“There is no place like the countryside - 12 good practices of rural tourism” is the name of a competition staged by Polish Tourism Organisation and aimed at promoting tourism in rural areas.

Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) is arranging a competition that is dedicated to rural tourism as part of the National Rural Network and follows the guidelines of the Rural Development Programme for 2014-2020. This is Poland’s unique initiative of this type, aimed at identifying, spreading and promoting 12 good practices in rural areas.

“The Polish countryside represents one of Europe’s few examples of preserving a traditional cultural and natural landscape. We boast a remarkably rich offer of rural tourism. There is no lack of folklore-themed events, agritourism or ecotourism, and the interest shown by consumers in the offer of slow life, slow food and everything eco-friendly is steadily on the rise. The discussed competition is an excellent opportunity to share experiences between people managing different tourist products, synergise their operations and act to promote further development. I am positively sure that the contest will contribute to boosting the already high industry standards and increase the interest in Polish rural tourism products”, says Vice President of POT Agnieszka Jędrzejczyk-Wojciechowska.

“There is no place like the countryside - 12 good practices in rural tourism” competition is arranged by Smartlink Sp. z o.o on behalf of Polish Tourism Organisation. Its main objective is to acknowledge the best practices in rural tourism in four categories.

Venues awarded in the competition will become involved in a special promotion to include: an album publication in an edition of 10,000 copies, the support of bloggers specializing in tourism, articles and presentation on the Polish Tourism Organisation websites and through social media.

“There is no place like the countryside - 12 good practices in rural tourism” Competition Office contact information: e-mail: konkurs@smartlink.pl; tel,: +48 605 166 002, +48 602 510 538, +48 61 849 90 40  

“European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas”. “Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development is the managing authority of the Rural Development Programme for 2014-2020”;

The operation of “Identifying, spreading and promoting good practices in tourism in rural areas”, aimed a identifying, spreading and recommending good practices in the area of the development of rural tourism in Poland, is co-financed by European Union funding as part of the second stage of “National Rural Networks” technical assistance for the Rural Development Programme for 2014-2020.