Zakopane's Tourism Sector Goes Digital
The Polish mountain resort town of Zakopane has announced a major digital overhaul for its tourism industry, set to begin in 2026. From that year, a mandatory electronic system for registering all overnight visitors will be implemented. This move is part of a wider European trend to modernize tourism infrastructure. The new platform will automate the collection of the local tourist tax, with a six-month transition period allotted for businesses to adapt.
This digital system will automatically calculate the tax due and generate the necessary reports. The tourist fee itself will remain unchanged at 2 Polish zloty per person, per night. City forecasts project revenue from this tax to reach 5.2 million zloty in 2024, potentially rising to around 6 million zloty in 2025. The annual cost to maintain the new digital platform is budgeted at 30,000 zloty.
Mandatory for All Accommodations and System Benefits
The mandatory digital registration will apply to all accommodation providers operating within the city. Key functionalities of the new system will include:
- automatic tax calculation,
- automated report generation,
- real-time data updates.
As one city official emphasized,
“This solution is intended to consign paper registration ledgers to the past for good.”
The primary goal of this reform is not to increase taxes, but to eliminate errors inherent in manual calculations. By taking this step, Zakopane aims to modernize its tourism sector, streamlining processes for both guests and the local administration. The implementation is expected to reduce administrative burdens and improve the efficiency of tax collection, potentially serving as a model for other Polish and European cities seeking to optimize their tourism services.