The inauguration will have a festive character. At the airport in Kraków, aircraft will be greeted with water cannon. There will also be a press conference with the president of the airport, as well as the ambassador of the Netherlands in Poland, for Polish and Dutch journalists. The latter will fly from Amsterdam on KLM’s first flight, for a visit organised by the foreign press centre of the Polish Tourist Organisation in Amsterdam, together with the City Council in Kraków.
“Our visit will be attended by journalists of the most important editorial offices in the Netherlands: De Telegraaf, De Volkskraant, Metro and TravMagazine,” says Andrzej Pawluszek, deputy director of ZOPOT in Amsterdam.
“Journalists will visit Kraków and the surrounding area for a few days,” adds deputy director Pawluszek. The inauguration will end with an evening party on a 19th-century Dutch barge, organised by KLM and Kraków Airport, at which invited guests will include Dr Bartłomiej Walas, a native of Kraków and vice-president of the Polish Tourism Organisation, and René de Groot, KLM chief operating officer (COO).
“New connections to Kraków and Belfast and Montpellier not only enrich our route network, but will also extend the facilities at Amsterdam hub airport,” says Pieter Elbers, president of KLM. The connection between the capital of Małopolska and Amsterdam will be implemented using Embraer 190 aircraft, each with capacity for approximately 100 passengers. The flight will leave Amsterdam at 14:20 and land in Krakow at 16:15. Then, at 16:55, the return flight back to Amsterdam will depart. The journey will last less than two hours.
Kraków’s vice-president Magdalena Sroka does not hide her pleasure at the new service. She says: “I am pleased that KLM has decided to launch a new connection with our city. This not only confirms the growing popularity of Kraków among the Dutch, but also offers convenient access to the third busiest airport in Europe, in terms of passenger numbers, for the residents of Kraków and Małopolska.”
Kraków is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination among the Dutch.
“Research by Małopolska Tourist Organisation for the Municipal Office in Kraków showed a 100 per cent increase in visits from the Dutch market last year,” says Dominika Szulc, director of ZOPOT in Brussels and Amsterdam.
In 2014, more than 77,000 Dutch people visited Kraków. In January this year, during the Vakantiebeurs fair in Utrecht, Kraków was awarded the prestigious prize of ‘The Best City Trip in Europe’ for the second time by the most important tourist portal in Benelux. The popularity of the city increased through the promotional activities carried out by the PTO centre in Amsterdam and the City of Kraków, such as outdoor campaigns, study visits for the tourism industry, travel press releases, and presentations and workshops for Dutch tour operators. According to estimates of ZOPOT Amsterdam, Poland was visited by 418,000 tourists from the Netherlands in 2014 (up from 400,000 in 2013). GUS data for ub.rok also points to an increase, according to which the number of Dutch people booking accommodation in Poland increased by over five per cent.
Photo © KLM
Source: ZOPOT Amsterdam