Rafał Szlachta, president of the Polish Tourism Organisation (POT), and Prof. Andrzej Rokita, PhD hab., rector of the University School of Physical Education in Wrocław (AWF Wrocław), have signed an agreement on cooperation. The two institutions will pursue joint activity in the development and promotion of Polish tourism.

Due to the pandemic, POT President Rafał Szlachta and AWF Wrocław Rector Andrzej Rokita held a meeting online on 27 May, during which they signed the aforementioned agreement on cooperation.

The purpose of the collaboration will be joint activities serving the development and promotion of Polish tourism, especially the promotion of Poland as an attractive tourist destination. The agreement covers support, consultations and advisory services for activities in popular science and consulting related to tourism, and also research and quantitative analyses of tourist traffic in Poland.

The POT and AWF Wrocław plan to appoint mixed expert teams for solving current tourism industry problems. They will work together on publication and conference projects as well as organising training courses for tourism industry employees.

Educational activity is a very important part of the agreement. The school’s students will be able to participate in projects planned and implemented by the POT. The cooperation will also involve developing an innovative educational offering, especially postgraduate courses and training courses adjusted to labour market needs.

“University schools of physical education are dear to me because I graduated from one of them myself”, POT President Rafał Szlachta remarked. “We at the Polish Tourism Organisation are aware of the enormous importance of sports events and Polish athletes for promoting Poland and tourism. We know we can achieve a great deal by taking advantage of the emotions of sports fans and athletes. But we are not forgetting that a university is mainly about learning. The POT would like to intensify its activity in research and analysis. Although we have worked with the University School of Physical Education in Wrocław many times in the past, I am extremely proud to have formalised this collaboration. The agreement will be the driving force of future actions”, he added.

“Learning is all about uncovering reality and truth. Working together, we will build the future of domestic tourism and of Poland’s international promotion”, commented AWF Wrocław Rector, Prof. Andrzej Rokita, PhD hab. “We are proud to be able to contribute to this project and take part in this process. I assure you that I will see to it that our faculty members work incessantly on research and share their observations. This agreement is a wind that will propel Polish tourism in the right direction”, he concluded.