Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze the phenomenon of urban tourism hypertrophy (UTH) in the context of the process of tourism-related social conflicts formation; and second, to discuss the extent to which destination management organizations (DMOs) are prepared to take responsibilities and actions undertaken in this process. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts conflict management (CM) theory as a framework for discussing UTH within the city context. The paper then analyzes the empirical example of social conflict in Kraków (Poland) to assess the predispositions of key institutions engaged in destination governance to lead CM process triggered by UTH. The Circle of Conflict approach proposed by C. Moore (The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2014) is utilized as the main application method. Findings The study shows that DMO is the most appropriate entity to deal with UTH as a conflict manager; however, it has insufficient resources to fulfill all requirements relating to that role. Therefore, the range of responsibilities and roles of the contemporary DMOs should be completed with CM as the permanent task during UTH crisis. Research limitations/implications The example study was based on interviews carried out with a limited number of informants. Also, the contextual nature of the research as well as specific destination governance structure in Kraków blurred the picture of DMOs predispositions to leading the CM process. Practical implications The study supports urban DMO managers by suggesting a tool of diagnosis and intervention in UTH-induced conflicts. Thus, it makes fulfilling the mediator role a destination governance task. Social implications CM brings agreement among parties as to the understanding of the nature of conflict, which forms the basis for quick and mutually agreed actions, according to sustainable development principles. Originality/value The paper proposes an alternative approach to mitigate UTH-related problems in cities by adopting the CM framework which emphasizes the universal nature of conflict causes and proposes adequate tools for undertaking actions by DMOs.

Academic papers on the COVID-19 pandemic and tourism adopt the perspective of strengthening tourism resilience or recognize the ongoing crisis as an opportunity for reflection and the need to redefine tourism development strategies. This article examines these issues using the example of Kraków, a tourism city that, on the eve of the pandemic outbreak, was experiencing symptoms of overtourism. Using a case study approach, the authors illustrate the strategies applied at the city level, as well as the range of measures and actions used to support the tourism industry during the full pandemic year. The Kraków case shows that the pandemic time can be used to reorganize relations between local tourism stakeholders and to create a new formula for a tourism city in the so-called ‘new normal’. In addition, the exploratory case study allows for the formulation of research problems for further work on tourism cities responses to COVID-19. This can focus on a revision of the tourist offer and profile; the role of culture and the accompanying technology-facilitated innovations; the continuation of ‘being-a-tourist-in-your-own-city’, as promoted in the pandemic; tourists’ reactions to introduced changes; and shaping (new) relations between tourism stakeholders in the (post)pandemic city.

The debate on overtourism still lacks conceptual precision in its delineation of the constituent elements and processes. In particular, conflict theory is rarely adopted, even though the social conflict is inscribed into the nature of this phenomenon. This article aims to frame the discussion about (over)tourism within the perspective of social conflict theory by adopting the conflict deconstructing methods in order to diagnose the constructs and intensity of disputes associated with overtourism. In pursuit of this aim, the study addresses the following two research questions: (1) To what extent has the heuristic power of the conflict theory been used in overtourism discourse? and (2) How can overtourism be measured by the nature of the social conflicts referring to urban tourism development? The systematic literature review was conducted to analyze research developments on social conflicts within the overtourism discourse. In the empirical section (the case studies of the Polish cities, Krakow and Poznan), we deconstruct the social conflicts into five functional causes (i.e., values, relationship, data, structural, and interests) to diagnose the nature of the conflicts with respect to urban tourism development. This study shows that value conflicts impact most intensively on the nature and dynamics of the conflicts related to overtourism.

The aim of this article is to evaluate selected tourism development strategies in Poland, in the context of strategic planning, stakeholders' participation, and sustainable development principles. A questionnaire evaluation of strategy (44 questions) was established and based on measurement scales developed and validated by other authors in earlier studies. The five authors of the study rated 37 tourism development strategies in 13 provinces, 11 cities, 5 counties, 6 municipalities, and 2 other areas. Analysis revealed that they implement paradigms of sustainable development of tourism to only a small extent. Definitely higher quality is documented for higher levels of administrative division. The highest rated domains of the tourism development strategy in the examined documents are Strategic Planning Indicators and Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation. ARTICLE HISTORY

Purpose This study aims to identify the factors which affect Generation Y’s activity in social media (SM) while traveling. It draws on and extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) and social influence theory. It examines the effects of social influence processes (compliance, identification and internalization), perceived enjoyment (PE), perceived risk, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on tourism-related SM activity. Design/methodology/approach The study tested the model with a sample of 420 Polish Y’s who had traveled in the preceding 12 months and used SM. The verification of the hypotheses and the analysis of relationships between the variables were performed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings Out of the four variables of the TAM, only PE has significantly and directly affected Ys’ tourism-related activity in SM. From among the three processes of social influence, only internalization has had a significant impact on the enjoyment of SM use and, consequently, on the SM activity of Generation Y. Research limitations/implications This study covered only Polish Y’s. In the future, the formulated hypotheses should be verified in other generational cohorts, in sub-cohorts of Y’s and in other cultural contexts. Furthermore, limitations include lack of randomization of the survey distribution. Practical implications The presented results show a generational portrait of an increasingly important consumer group on the tourism market in relation to factors affecting their tourism-related activity in SM. Originality/value This is one of few studies (the first in the Central and Eastern Europe context) to examine Generation Y’s adoption of SM in tourism-related activity drawing on and extending the TAM and processes of social influence.

W artykule zaprezentowano autorskie ujęcie hipertrofii turystyki miejskiej, jak i genezę tego zjawiska w kontekście przemian współczesnego miasta. Przedstawiono, na podstawie literatury, logikę włączania i wykorzystywania turystyki w transformacji miejskiej gospodarki i przestrzeni oraz przypisane jej role w polityce miejskiej. Pokazano ponadto w różnych kontekstach geograficznych procesy i zjawiska towarzyszące współczesnej turystyfikacji miasta, w tym zyskującą na znaczeniu finansjalizację zasobów mieszkaniowych.

Although eco-friendly (pro-environmental) behaviour in tourism has attracted interest among practitioners and scholars, little is known about the influence of these attitudes on the choice of eco-friendly destinations, especially in the context of emerging tourist markets such as India. Thus, this article aims to verify a model of the relationships between attitudes towards the environment and eco-friendly tourism, social and personal norms regarding environmentally responsible behaviour, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions regarding eco-friendly destinations and the willingness to pay for such trips using the theory of planned behaviour. The study used an online survey conducted with 598 Indians. The relationships between the variables were analysed using PLS-PM. The most important results indicated that (1) there are significant relationships between the attitude towards the environment, the attitude towards an eco-friendly destination, social and personal norms and behavioural control and intentions regarding travelling to eco-destinations and (2) well-educated young Indian consumers expressed a positive attitude towards eco-friendly destinations; however, there was only a very weak relationship between this attitude and willingness to pay more for trips to them. These findings are valuable for pro-environmental planning and the growing green market/economy, as well as for the discussion on the future of pro-environmental tourism development.

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