The Calpe Tourist Board has taken part in a roadshow in Poland with the aim of promoting the municipality and attracting new tourists from this booming emerging market.
The event, Spanish Event 2025, was organised by Nekera, one of Poland's leading tour operators, and Turespaña, and took place in Katowice, Poznan and Warsaw. Fifteen Spanish regions and 11 hotel chains participated, and more than 360 of Nekera's best travel agency salespeople from all over Poland attended.
The travel agents had the opportunity to learn about Calpe's tourist attractions and talk directly with representatives from the Department of Tourism and the AR Hotels chain. Specifically, they were able to learn not only about Calpe's beaches, but also its sports, gastronomic and cultural offerings, as Polish tourists, in addition to sun and beach tourism, like to engage in activities and enjoy cultural events during their travels.
This is the first time that Calpe Town Council has taken part in this tourism promotion tour together with the AR Hotels hotel chain, given the importance that the Polish market has acquired in recent years. It should be noted that the Valencian Community was the autonomous region that saw the highest growth in Polish tourist visits in 2024, with an increase of 59 per cent over the previous year, and was, with 18.5 per cent, the second most popular destination for visitors from this country last year, after the Canary Islands.
Furthermore, Alicante airport receives the most flights from Poland in the whole of Spain. Most tourist traffic from Poland to Spain is carried by regular airlines, including low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and Wizz Air.
The Calpe delegation highlighted the importance of maintaining a constant presence at these international events, especially in emerging markets with high growth potential such as Poland. ‘Our participation in the Polish roadshow is essential to consolidate our position in this strategic market. The excellent results obtained last year encourage us to persevere with these promotional activities,’ said the Councillor for International Promotion, Marco Bittner, adding that the tourism sector is seeking to diversify its traditional source markets and take advantage of the significant increase in air connections with Poland.
The tour operator Nekera, organiser of this promotional event, currently has contracts with almost 2,400 travel agent offices and 50 franchise offices. It should be noted that when booking their holidays, Poles prefer to contact their travel agent directly, and this trend is expected to continue over the next few years.
In 2024, Nekera increased traffic to Spain by 60% and expects to increase it by another 30% in 2025. It offers holiday trips to 150 destinations in 51 countries around the world. It has a network of 2,600 multi-channel agencies in Poland and operates from 14 Polish airports.
This event has become an unmissable date in the calendar of important events in the Polish tourism sector, as it has a wide reach and extensive coverage in foreign media.
The meeting in Warsaw was also attended by the Spanish Ambassador to Poland, Ramiro Fernández Bachiller, and the Secretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Sport, Piotr Borys.