Cooperativism originated in Europe in the mid-19th century and despite many evolutions as a form of socio-economic movement, it remains an important link in many world economies. The traditions of the Polish social economy, or the Polish cooperative movement, are undoubtedly important and extremely interesting.
This tradition includes the Gromada National Tourist Cooperative .
Founders of the Gromada Tourist and Recreation Cooperative . The initial goal was to provide members with the opportunity to enjoy affordable leisure and tourism, mainly for residents of rural communities. The idea of organizing a tourist cooperative was brought by Kazimierz Wyszomirski from Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, where he spent time participating in the work of the Slavic Rural Youth Association. It's also worth mentioning that Wyszomirski brought the idea of health cooperatives from our southern neighbors. He later successfully popularized such institutions in the Polish countryside.
At the beginning, the Cooperative conducted typical tourist activities, by organizing, among other things, tours of the production plants of the Społem Cooperative in many cities in Poland. Before the outbreak of World War II, about 100,000 people from rural families and cooperative activists were served by Gromada's services.
Another important pre-war initiative of the Gromada Cooperative was to order a very large, by pre-war standards, batch of 100,000 bicycles named Gromada from state-run factories in Radom and Bydgoszcz. In the summer of 1939, the board of Gromada began negotiations with the Bydgoszcz bicycle factory, with the aim of signing a contract for the production of another 500 thousand bicycles.
The Gromada Tourist - Recreation Cooperative organized foreign trips for Polish farmers who were interested in rural cooperatives, especially the organization of health cooperatives.
Participants of these trips had the opportunity to combine leisure with learning and exploring modern agricultural techniques and technologies.
In the year and a half of its activity, before the outbreak of World War II, over 3700 people were able to visit Denmark, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, and Germany. These trips led to an increase in their agricultural know-how.
The founders were guided by intuition, believing that they had a good business idea, which was later confirmed in the coming decades. A travel agency of international service standards was created. It became a window onto the world for the citizens of the Second Polish Republic.
Such dynamic development of tourism prompted the then President of the Board, Kazimierz Wyszomirski, together with professor Marian Rapacki to propose a project to construct, or purchase a sea faring tourist ship. By the resolution of the Gromada Board of August 1, 1939, it was decided to purchase a passenger ship from a London shipyard, which was to bear the name Gromada. The outbreak of the war prevented the completion of this interesting concept.
In 1958, a year after being reactivated, the Gromada Association, which brought together several dozen member organizations, served 250,000 people on domestic tours, and also made it possible for 1,700 people to travel abroad.
In 1961, Gromada had branches in all provincial cities and several county offices. Gromada, as the first travel agency in Poland, also introduced educational tourism.
The offices quickly found foreign partners and tour operators, and began extensive cooperation with countries open to tourism to Poland and Europe.
What's more, it was Gromada that, starting in the early sixties, began organizing "vacations under the pear tree" for residents of large cities on peasant farms. This would be the beginning of what today is known as agrotourism.
In May 1967, during the General Assembly of Representatives, a resolution was adopted to change the name from the Tourist and Recreation Cooperative to the National Tourist Cooperative.
Currently, Gromada Travel Agencies (both owned and licensed) serve domestic and foreign clients by offering the organization of weekend trips and vacation stays both domestically and abroad. They are also well known for the organization of "incentive" trips and comprehensive travel services for both institutional and individual clients. Additionally, the agencies also offer a package of additional services, such as airline tickets, ferry tickets, coach tickets, train tickets, a full range of insurance, visa services, hotel reservations, transfers, car rentals.
With time, the potential of the Gromada National Tourist Cooperative evolved and changed along with the Polish economy. The result of these changes was the expansion of the organization's hotel services.
The first Gromada hotel (opened on September 9, 1961) was a facility in Warsaw at Placu Powstańców Warszawy 2, recognizable to this day by its name "Peasant's House" ('Dom Chlopa'). The cooperative did very well in the conditions of the partially closed economies of Eastern Bloc countries by welcoming and serving hotel guests in accordance with high, Western standards.
The next Gromada hotels were established in the 1970s and 1980s. These were hotels in: Zakopane (1974), Łomża (1975), Toruń (1977), Piła (1987), and a facility in Busko - Zdrój (1981) dedicated to the spa treatment of farmers. The seventies and eighties brought with them new additions to the growing Gromada chain. Namely, two large resorts were built at this time in Międzyzdroje and Krynica-Zdroju.
In the following years, the Cooperative expanded the chain further by purchasing and launching hotels under the umbrella of its own brand in Poznań (1997), Koszalin (2001), and Radom (2001). In 2002, the construction of the second wing of the 'Dom Chłopa' Hotel in Warsaw was completed.
What sets Gromada's hotels and resorts apart is their excellent locations, a combination of tradition with modernity, high-quality service standards, and top notch traditional Polish cuisine. All facilities offer a wide range of hotel, gastronomic, and conference services.
With one eye toward historical traditions and concepts of pre-war health cooperatives, and the other to contemporary challenges, we offer rest combined with treatment at the Gromada Medical SPA Hotel in Busko-Zdrój. This resort offers a one of a kind treatment facility with biological renewal.
Looking at the Cooperative through the prism of its 87-year activity, it can confidently be recognized as an important entity in the tourism and hotel industries in Poland.
We are proud that over the years we have been able to serve millions of people, fulfilling their dreams of traveling, exploring the most interesting corners of Poland and the world, and hosting them in our hotel and leisure facilities.
We invite you to our Hotels, Resort and Tourist Offices. Go to www.gromada.pl to find our latest offers.
See you at Gromada!
