In 2019 Polish Tourism Organisation once again set out to promote the Lubuskie voivodeship in Austria. The currently shown interest demonstrates that undertaken initiatives shall make it possible to boost the numbers of arrivals hailing from Austria.

Back in 2004 at the Dorbirn trade show Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) used its Vienna-based office to promote the Lubuskie voivodeship for the very first time. A splendidly prepared and implemented presentation of the voivodeship attracted a lot of attention thanks to the incorporation of folk ensembles, youth bands and a fashion show by Ewa Minge. Nevertheless, despite POT’s efforts, Lubuskie failed to follow them with further promotion in the Austrian market. 

This year, in cooperation with Lubuskie Regional Tourism Organisation, POT’s International Office in Vienna successfully involved travel journalist Claudius Rajchl, who prepared a video promoting the breathtaking region. As part of a cooperation agreement signed with the popular and renowned Austrian travel journalist and in the aftermath of a fam trip, narrated TV ad spots were produced to showcase Lubuskie’s top tourist highlights.

The footage presented by RajchreistlTv was posted on the company’s website and featured in the digital issues of Salzburger Nachchrichten and trade weekly Travel Industry Professional (TIP). Total reach of the advertisement exceeded the assumed 500,000 views, with the presented spots arousing considerable interest among both leisure travellers and industry professionals. YouTube channels and Facebook pages of the author, POT’s Vienna-set office and Lubuskie Regional Tourism Organisation recorded particularly impressive viewing figures.

By expanding the promotional campaign and publishing special coverage in a trade weekly, POT managed to inspire and stimulate interest of the Austrian travel industry. Cooperation with Profi Resien Verlag, publisher of a print and digital weekly distributed among the senior management of Austrian travel bureaus, will enable us to reach people acting as the driving force of local tourism. We expect to bring on board Austrian agencies staging coach trips to Poland, Germany and Czech Republic, as well as representatives of the latter two destinations. Itineraries of trips to Lubuskie combined with stays in Brandenburg or the Czech region of Moravia will make such tours even more attractive and, consequently, have a positive impact on sales levels.

The current interest inspired by the RaichlTv publication suggests that increased efforts promoting Lubuskie will in the nearest future translate into growing numbers of tourists arriving from Austria to the region in question.

Last but not least, we will place emphasis on propagating the region among leisure travellers who now do not have to rely on their own means of transport to get to Lubuskie. A brand new Nightjet sleeper train from Vienna to Berlin provides them with a direct connection with Zielona Góra and makes it more convenient to travel to many Polish cities that up to now were not that easily accessible despite their proximity.