Sommelier jako nowa profesja w polskiej branży hotelarsko-gastronomicznej

The growing level of education and the changing lifestyle of tourists influence the increasingly sophisticated consumer tastes. Thus, in all kinds of tourist service centres, such as hotels and restaurants, there is a need to employ people with high qualifications. One of the jobs in the hospitality industry which is still not a standard in Poland but which begins to grow is the profession of a sommelier. This is a person working in the field of catering whose duties consist in the care of wine. The position, in the context of the hospitality market, refers to hotels and gastronomic objects. The aim of the paper is to present the sommelier profession and the national context for its development. In addition, an attempt is made to estimate the size of employment in the profession in Poland. The article consists of three substantive parts, allowing to characterize the sommelier profession, to indicate the development conditions for the sommelier profession in Poland, and to describe sommeliers in the Polish hospitality industry in terms of quantity and quality.