ng="EN-US">After the war, in 1945 Wadowice retained
its powiat town status and until 1975 served as a notable centre of commerce
and transport in the Kraków Voivodeship. After that the town was transferred to
the newly created Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. After the peaceful transformation
of the political and economical system in Poland (in 1989), most of the local
industry was found inefficient and went bankrupt. However, the ecological and
historical heritage of the area as well as its status as the birthplace of Pope
Saint John Paul II led to fast growth of tourism. Currently more than 200,000
people visit Wadowice every year and this number is rising
