What can stop the fall in the number of incoming tourists?

The number of tourists willing to visit Poland is falling year after year. The President of the Polish Tourism Organization (POT), Andrzej Kozłowski, thinks that there are chances to change this negative trend. "It turns out from our analysis that similar stagnation can be observed all over the worl d. For instance, France, a global power in terms of tourism, recorded a drop of 15% in the number visitors in the first half of 2003, while Greece even 30%," explained Kozłowski. As the main reasons for all this, the president cited the war in Iraq and the fears related to the SARS virus. Last year the number of tourists visiting Poland dropped by 6.8% to 14 million. In the fi rst half of 2003, it amounted to only 6.2 million. POT named transportation problems, high prices and low promotional budgets as the main problems weak ening the attractiveness of Poland. "In 2003 we have funds of about EUR 7 m illion to promote Poland. In comparison, the Czech Republic has EUR 40 mill ion, while Hungary EUR 86 million at their disposal," said Kozłowski. (Park iet, p. 7) M.M.