About 11.4 million tourists from home and abroad visited the southern region of Malopolska last year, including the historic city of Krakow ‑ 4% more than in 2009. The Malopolska region, which also includes the winter holiday resort of Zakopane, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Poland. In 2010, Malopolska earned 9.3 billion zloty (€2.4 billion) from tourism.
“It’s an attractive destination both for Poles and foreigners but we cannot rest on the laurels. We constantly plan to improve our offer. Tourism is one of our priorities,” said Witold Latusek from Malopolska regional authorities.
According to a recent poll, in which 6,000 tourists participated, the number of tourists visiting Malopolska in 2010 increased by 4% and the number of those who decided to stay in Malopolska at least two days for almost 2% in comparison with 2009.
Foreign tourists who visited southern Poland included the British (a 25% share of the total arrivals count), Germans (12%), Slovaks (8%), Italians (7%) and the Irish (5%).
Tourists spent on average six days in Malopolska with Poles spending on average 524 zloty (€134) per person and foreigners 1,479 zloty (€379) per person
