How to find partner on Polish travel market

Polish Travel market how is structured? How to reach potential partners for outgoing tourism? Are trade fairs a good tool or better to opt for travel rep?

Before Pandemia Polish market was definitely in growing mode. Poles became one of the key outgoing nations for several receptive markets. The propensity to travel was going up and a lot of new niches emerged. Just to name golf tourism, women-only or luxury travel.

If You are looking for a partner in Poland we will share with You our knowledge and give You some tips. Just to help You better understand how the Polish market is structured.

Poles among most welcomed tourists on several key markets

Tour Operators – main players

We have some big players on the market followed by medium ones. The leaders are ITAKA based in Opole ( Western Poland), Rainbow Tours ( headquarter in Łódz ) and Tui ( branch of German giant. Another interesting player is Ecco Holidays( based in Poznan). The important detail here is that out of 4 three of them are Poland-based.  Decision-makers are here on the market not somewhere in the world.

Interesting to notice that majority of them are located outside Warsaw too. Ecco Holiday who is the smallest out of 4 key players has built its position on cost efficiency and low base fare policy. It allowed being one of the leaders on key destinations like China, Isreal, and India.

You will find also a couple of TOs strongly specialized in chosen destinations mainly Meditearan like Wezyr/Coral , Sun&Fun and ETI , Grecos is an interesting example of TO fully focused on one market. The success of Grecos made other Greek-based TOs to enter the market too like Mouzenidis.

Apart from big tour operators, we have a segment that is based on dynamic packaging. This interesting product rose sharply, especially on Gulf destinations like Dubai and Oman. Agencies active in that segment are Best Reisen, Exim, and Top Touristic.

Worth to mention tour operators traditionally targeting high-end clients like Logostour and Logos Sliwka from Poznań.

Tour Operators – boutique players

Another peculiarity of the Polish market is the number of boutique agents. They are mainly specialized in tours organized to exotic destinations just to name as examples Zorientowani.pl Sunsara and Torre.pl . You will find much more of them especially selling Africa and Asia which were gaining ground before covid.  Strong geographical specialization is also here – like US&Canada for Ready4Travel and ex-Soviet Union countries for Bezkresy.

Long haul touristic destinations from Poland with great result in 2019 waiting to restart again

Niche segments – golf, women-only, luxury travel

In the separate article(link below), You will find information about the Luxury Travel market in Poland and the Women-only one. All these niches are growing more than the market average.

Luxury Travel – market in Poland – more agents to compete in this lucrative niche

Student targeting agents – here traditional leader was Almatur but last year a lot of new players emerged. One of them Struden Travel from Lublin is a trendsetter of a new approach to that segment.

MICE agents – from big organizations to family-driven businesses

Mice agents – we have a number of agents working on that segment. Some of them are quite big organizations like Haxel and Indreams both based in Warsaw. Worth mentioning NU Horizon, New Poland, and Rival as historical players. During last years a lot of boutique agents emerged who were successfully fighting for the market.  Just to name – Wysoko i Wyzej, Xperience and Mindblowing, Viventum and Polka Travel are interesting agencies too .

All main TMCs like E-Travel, Weco Travel,  BCD/AirClub, and FCM have developed MICE departments to serve their corporate clients also in that field.

Trade Fairs and Workshops

Trade Fairs – the importance of trade fairs in Poland as B2B platforms is decreasing. It can only be considered while thinking about B2C market.  In that segment, World Travel Show of Ptak is a leader. The traditional tourism fair of TTWarsaw is worth to mention but again don’t expect a lot of B2B contacts there. Apart from both already mentioned, we have smaller fairs in Poznan, Lodz, and Katowice but not to be considered as important for outgoing tourism.

If You would like to meet MICE agencies definitely worth to consider is MEET the Bidder. In normal times organized at least twice a year in Warsaw, was gathering main MICE agents meeting vendors of services in destinations. You can count on several interesting meetings.  If You have a good tour guide( REP) so can be personally introduced to all the interesting players.

Some smaller organizations are also trying to organize small workshops where they invite 10-15 MICE agents to present them market news. The one to contact might be Alina Puto or/ end Liberty International which is also quite active on Pl market.

Travel Reps – to have your representative on the market

This segment was also doing well in Poland too, but as a lot of incomes were based on commissions. So in consequence it was hit more than others. As consequence, some Reps have changed specialization going outside the tourism industry. Still, you can find historical organizations like Travelreps.

If you look for a central European partner – then Travel Advance can be a good choice too, they are currently representing Malta and Dubai. But if You are relatively small better to look for an independent individual which will introduce You well to the market and offer personal service. Good example could be insiderep.pl led by Katarzyna Zegan. All Inclusive newspaper owner Michal Domanski is also doing similar work for some exotic destinations. Mice Advice can be a good solution too.

Having a good travel rep should definitely pay off, as the market is not easy to penetrate and the value of trade fares is limited for the B2B segment. To have good and bringing results meetings You need really to dedicate a lot of energy this is largely impossible without a good rep.

Advertisement – Trade media reaching agents in Poland

Planing limited budget advertisement focused on trade media/travel agencies You have not too big choice. Waszaturystyka.pl with the recently renewed website and its English version is a leader on the market. You can check stats on the similar web too while comparing specialized sites. Advertising in trade portals has also an additional advantage. These are small family-driven organizations so You can count on flexibility and a personal approach too.

If You want to reach mice readers Think Mice can be a good choice too. This newspaper is read both by Mice and Event agencies. They also organize Fam Trips to Destinations and Mice oriented Trade Fairs around the world.

The Polish market is definitely worth to invest, but You have to be smart not to overinvest.  Rather try to build your relations step by step to achieve long-term results.