How has Euro2012 benefitted Polish tourism?

Hi

I have read conflicting reports on the numbers of tourists that EURO2012 has generated for the Polish Tourism industry. Living in Poland I have seen little or no effect on the rail/road infrasture caused by mass tourism although the Polish government as usual has hyper inflated the figures again. Before Euro 2012 the organisors were estimating over 700,000 people coming to Poland as a result. A report on Yahoo finance today paints a very gloomy picture. Nothing near the envisaged 'Barcelona effect'

ca.finance.yahoo/news/euro-2012-means-polish-ukrainian-232215028.html

If you take a look at the stadiums and capacities then only arount 700k tickets in total were sold for the games in Poland.

'Major tourist spending is expected to be a one-off. Official numbers put the number of foreign tourists visiting Poland for the euro 2012 at 820,800. out of whom 453.5 thousand will stay in Poland longer than one day.

But Janecki and Vntsibanov say the Polish press expect 200K - 250K to come from countries whose national teams are expected to play in Poland during the group phase and only expect them to spend 180 - 230 million zloty.'

Now lets see what the Polish government say...

Poland's organization of Euro 2012 will also bring about the so-called Barcelona effect, i.e. increase the tourist attractiveness of the country. Thanks to that effect, each year between 2013 and 2020 Poland may be visited by some 500k more persons than it would be the case in the "no Euro" scenario. Those visits are seen translating into extra revenues of PLN 5 bln in 2012-2020.

Right guys....what do you believe?

There's certainly plenty of visitors here in Warsaw. According to surveys, many said they'll return. Whether they will or not is a different matter.

This article expands upon the short report in Rzeczpospolita a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not going to translate it in full, but the following section is self-explanatory:

The second rating of EURO 2012 in Poland - research foreign fans

Very good organization , positive atmosphere , high level of security - the assessment of foreign fans group stage of Euro 2012 in Poland .

Fans and foreign tourists very much appreciate the group stage of Euro 2012 in Poland . This is the result of research conducted by PBS during the World Cup in Polish host cities of EURO 2012 92 % of respondents positively assess the atmosphere during the tournament , and 85 % very well talk about the organization of the Championships Poland. Ratings foreigners for EURO 2012 in Poland are better than the results of similar studies conducted during the EURO 2008 in Austria .

The research was conducted by PBS at 4 EURO 2012 Host Cities on 8 , 10, 16 and 18 June , in a total of 4000 people over 15 years old. Foreign fans and tourists were interviewed before, during and after the match. Over 60 % of them were for the first time in Poland. The study was conducted in two waves : 8 and June 10 and 16 and June 18 , so that it was possible to obtain the most reliable ratings foreigners for organizations across the group stage of Euro 2012 in Poland .

Moreover they write that part of the problem is that tourists from four of the five GIIPS nations which are going though severe austerity, namely Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain will start the tournament in Poland. While fans from the richest countries and the one's most keen on following their teams i.e. the Netherlands, Germany and the UK will start the tournament in Ukraine. They do however add:

From what I saw the Irish and Spanish are the biggest spenders...

Was very strange the way that Ukraine got all the teams with the big spending fans who have some cash while Poland got the easiest possible group. Pity really.

Hi North Manc... funny but this seems to contradict the other article. I still believe that football fans arn't generally tourists. The majority of 'die hard' fans that i know spend every penny watching their team regardless of were they are playing and probably wouldn't return unless they had a footballing reason to. Take Barcelona or Manchester they both benefit from 'football tourism' the only way Poland could ever benefit from this is to drag the fans out of football hooliganism circa the 1980's and improve their league.

As for the 92%... is that an independant 92% or a 92% that the Polish State wants us to believe. I'm sure that if you ask visitors to London, Barcelona or Paris then more then 92% would return or recommend it!... damned statistics and lies!

Read this again:



We can assume that these respondents were football supporters. They may return as supporters, or as tourists.

There were no games in Krakow, but Krakow was FULL of a wide range of foreign supporters a couple of weeks ago. What do you think they were there for, if there were no games?

It's also possible, or highly likely, that these supporters would recommend Poland to non-supporters. Now can you see why Euro 2012 may continue to be good for Poland?

However, it's also clear that you would prefer it if Poland did not benefit from this tournament, as you never have anything good to say about Poland.

NorthMancPolak

Hi Manc

If you don't like what I say, don't read it! It's a free world.

Firstly, why would football supporters travel to a country just because they are holiday the EURO's??? If they were in Krakow then they were there because of work or to see their team.

Unlike the Polish government and the liars at the EU I live in the real world that is Poland 2012. Honestly if you think that Poland will become a tourst mecca beacuse of the word of circa 250-300,000 football fans then you are living in a dream world. I remember Euro96 and it didn't make a speck of difference to UK tourism, if your a Manc you'll probably be able to tell me how much it added to the tourists in Manchester.

As I said before football fans are just that...football fans... they spend a fair majoritiy of cash watching football. And there ain't no Barcelona or Manchester to come and see in Poland... they won't come again unless their team plays a Polish team in Europe.

Poland's tourism benefit from Euro 2012 has probably gone into the negative territory due to the bad press that has been generated.

Just my opinion!...