The 2026 World Tourism Day theme, digitalisation and AI in the service of tourism transformation, framed the event. Regional officials noted that travellers now want to feel a place rather than only see it, travel more often but for shorter periods, and decide more spontaneously, buying less “just a bed” and more experience, which they described as a major opportunity for the region.

Awards went to the conversion of the ORP Sokół submarine into a museum in Gdynia (tourist offer), the 50th Wdzydze Fair with over 23,000 participants (event of the year), the Kazimierz Deyna sports and education centre in Starogard Gdański (investment) and the “LeŚnia” exhibition that turned a Gothic church in Gdańsk into an immersive forest with sound and scent (innovation). Two community-based products were also recognised: a Hel Peninsula fishing heritage event and an equestrian tourism programme in Kashubia, and a distinction went to active tourism on Lake Jasień.

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