News

On 20 May, the Museum of Kraków - Krzysztofory Palace hosted a scientific symposium entitled "Museum boom vs. overtourism. Conflict or harmony?", during which one of the panel discussions was moderated by Dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska, the Director of our Museum.

The panel chaired by the Museum’s Director was entitled ‘Between Holocaust remembrance and tourism’, and the issues addressed during the session were related, among others, to the continuing very high level of interest in memorial sites such as the former German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Places that are also widely visited by tourists from abroad and – as it is certainly in the case of the Memorial and Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau - recognised around the world as a symbol of the Holocaust that must be visited and experienced in person.

The question of how to reconcile mass tourism with respect for the victims of the Holocaust and a mature form of collective memory of their fate is not an easy challenge, but thanks to the well-chosen specialists and their commitment, the panel was able to give its opinion in an interesting way. Participants in the session were: Andrzej Kacorzyk (deputy director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum), Monika Bednarek (director of the Płaszów Concentration Camp Museum), Małgorzata Mierzwa (JAN-POL), Anna Chudy (co-owner of Simply Poland DMC), Grzegorz Soszyński (president of the Association of the Tourism Organisation of the Royal Capital City of Kraków - Kraków Tourism Alliance).

The two other remaining sessions of the symposium dealt with the tourist attractiveness of historical places and the role of urban museums in making the tourist experience more in-depth and as unobtrusive as possible for permanent inhabitants. In addition, following the opening of the conference by Dr. Michał Niezabitowski, Director of the Museum of Kraków and President of the Association of Polish Museum Professionals, and Grzegorz Soszyński, President of the Kraków Tourism Alliance, the floor was taken by Paweł Jaskanis, Director of The Museum of King John III's Palace at Wilanów, and Carolina Pietyra, Director of the Kraków Festival Office. The audience thus had the opportunity to get to know both sides of the tourist coin: the perspective of the museum professional and that of the tourist who is getting to know a place that is new to him or her.