Polish Tourism Organisation conducted a campaign in the Netherlands to promote the offer leisure in Poland aimed at seniors. Dutch citizens over 50 constitute a numerous and affluent group of customers of tourism services.

Targeted at senior-age residents of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the initiative of Polish Tourism Organisation (Polska Organizacja Turystyczna - POT) accompanied the annual 50 Plus Beurs, the “world’s largest exhibition for active people over 50”, staged each September.

Web portal Plus Magazine Online, number one Dutch publisher of media aimed at seniors, ran a series of articles encouraging potential visitors to our country. The authors showcased the highlights of Polish cities and placed emphasis on active leisure options available in national parks and the biological regeneration treatments offered by spa & wellness centres. Dutch readers could also learn more about the exceptional advantages of Polish regional meals.

To make sure that the discussed content reaches the largest possible target group, together with Dutch tour operators specializing in services provided for senior customers, a package of promotional materials entitled “Poland deserves to be discovered” was sent by e-mail to more than 330,000 subscribers of the Plus Online newsletter. Furthermore, the scope of the undertaking also encompassed social media users.

The offer prepared for the campaign’s purposes was arranged by two Dutch travel agencies (Jong Intra and Sunair Vakanties), which proposed tours of Kraków and Gdańsk with over-50 customers in mind. The September issue of the Vijftig+ magazine, whose readership is composed of people remaining active regardless of their age, ran an article covering the tourist must-sees of Gdańsk prepared in cooperation with POT.

According to research, in the last decade the number of holiday trips purchased by Dutch senior citizens in travel bureaus grew by 20%. It is estimated that in the years to come the trend will continue. Active, well-off and with a lot of free time on their hands, over-50 tourists often and willingly travel abroad, choosing to relax in months outside the peak season. Their interests and preferred way of spending free time make them a highly attractive client for the Polish tourism industry.