Poland’s hospitality sector booms, attracting tourists worldwide

In 2024, Poland’s accommodation sector served over 38.8 million tourists - the highest number in history and nearly 6% more than in 2023. The number of foreign visitors in hotels and guesthouses is growing faster than that of Polish travellers.

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According to data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the sector, which includes hotels, guesthouses, short-term rentals, and campsites, hosted 38.8 million tourists in 2024, with almost 30.5 million of them staying in hotels (data refers to facilities with more than 10 beds). In total, these establishments provided over 97.6 million overnight stays, of which 60.3 million were in hotels.

Compared to 2023, the number of tourists increased by 5.8%. The majority of guests were domestic travellers (78%), whose numbers grew by 4.8% year-on-year. However, the number of foreign visitors increased at an even faster rate, reaching almost 7.9 million — 9.4% more than the previous year.

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Record-breaking growth in the hotel sector

Already in 2023, the number of overnight stays in hospitality establishments exceeded 2019 levels, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, 2024 brought another record. According to Eurostat, Poland’s accommodation sector (measured by the number of overnight stays) grew more than twice as fast as the EU average (which recorded a 2.3% increase).

In terms of overnight stays in hotels, guesthouses, and campsites, Poland now ranks seventh in the European Union. The country has surpassed traditional tourist hotspots such as Croatia and Portugal, where the hotel industry is primarily geared towards the summer season.

Poland’s advantage lies in year-round tourism, which ensures a more balanced hotel occupancy rate outside the traditional holiday period. According to Eurostat, in December 2024, hotel and guesthouse occupancy in Poland reached as much as 48% of the July level. In comparison, this figure stood at just 4% in Croatia, 7% in Greece, and 17% in Bulgaria.

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More tourists from around the world...

Among foreign visitors in Polish hotels, Germans remain the largest group. In 2024, their numbers reached 1.49 million, a 7.4% increase from the previous year. However, Poland is also attracting more tourists from other Western European countries as well as from outside Europe.

Polish hotels welcomed 630,000 British tourists in 2024 (5.2% more than in 2023) and nearly 529,000 American tourists, representing a significant 16.5% increase. Poland has also gained popularity among Czechs, with 347,500 guests from the southern neighbour — a 13.4% rise from the previous year.

An even more interesting phenomenon is the growing popularity of Poland among tourists from southern Europe, particularly from Spain. In 2024, hotels recorded 190,000 Spanish visitors — an impressive 48% increase compared to 2023. Interestingly, despite Poland’s cold weather, Spaniards visit the country in large numbers during autumn and winter.

In 2024, GUS also provided detailed data on tourists from the Gulf region. Polish hotels accommodated 51,900 visitors from the United Arab Emirates and 21,600 from Saudi Arabia. Poland is also becoming increasingly attractive to Chinese tourists — in 2024, hotels hosted over 81,900 tourists from China, a staggering 51% increase from 2023, as well as 12,100 tourists from Taiwan (a 48.6% year-on-year rise).

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...and fewer visitors from the east

At the same time, Polish hotels hosted fewer tourists from across the eastern border, who in previous years (apart from Germans) had collectively formed the largest group of foreign visitors. The decline affected not only Russians and Belarusians but also Ukrainians. The number of tourists from Ukraine fell to just under 752,000, an almost 8% drop compared to 2023.

There was also a slight decrease in the number of tourists from the Baltic states. The number of visitors from Lithuania dropped by 2.4% year-on-year, from Latvia by 1.3%, and from Estonia by 5.3%. For some residents of these countries, Poland serves as a transit route to Western Europe. With an increasingly developed road network, travellers can cross the country more quickly without stopping at hotels.

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