The vast majority of the city’s workforce is employed in the private sector and, with about 6 million people visiting the city each year, tourism and tourist related service industries dominate the economy. However, Krakow is also Poland’s fourth most important manufacturing city and its main products include metals, pharmaceuticals and tobacco.

The city is home to some of the country’s largest companies, such as Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy PBK S.A, which has its headquarters in the city, and Sendzimir Steelworks, which is one of Krakow’s largest employers. Krakow has also attracted substantial amounts of foreign investment, with companies such as Deutsche Bank, Hertz, McDonalds, Motorola and PricewaterhouseCoopers having established a presence in the city.

Krakow lies in a prominent position, at a crossroads between Germany and Ukraine, and close to the borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and has excellent road and rail connections. Journeys to Warsaw by train take in the region of 2.5 hours, while other major European cities such as Berlin, Budapest, Prague and Vienna can all be reached in a few hours.

Krakow’s John Paul II International Airport is Poland’s second busiest, catering for approximately 1 million passengers a year, and is situated about 15 kilometres from the centre of the city. The airport caters for direct flights to and from most prominent European cities, such as Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Rome, Vienna and Zurich, as well as flights to and from New York and Chicago. Flight times between Krakow and London and Krokow and New York, take about 2 hours 20 minutes and 8 hours 40 minutes respectively.