More foreign tourists are coming to Poland, but where will they all sleep?

Some 18.2 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Poland this year, up from 17.9 million last year, while 7.5 million Poles plan to spend their vacation abroad. The amount of money spent by foreigners in Poland is also expected to increase from last year's level of $3.4 billion, which was considerably lower than the 1998 figure of $4.4 billion. The outlook is bright as in the first four months of this year Poland had 11.6% more foreign visitors than the same time last year. However, there is a problem in that the number of beds available to tourists is shrinking, especially in the budget sector. Compared with last year, the number of lodgings available in youth hostels and camping sites has decreased by over 10,000. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1) T.J.