The Sudety Tourism Development Agency was established on October 30, 1995, as a joint-stock company whose shareholders were: the State Treasury, represented by the Voivode of Jelenia Góra; the cities of Bolesławiec and Lubań; the municipalities of Gryfów Śląski, Lubomierz and Jeżów Sudecki; as well as the Karkonosze Regional Development Agency and the Polish Tourism Development Agency. The following also submitted preliminary declarations of accession to the company: Karpacz, Kowary, Mysłakowice, Podgórzyn and Szklarska Poręba. Everyone is impatiently awaiting Jelenia Góra’s accession.
The purpose of establishing the company was to create an efficient organizational structure for promoting and developing tourism in the region, which would at the same time be the most important and strongest representative of the Sudetes before government authorities, specialized agencies and institutions pursuing an active tourism policy. The following were identified as its primary tasks:
organizing tourist information (paid and free of charge) and advertising activities (a newspaper for tourists, postcards, posters, pocket publications, etc.);
researching the tourism market and providing advice to tourists;
organizing fairs and tourism exchanges, and representing the region’s tourism product at such events domestically and abroad;
processing tourism data supplied by cooperating entities and maintaining a database of services;
training employees, advising entities serving tourists, and disseminating modern management and marketing methods;
acting as an intermediary in the supply of specialized materials, selling artistic souvenirs, and selling and reserving transport tickets.
It is anticipated that the company’s revenue will come primarily from publishing, advertising, commercial and service activities. SAPT will relieve municipalities of the obligation to organize tourism information and promotion by creating a network connected to the central electronic tourist information and accommodation reservation system. It will enable the local tourism product to be included in the Polish and European sales system. The municipality will have a direct influence on the company’s management through its representatives serving on the supervisory board.
Councillor Zdzisław Abramowicz is a great advocate of promoting and developing tourism in Bolesławiec, as he has repeatedly demonstrated in speeches during council sessions. What benefits can the city gain in the near future? It is worth attempting to publish the first color album, which was prepared at TMB and is awaiting sponsors. That would be the first significant step in this direction.