Poland Visa Waver Impacts

Since Poland’s designation in the Visa Waiver Program on November 2019, the number of Polish temporary business and tourism travelers admitted to the United States increased 27.6% over the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

On December 30, 2019 was announced that Polish Airlines LOT is planning to start operating a direct flight to DC on June 2, 2020, three times a week to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). On October 6, 2019 was announced that LOT Polish Airlines will be launching 4x weekly flights between Warsaw and San Francisco as of August 5, 2020.

The timing of this announcement was not a coincidence, as it came shortly after President Trump announced the visa waiver program  for Polish travelers to the US. Poles traveling to the US increased 8.2% from 2018 to 2019.

San Francisco became LOT Polish Airlines’ sixth non-stop US destination, adding to their Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Newark, NJ routes.  The airline services these destinations from Warsaw, and have added additional direct flights to the US from smaller markets such as Krakow and Rzeszów, some of which are seasonal.

In August 2019, American Airlines announced new seasonal flights from Krakow to Chicago , starting May 2020.
 
The impact of the Visa Waver program for Polish travelers to US has and will continue to show positive growth for the US travel and tourism industry. Unfortunately early growth figures will be marred by the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

For more information about the Polish Visa Waver program and for updates, please contact Commercial Specialist Alicja Drolet at alicja.drolet@trade.gov or U.S. Commercial Service Poland office.warsaw@trade.gov.