Waiting for the tourists to arrive

By Ray Furlong BBC correspondent in Sopot, Poland

"These are the rooms where Adolf Hitler stayed... there even used to be a swastika painted here on the floorboards - but we got rid of it..."

Sopot believes it has what it takes

Witold Dabrowski, manager of the Grand Hotel Orbis in Sopot, enjoys the history of his workplace.

On a tour of the suite used by Hitler in 1939, he points out a gilded mirror that the German dictator admired himself in - and the terrace that he used as a vantage point to watch battles on the nearby Hel peninsula.

"Then, after the war, Charles de Gaulle stayed in the same suite. But we had to get him a bigger bed. Hitler's was too short for him."

EU benefits

History is just one of the attractions that brings tourists to the resort of Sopot, a short ride from Gdansk - along with natural beauty and 1920s spa architecture.

Mr Dabrowski believes the town has what it takes to become a tourist hotspot after Poland joins the EU.

"I think the atmosphere here, the facilities, the hotels, and the value for money, mean we can compete with the Mediterranean and other European countries."

The Baltic coast is just one of Poland's tourist attractions. The city of Krakow is perhaps a better known one. Then there's the Mazuria lake district in the north-east of the country.

And Poland is hoping that EU membership will help to bring in more Western tourists.

"People will understand that we are a safe country to visit. We have so much to offer, at unbelievable prices. A glass of beer costs about one euro, for instance," says Ireneusz Sek from the tourist board in Gdansk.

Last summer, Poland enjoyed a record season. The strength of the euro against the zloty attracted a lot of German tourists in particular.

In Gdansk, they are hoping a new budget air link to London which starts on 1 May will further boost business.

Getting there

Other former communist countries are also banking on EU membership increasing the numbers of Western visitors.

Ski instructor Ternavski: We need investment, financing

Places like Prague and Budapest are already well-established destinations, but on the whole tourism in the region is still in its infancy.

The ten new member states get about 120 million overnight stays a year - compared to almost two billion in the current EU countries.

"It's just starting to be interesting for German visitors. People are in a test phase," says Guenter Traeger, spokesman for the Neckermann travel agency in Berlin.

"There's a huge potential. But these countries are still far away from mass tourism. The people who go there either want to be like pioneers, or to save a bit of money."

The problem is not in the actual destinations - but getting there and finding decent accommodation.

"If they continue to work on hotels, transport links, and also marketing, there could be a 5-10% increase yearly," adds Mr Traeger.

Of course, finding the money for this is a big problem, so the emerging tourist regions often need to work as hard on attracting foreign investors as on tempting holidaymakers.

In the small Slovak mountain resort of Tatranska Lomnica, they have just signed a deal with a British investor to develop the skiing infrastructure, for instance.

"There's lots to do here. We need new ski lifts, new pistes, artificial snow machines, and we also need a motorway so it is not a problem to get here," says Vladimir Ternavski, who runs a skiing school there.

"We've got the potential. These are beautiful mountains. But we need investment, financing. Maybe the government can help a bit - maybe the European Union too."