Krakow’s Sustainable Tourism Policy for the Years 2021-2028
“I am lucky to live where others can only visit for a short time”
The second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland,
One of 12 cities in the world listed on the first UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978,
The European Capital of Culture 2000
UNESCO City of Literature and Creative Cities’ network
The European Capital of Gastronomic (2019)
The President of the Organization of World Heritage Cities OWHC (2019)
An international knowledge exchange platform Historical Cities 3.0
The document draws conclusions from the diagnosis before the pandemic, when one of the main challenges of the historic city was the growing and complex competitiveness and overtourism. With the decline in the role of the tourism economy in the pandemic period, it is necessary to propose a concept of activities for all local stakeholders, shaping the city’s policy and tourist attractiveness, maintaining a balance between the interests of various groups that make up the community, so as not to throw inhabitants and spaces (especially cultural heritage) out of a state of relative balance . The trends in the tourism market until 2019 and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic indicate the need to change the approach to tourism reconstruction. Management must respond quickly and effectively to the behavior and expectations of visitors in line with the concept of agile tourism, rebuilding the resilience of the tourism industry and its importance for the local economy and residents.
Sustainable tourism of a historic city is understood as a process in which the consequences of tourist behavior and business models of local service providers do not cause losses or hard-to-reverse changes to the carrying capacity, environmental space, and social and economic relations. Sustainable tourism is about shared responsibility.
Bearing in mind the situation during the re-opening of the economy and shortcomings of the pre-pandemic tourism industry, action must be taken in order to support local tourism businesses and tourism recovery. Areas where interventionism and protectionism are exercised must shift dynamically in time, depending on external circumstances, and will be determined on a case-by-case basis in project operating plans.
The strategic objective of the city’s tourism policy is to strive to achieve a consensus among the residents and local service providers in relation to development through tourism. The consensus should be manifested by acceptance by each group of stakeholders of the possibility to give up a portion of their own gains for the benefit of contributing to common values of the city, with the development of local economy planned in a sustainable manner.
The document explores nineactions that need to be taken by all local stakeholders in order to rebuild the tourist industry and maintain a balance between interests and attitudes of various stakeholder groups. The recommendations were developed on the basis of a diagnosis and social consultations, and were preceded by opinion surveys among the residents.
Recommendations:
