During a meeting of directors of ANTOR Nederland, the Association of National Tourist Office Representatives in the Netherlands, its president, Jeroen Henneke, thanked Poland for how it is helping refugees from Ukraine. “Poland deserves respect and I am confident that your hospitality will soon be reflected in the number of incoming tourists,” said Henneke.
The directors of foreign centres including Poland, Germany, Singapore and France, met in Gouda in the central Netherlands. Among other things, the impact of Russian aggression on tourist arrivals in the respective countries was discussed.
“Despite Poland being a safe country we are noticing an increased number of cancellations of group arrivals from outside our country,” said Andrzej Pawluszek, deputy director of the PTO International Office in Amsterdam.
In a similar vein, a representative of the Estonian Tourist Board said that the number of foreign tourists visiting Estonia had fallen “drastically” after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Spain and Portugal, among others, are in an opposite situation. “Tourist traffic has returned to its state before the coronavirus pandemic and even surpassed it,” said João Rodeia of Visit Portugal.
The meeting was also accompanied by a workshop with tour operators which was attended by dozens of representatives of the largest tour operators and agents from the Netherlands. Poland presented its tourist offer, with the main emphasis on the advantages of active tourism and city trips.
