COVID-19 and tourism – the case of Poland

Abstract

Despite widespread information about COVID-19 disease in the media, the world did not want to acknowledge that the epidemic could get out of hand and reach Europe in a short time. This shortly led to an almost complete halt in the tourism market. Administrative decisions, whose rapid implementation was aimed to be pre-emptive action for the development of the epidemic, were not without significance for the sector of tourist services. Steps taken in Poland were perceived by many people as too drastic. This is proved, in consistence with the Senbeto and Hon model (2020), by the fact that part of the society did not obey the restrictions, taking previously planned tourist trips. The article presents actions taken at the national level and restrictions resulting from actions taken with regard to mobility related to the implementation of tourist objectives. An attempt was also made to present the consequences of the pandemic for the tourist traffic in national terms.