The Arche Group, a hospitality and real-estate company that runs 23 hotels across Poland, announced an incentive scheme intended to lift the country’s declining birth rate.
Branded Arche Generations, the initiative targets heterosexual couples in which at least one partner was an adult Polish citizen living in Poland. Couples who booked a stay at any of the group’s properties and later showed that conception occurred during the visit were promised a free family celebration, at one of the company’s venues. VRT NWS noted that the firm had not clarified how parents were expected to prove conception connected to the stay.
The program also offered a bonus of 10,000 zlotys (about €2,345) to buyers of Arche Group apartments who had a child after moving in, and the company planned to give similar bonuses to employees who became parents.
Poland’s population stood at roughly 37.4 million in June 2023, about one million fewer than in 2015, and the Central Statistical Office recorded 157,000 more deaths than births in 2023.
On its website the company stated that it was alarmed by the falling birth rate and aimed to create conditions that supported family growth, adding that medical documentation establishing pregnancy timelines would be required before any benefit was granted.
Industry observers called the plan an unusual twist on loyalty marketing, arguing that complimentary banquets or cash bonuses might appeal to couples already considering parenthood.
Privacy advocates warned that couples could hesitate to share medical data, and critics noted the campaign excluded same-sex couples, single parents, and most foreign guests.
“We want to support the growth of Polish families and celebrate life’s most important moments alongside them,” said a company spokesperson in remarks circulated to local media.
Produced with the assistance of a news-analysis system.