The offer of services for exhibitors in terms of leisure and other factors increasing the attractiveness of the fairs in Łódź

Abstract

The concept of tourism should be understood as – all activites of persons travelling and staying in places outside
their usual environment for a period not exceeding 12 months for leisure, business or other purposes, excluding
journeys whose main purpose is gainful employment(1. Tourism is an important sector of the economy both in
Europe and in Poland. The European tourism industry accounts for more than 5% of the EU’s GDP, with around 1.8
million companies employing around 5.2% of European workers (approx. 9.7 million jobs). If you take into account
the tourism-related sectors, its contribution to GDP is even higher: tourism indirectly generates more than 10% of
the EU’s GDP and employs about 12% of working population(2. Also in Poland the tourism sector is developing
dynamically which is indicated by the level of tourist expenses. According to estimates of the Institute of Tourism,
the share of tourism economy in GDP in 2005 was 5.6%. Expenditure of foreigners in Poland amounted to PLN 20.3
billion, while the expenditure of residents of Poland on domestic trips amounted to PLN 15.7 billion, domestic
expenditure of residents of Poland on foreign trips amounted to PLN 4.8 billion, expenditure on business travels
amounted to PLN 10.7 billion, while the state expenditure on tourism amounted to PLN 2.7 billion. In total,
revenues from the tourism economy amounted to PLN 54.2 billion, representing 5.6% of GDP(3. According to
forecasts of the Institute of Tourism, the total number of tourists arriving to Poland, which after a drop to 13 million
in 2008 and 11.9 million in 2009, will increase to about 13.6 million in 2012 and 2013, and to 14.6 million in 2015(4.