion of the Affected Regions' (PLN 2.5 million) aims restore the positive image of the affected regions through promotional activities that rebuild demand for tourism services.
Promoting attractive destinations also requires quality tourism products. The Tourism Support Programme provides financial and non-financial support for the development of digital services, communication and promotion, and to improve employee qualifications to enhance the quality of tourism services. The funding amounted to PLN 12.6 million between 2023-2025. Co-funding was provided for projects in the field of tourism, including the development and promotion of regional and active tourism, digital transformation, improving professional qualifications and implementing strategic activities such as increasing tourist safety during holidays in Poland (e.g. in the mountains and on the water). The Best Tourist Product competition is also organised to identify businesses that provide top-quality tourist services in accordance with current regulations.
Poland is working to utilise digital tools to better understand and monitor the tourism sector across multiple projects. The Tourism+ web portal, launched by Statistics Poland, is an innovative and interactive tourism data tool that allows policymakers to track changes, monitor trends and compare data at different levels of the country's administrative division. The portal combines data from official surveys, public statistics and booking portals. It has built in algorithms that can forecast changes in the use of accommodation establishments, monitor trends and help to plan tourism policy effectively. The Tourism+ portal is linked to the national System of Public Registers on Tourism, which also includes the National Register of Accommodation Establishments.
Another project aims to develop an IT solution, utilising advanced AI and algorithms, to help monitor the size and directions of tourist flows in real time, supporting sustainable tourism growth. The tool will pull information from the modernised register of accommodation establishments, booking systems, government and administration systems (including the Civil Aviation Authority), payment card transactions and mobile network data. The combined data will allow for the AI tools to make forecasts which can correlate with external data. The project will also help to measure the effectiveness of promotion tools and to develop instruments that stimulate the growth of tourism in Poland. In the future, the platform is expected to provide basic data on recommended investment projects.