Summary of the conference ‘Historical Cities 3.0’

On Monday, 28 March, the ICE Krakow Congress Centre hosted the 3rd International Conference Historical Cities 3.0. Its title was ‘Tourist-Friendly Cities - In Search of a New Model of Attractiveness’. The event had an online format and was devoted to changing the approach of historical cities towards tourism recovery strategies in the context of current affairs and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meetings within the framework of ‘Historical Cities 3.0’ are the opportunity to discuss in an international group the problems, experiences and solutions applied to tourism in historical cities, taking into account various conditions - social, economic and geopolitical.

‘Two editions of this event have already been held, during which we discussed, among other issues, the search for balance and harmony between the comfort of residents, visitors and the tourism industry. This is also showed in our latest guiding document for tourism - The Krakow Policy of Sustainable Tourism 2021-2028,’ said Jacek Majchrowski, the Mayor of the City of Krakow, when opening the conference.

‘Today we are continuing these deliberations. Indeed, we are still looking for a balance in tourism management, but we are also talking about searching for a new tourism model because the events of the last two years, the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine, are strongly affecting the state of this economic segment,’ the Mayor added.

‘We are living in very dynamic times, during which the tourism industry, exhausted by months of pandemics, was finally slowly returning to its normal conditions. And yet another tragedy has happened, which will surely cause a big drop in the number of foreign tourists visiting us. At the moment, from the perspective of a domestic tourist, thinking about leisure and travel is certainly in the background. From the point of view of a tourist from e.g., Spain or the United States, we are in a region where, in principle, warfare is taking place or there is, in inverted commas, an “emigration crisis”,’ said Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, secretary of state to the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Prime Minister's plenipotentiary for the promotion of the Polish brand.

‘I would also like to stress that Krakow is still a safe and open city for all visitors, from home and abroad. Our communication possibilities with other cities and countries remain at a high level. The airport in Balice is ready to serve all visitors,’ assured the Mayor of Krakow.

Conference topics

• Challenges for tourism entrepreneurship after Covid-19.
• Tourism and cultural heritage and a local community for tourism policy.
• Can tourism be sustainable in a historical city and what exactly is meant by this term?
• What are the limits when it comes to the tourism-based commercialisation of a city’s heritage?
• How to build local tourism partnership structures?

The event was attended by representatives of historical cities such as Bologna, Braga, Dubrovnik, Genoa, La ville de Québec and Venice, among others.