Since the beginning of the 1990s, official documents of the Government of the Republic of Poland have emphasized that the tourism economy is currently, and will continue to be in the future, one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the national economy. In reports prepared by experts from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the mid-1990s, tourism was recognized as a field whose potential could significantly contribute to the restructuring of the economy and its effective competition in international markets.
The above opinions have been reflected in the adopted strategy for the development of the Polish tourism economy, which was based on two fundamental elements: branded products and regions with tourism functions.
The tasks set before Polish tourism result from the general goals of the Polish national economy, such as, among others:
– raising the economic level of municipalities and regions in order to improve the material situation of society
– supporting activities for the sustainable economic development of the country
– developing the service sector to solve the growing problem of unemployment
– economic and business activation of rural areas and supporting civilizational changes in the countryside and its surroundings.
– supporting activities for the sustainable economic development of the country
– developing the service sector to solve the growing problem of unemployment
– economic and business activation of rural areas and supporting civilizational changes in the countryside and its surroundings.
Of course, the above strategic goals should be considered in the conditions of a changing external environment, especially the progressing processes of globalization in the world economy, the consequence of which will be a single, unified market for tourism services, where the free movement of capital, people, and technology will be essentially unlimited, which will fundamentally affect the functioning of tourism companies.
The adopted strategy for the development of Polish tourism clearly emphasizes that one of the most important tasks for the coming years is to develop a system of education and improvement for tourism personnel that would be adequate to international standards and at the same time meet the expectations of economic practice.
It is also about ensuring that the above system is a flexible arrangement that adapts to changes occurring in the domestic and international tourism market.
The necessity of training personnel for the needs of the tourism economy at the highest quality level is evidenced by data from the World Tourism Organization, which shows that in 2000, employees in the tourism sector accounted for 8% of the total workforce globally, and according to forecasts, this share will increase to 9.1% in 2010.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2003/4.