The impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Cracow in the eyes of tourism entrepreneurs

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to collect opinions of Krakow’s tourism entrepreneurs about the impact of the pandemic on their activities and their expectations concerning tools of marketing communication that could facilitate recovery. The respondents were asked to assess the drop in sales of tourism services, their opinions concerning the prospect of a tourist traffic recovery, possible measures that could facilitate the recovery and what they expected the local government to do in this respect. In recent years Kraków has become one of Poland’s most recognisable destinations, benefiting from increasing revenues generated by a systematically growing number of visitors. This growth has even prompted concerns about overtourism in Kraków. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the entire supply chain in the tourism industry, leaving the city empty of tourists and causing a financial breakdown for many companies. In order to diagnose the scale of the crisis triggered by the pandemic, the authors conducted a CAWI survey of Kraków based tourism entrepreneurs in the middle of March. The development of the epidemic and steps taken to protect the tourism sector from mid-March to the end of June 2020 were used to validate views formulated by the respondent. The results of the survey reveal the level of economic losses anticipated by tourism entrepreneurs and their predicted occurrence over time, opinions about the likely sequence in which particular tourism products in Kraków are going to recover, as well as expectations concerning the tools of marketing communication that could facilitate the recovery.

How a Tourism City Responds to COVID-19: A CEE Perspective (Kraków Case Study)

“…First reports indicate that the tourism sector in Kraków suffered from COVID-19 very acutely [67,72,73], and the situation turned from overtourism to undertourism [74]. Except for the first two months of 2020, when business was normal, the tourism sector could only partially offer its services.…”

“…It was primarily intended to stop the collapse of businesses which, due to pandemic restrictions, could not operate [87]. These solutions served as an important framework for supporting tourism in Kraków during the pandemic [72,78]. The support system proposed by the government concerned mainly tax exemptions and direct financial support [88].…”

“…The outbreak of the pandemic completely stopped both of these policies. Established task forces, consisting of representatives of officials, local entrepreneurs, the academic community and social organizations, were quick to shift their focus to the situation and challenges of tourism in COVID-19 conditions [72]. Particular attention was paid to financial support in the first weeks of the pandemic, when the tourism industry was in practice closed down.…”

“…The departments responsible for tourism monitored the situation throughout the pandemic period, and the results were used to develop the foundations of a tourism development strategy and to solve current problems. Not only the scale and character of tourism were analyzed, but also the state of local tourism businesses and transport, among other issues [72]. An important area of research was the social consequences of city nightlife, especially the noise and excessive alcohol consumption.…”

Plany turystyczne mieszkańców miast w dobie pandemii COVID-19

“…Podobna sytuacja miała miejsce w wielu atrakcyjnych miastach Polski, m.in. w Krakowie (Walas, Kruczek, 2020).…”