Table 1.
Support for tourist demand in selected EU countries
| Support name | Form of support | Allocation of expenses | Amount of support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polish Tourist Voucher | Electronic payment vouchers | Tourist voucher not only for hotel services, but also agritourist farms; guesthouses; scout camps; rehabilitation camps; and athletic or recreational camps. One-day resorts, such as amusement parks, are also included. | Government benefit of PLN 500 or more for children, and PLN 1,000 for children with disabilities, covering accommodation facilities and travel agencies in Poland. |
| French holiday checks | Electronic or paper “holiday checks” | Payment checks – documents that can be used to pay for holidays and cultural and recreational activities. | Purchased by an entrepreneur for an employee for EUR € 20-60 (digital version) or EUR €10-50 (paper version). No upper limit on the number of vouchers available for employees. |
| Romanian travel vouchers | Payment documents subsidizing tourist packages and hotel services | Payment documents that enable the financing of tourist packages and hotel services for all employees of the public sector and, optionally, the private sector. | Maximum value that can be awarded to an employee is approximately EUR €1,400 per tax year. |
| Hungarian tourist card | Package of discounts for holidays and cultural and recreational activities | List of travel service providers who are partners of the Hungarian Tourist Card | Discounts of 10-50% for hotels, restaurants, paid beaches, amusement parks, fitness rooms, theaters, museums, festivals, etc. |
| Croatian tourist card – CRO Kartica | Payment card issued by a commercial bank at the request of a natural person or an employer | Hotels and the tourism industry throughout the Republic of Croatia | Individuals employed in the Republic of Croatia have the right to use this non-taxable part of their income of up to EUR €400. |
| Italian holiday bonus – Italia Bonus Vacanze | Voucher for helping the tourism industry and families return to domestic tourism (during the COVID-19 pandemic) | Stays at hotel facilities, and tourist packages with tour operators (travel organisers). | Holiday bonus of up to EUR €500, intended for households with an income of up to EUR €40,000. |
| Slovak Recreational Allowance | Eligible expenses reimbursed through salary supplement | Hotel services for at least two nights and organisation of multi-day classes during school holidays. | Employers with more than 49 employees are obliged to provide them with a holiday allowance of 55% of their eligible expenses, but not more than EUR €275 per calendar year. |
1 Source: elaboration based on www.sejm.gov.pl; www.mdpi.com; www.hungarycard.hu; www.service-public.fr; www.ip.gov.sk; www.gov.hr; www.ministeroturismo.gov.it; www.ec.europa.eu; Wałachowski, 2021; Peciar, Bukovina, Havlát, 2023.
Figure 1.
Participation in tourism for personal purposes among the total population in selected European Countries (%)
Source: own elaboration based on Eurostat data (www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database).
Figure 2.
Expenditure of Polish residents on domestic travel, including expenses implemented using tourist vouchers (with the multiplier effect) in 2020-2023 (in PLN billion)
Source: own elaboration based on Department of Tourism Ministry of Sport and Tourism data and Polish Tourism Organization data.
Figure 3.
Intensity of domestic tourist movement according to number of trips (applies to people aged 15 or more) – total trips (in millions) in individual quarters of 2021-2023
Source: own study, based on data from the Central Statistical Office.
Figure 4.
The value of payments made with tourist vouchers from the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2022 (in PLN thousands)
Source: elaborated based on Roszko-Wójtowicz E., Janczak K. Patelak K., 2022, Stan gospodarki turystycznej w Polsce po pandemii w latach 2020–2021, Ministerstwo Rozwoju, Pracy i Technologii, Warszawa za dane Zakładu Ubezpieczeń Społecznych i Polskiej Organizacji Turystycznej.
Figure 5.
Payments by Polish Tourist Voucher in particular months from 2020-2021 (in PLN)
Source: own elaboration, based on Raport Polski Bon Turystyczny, 2021, Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, Warszawa.
Figure 6.
Domestic movement in particular months in Poland in tourist accommodation facilities
Source: own elaboration based on data from the Central Statistical Office.
Table 2.
Total payments made using a tourist voucher in 2020-2023 (in PLN) and an estimate of the multiplier effect of the tourist voucher
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value of vouchers (PLN) | 238,747,921 | 1,753,920,453 | 961,252,838 | 216,954,989 | 3.1 bln |
| Number of vouchers | 477,000 | 3,500,000 | 1,922,000 | 433,000 | 6.3 mln |
| The estimated additional value of travel not covered by the voucher (PLN) | 71,550,000 | 525,000,000 | 576,600,000 | 129,900,000 | 1.3 bln |
| Caregiver’s rest (PLN) | 310,050,000 | 2,275,000,000 | 1,537,600,000 | 346,400,000 | 4.4 bln |
| Value added (PLN) | 381,600,000 | 2,800,000,000 | 2,114,200,000 | 476,300,000 | 5.7 bln |
| Total (PLN) | 620,347,921 | 4,553,920,453 | 3,075,452,838 | 693,254,989 | 8.9 bln |
| Voucher with estimated multiplier effect (PLN) | 0.62 bln | 4.5 bln | 3.00 bln | 0.69 bln | 8.9 bln |
1 Source: own elaboration based on Bon turystyczny. Podsumowanie programu, 2023, Polish Tourism Organization. In the first two years, on average, holders had to pay extra for domestic holidays despite using the voucher: PLN 150+ in 2020-2021; PLN 300 in 2022-2023).
Table 3.
Share of expenditure in the tourism economy in 2017-2022 in Poland (in PLN billion), share of international tourism in exports in 2017-2022 and estimations for 2023
| Type of expense | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses in the tourism economy (in PLN billion) | 116.7 | 124.6 | 141.8 | 104.3 | 91.6 | 131.4 | 147,8 |
| GDP verified by the Central Statistical Office (in PLN billion) | 1989.8 | 2 121.6 | 2 293.2 | 2 339.0 | 2 622.2 | 3 078.3 | 3 241,4 |
| Share of tourism economy in GDP (%) | 5.9 | 5.9 | 6.2 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| Exports of goods and services (in PLN billion, current prices) | 1 077.7 | 1 172.0 | 1 270.3 | 1 307.1 | 1 592.9 | 1 620.2 | |
| Tourist exports (expenditure of foreigners in Poland) (in PLN billion) | 59.4 | 61.1 | 71.5 | 28.1 | 28.9 | 45.0 | 46.3 |
| Share of tourism in exports (%) | 5.5 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 3.0 |