Almost six million tourists and visitors came to Wrocław only last year. Among the most popular attractions are ZOO, Panorama Racławicka and Hydropolis. “We are returning to the pre-pandemic state” – experts point out.
In 2022, two agencies, Selectivv and Beeline Research and Consulting conducted separate tourism researchs. They clearly show that tourist traffic in Wrocław has almost returned to the status from 2019.
– We are returning to the level before the pandemic, we are clearly chasing 2019 – points out Janusz Bujko, sociologist, co-owner of Beeline Research and Consulting.
– On a national scale we compete strongly with the very popular tourist city, which is Gdańsk.
In 2022 Wrocław was visited by a total of 4.8 million adult tourists and visitors (approx. 5 million in 2019). Including children and youth under 18 years of age about 5.8 million tourists and visitors came to Wrocław last year.
– In view of the actual situation of all branches of the tourism industry since 2020 Wrocław has become involved in both emergency assistance as well as long-term and strategic activities. The Wrocław Tourist Declaration was announced, the Mayor appointed the Wrocław Tourism Council and the Gastronomy Council. The city was also actively involved in establishing and joining the Wrocław Tourist Organization, an association dealing with the tourist promotion of Wrocław and support for the industry – says Alfred Wagner, deputy director of the Department of City Promotion and Tourism.
In the recent years the proportion between tourists (overnight stayers) and one-day visitors (without overnight stays) has changed. In 2019 Wrocław was visited by 2.5 million tourists and 2.3 million visitors. In 2022 1.7 million tourists and almost 3 million visitors came to Wrocław. Among foreign tourists in Wrocław the largest group were Germans (35%), followed by residents of the Czech Republic and Great Britain (8% each). Among domestic tourists Wrocław was most often visited by residents of the Mazowieckie (24%), Wielkopolskie (17%) and Zachodniopomorskie (10%) voivodeships.
In terms of the use of accommodation facilities in the first half of 2022 almost twice as many tourists used accommodation than in the corresponding period in 2021. In August – the best month of 2022 – it was almost 125,000 tourists.
Comparing the use of accommodation facilities with other Polish cities Wrocław competes for 3rd place (after Warsaw and Kraków) with Gdańsk, having a larger number of tourists from February (65,000 in Wrocław) to May (112,000 in Wrocław). On the other hand, Gdańsk was more often chosen by tourists in the holiday months.
– The use of accommodation places in Wrocław is growing also in categorized hotel facilities – says Agnieszka Szymerowska, president of the Convention Bureau Wrocław and the Wrocław Tourist Organization. – Increases are visible in typically conference months – September and October. Already at the end of 2022 the meetings industry gave a clear signal about the return to stationary events. Forecasts for 2023 are optimistic.
Millions of visitors in Wrocław attractions.
The popularity of the Wrocław Zoo is still growing – last year (from January to November) the zoo was visited by over 1.54 million people. For comparison 1.44 million visitors bought tickets to the zoo throughout 2021. Last year the most number of visits were in July (246,000) and August (269,000). The most popular and the biggest attraction of the zoo is the Africarium. It was visited by nearly 5.5 million tourists between the years 2019 and 2022.
The situation in Hydropolis was similar. In 2022 (excluding December) there were nearly 366,000 visitors. This is more than in the whole of 2021 (252,000 people). The most number of visits – over 47,000 – was recorded in August.
More passengers flew to Wrocław Airport in each month of 2022 than in 2021. Only from January to November 2022 over 1.3 million passengers flew to Wrocław (in comparison to 706,000 in 2021). The most numbers of arriving passengers in 2022 were recorded in July (179,000) and August (183,000). In the summer months the number of arriving passengers was close to 2019 (July 2019 – 197,000, August 2019 – 189,000). Last year all air traffic (inbound and outbound) reached 2.9 million passengers. This is over 100% more than in 2021.
It is estimated that tourists and visitors in 2022 left at least PLN 3.7 billion in Wrocław. About 10% of this amount is paid in taxes to the budget of Wrocław – it is about PLN 370 million.
– Tourist traffic translates into the recognition of Wrocław which is followed by specific international investments – says Radosław Michalski, director of the Department of City Promotion and Tourism. – The amount of revenues to the budget of Wrocław from this sector of the economy is also significant. Estimating even very carefully we are talking about over PLN 300 million, and we must not forget about the jobs that tourism provides to the inhabitants of the city.
Based on the research results Wrocław will now proceed to develop the Tourism Development Program until 2030.
