This work is a review paper aimed to identify the research area and methodology of analysing tourist traffic and the consumption of tourist services in Polish national parks. The study is based on ...desk research and interviews with persons responsible for monitoring tourist traffic and/or research work in particular parks. The paper focuses on the methods of measuring tourist traffic – a basis for conducting further qualitative research. Attention is given to the diversified methodology in this area, which results in inconsistent information in published data concerning particular national parks. The further part of the work presents a review of research studies conducted among tourists. The majority of parks lack continuous studies and coordinated methodology, which hinders analyses carried out in a broader time and space frame (for many parks). The range of research issues is diversified, and there are a number of works which identify the profile of tourists visiting particular parks, as well as their space-related behaviour and motivation. However, there are few analyses focused on visitors’ preferences and consumer behaviour in local tourism markets and changes in this area, or assessments of the economic significance of tourism in local development.
The article attempts to contribute to the global discussion on the social aspects of the functioning of protected areas. It explores the attitudes of local communities towards national parks and the ...determinants of those attitudes. The problem is presented using the example of Ojców National Park (Pol. OPN), a small-area national park located in the suburban zone of Kraków (Poland) and subject to strong pressure of tourism and suburbanisation. The analysis is based on interviews with people residing within the boundaries or buffer zone of the OPN. The residents are proud to live in a scenic location; they tend to perceive the national park in the context of its significant natural value rather than its administration and the related restrictions, and mostly approve of its existence. There is a high support for implementing the participative model of local area management. At the same time, however, the residents’ preferred methods of area management are in conflict with the need to protect the Park’s natural and landscape values. The residents favour commercial tourism infrastructure within the protected area and residential housing development in its close vicinity. The residents’ attitudes towards the Park are also shaped to a large extent by complex factors relating to the area’s history and its location within the suburban zone of a major city.
An increasingly popular approach to protected areas as places that should combine natural and socioeconomic goals, poses questions regarding the effects of achieving such goals, particularly in the ...context of generating local economic benefits. Therefore, the objectives of this study are as follows: (1) determining the level and diversity of the socioeconomic development of communes with national parks as compared with neighboring communes that are not protected because of national parks (treating them as a point of reference for comparisons), and (2) presenting the level of tourism development in communes with national parks as compared with neighboring areas and other components of socioeconomic development. The achievement of the research objectives is based on the use of 28 indicators which, following the standardization process, allow for constructing a synthetic index (Composite Development Index-CDI) that shows development disparities in the two analyzed groups of communes. The results indicate that communes with national parks are characterized by a slightly higher level of general development as compared with other communes and a considerably higher level of tourism development. However, it should be noted that the adopted indicators differ considerably in both groups of communes.
The article examines the attitudes of local communities towards national parks in Poland. Specifically, it aims to recognize the main factors determining the residents’ individual attitudes towards ...the Babia Góra National Park (Polish Carpathian Mts). The analysis is based on the results of questionnaire surveys carried out among the residents of the municipalities within which the park is located. Research results show that individual attitudes of residents towards national parks are determined by: a) the perception of the park’s managing entity, b) the level of access to natural resources covered by legal protection, and c) a subjectively assessed balance of gains and losses related to the park’s impact on the lives of individuals and the local economy. The analysis concluded, inter alia, that not all factors determining the residents’ attitudes and opinions create the potential for social conflict. Moreover, the entities managing national parks should be more involved in creating development opportunities for local communities. This issue should also be more widely reflected in nature conservation policy in Poland.
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