Protected Areas: Geotourist Attractiveness for Weekend Tourists Based on the Example of Gorczański National Park in Poland

Abstract

The aim of the publication was to assess the geotourist attractiveness of protected areas in Poland among weekend tourists based on the example of Gorczański National Park. The park location near urbanized areas makes it an attractive field for research on weekend tourism development. The tourist potential of the park is presented, starting from geological aspects and geotourist values. Then, the tourist potential was analysed, with a focus on geotourist resources, which include tourist trails and didactic routes. The tourist traffic volume was also examined. On the basis of legal documents, such as nature conservation plans, threats related to tourism development in protected areas were presented as indicated by park managers. In accordance with the Act on Nature Conservation, the threats are divided into four groups: internal existing and potential threats and external existing and potential threats. The tourists’ opinion on the geotourist attractiveness of the park was investigated with surveys conducted during selected weekends significant in the context of tourist traffic volume. Thus, a profile of people visiting the park for short stays was obtained, as well as their assessment of the tourist resources of the area, with particular emphasis on geotourist values.

Geoheritage and Geotourism Resources

“…The general approach includes geosites/geomorphosites identification and evaluation by means of several methodologies [5][6][7][8][9][10]. This step is generally followed by the proposition of geo-itineraries that, in the case of areas already included in protected areas [14][15][16]26], aims at implementing the valorizations of the sites and at focusing on their potential didactic/touristic values. In particular, Perotti et al [15] explained how different methods and approaches (fieldtrips and virtual tours together with more traditional ones like explicative panels and in situ museum) helped in outlining the geodiversity of the Valsesia Geopark.…”

“…In particular, Perotti et al [15] explained how different methods and approaches (fieldtrips and virtual tours together with more traditional ones like explicative panels and in situ museum) helped in outlining the geodiversity of the Valsesia Geopark. Widawsky et al [26] instead analyzed the tourist potential in terms of Geotourism of the Gorczański National Park in Poland. They focused on tourist trails and didactic routes already existing in the park and investigated the tourists' opinion on the geotourist attractiveness of the Park.…”

“…Proposal of a geo-itinerary and 3D models (Valente et al[14]); -Proposal of fieldtrips and virtual tours (Perotti et al[15]); -Proposal of a geoitinerary with educational purposes (Santangelo et al[16]); -Piacentini et al[17]; -Sansò,[18]; -Selmi et al[19]; -Kubalíková,[20]; -Carrión-Mero et al[21] Geological -Promotion of Geoheritage and Geotourism -Areas not included in a Geopark -Proposal of a Geo-archaeological itinerary (Piacentini et al,[17]); -Recognition, selection and Promotion of a single Geomorphosite (Sansò,[18]); -Recognition, selection and quantitative assessment of geosites (Selmi et al,[19]); -Assessment of tourist's potential of geomorphosites and extended SWOT analysis(Kubalíková,[20]); -Qualitative and quantitative assessment of a potential geosite (Carrión-Mero et al[21]) -Melelli,[22]; -Pasquarè-Mariotto et al[23]; -Filocamo et al[24] Geological -Promotion of Geoheritage and Geotourism by exhibition, remote sensing analysis and apps -Areas not included in a Geopark -Proposal of a multimedia exhibition(Melelli,[22]); -Field photos, UAV images and 3D models (Pasquarè-Mariotto et al[23]); -Creation of an app for electronic devices (Filocamo et al[24])-Rozenkiewicz et al[25]; -Widawski et al[26]; -Zgłobicki et al[27]; Geographical -Investigate Geotourism and Geoheritage from the tourists' perspective -Online information availability on georesources (Rozenkiewicz et al[25]); -Opinion of weekend tourists (Widawski et al[26]) -Geosite assessments and questionnaire to tourists (Zgłobicki et al[27]);…”

Developing a scale for measuring influential factors towards geotourism development

“…The existence of a rich historic, cultural and geographic heritage, such as geotourism, offers is considered, sometimes even over-deterministically, as one of the most important factors for tourism development (Gravari-Barbas 2018:5). The relationship between tourism and development of specific geotourism through leveraging heritage is one of the most discussed subjects in recent years by the academic tourism literature (Rozenkiewicz, Widawski & Jary 2020;Santa-Cruza & Lopez-Guzman 2017;Santangelo & Valente 2020;Widawski et al 2020).…”

“…Geotourism can assist to create local enterprises and new jobs (Dowling & Newsome 2010;UNESCO 2016) and educate tourists and local people on the need to protect geopark attributes. For example, geotourism has been effectively utilised to establish local enterprises and educate tourists and local people in order to promote conservation of geoheritage sites in Europe, Asia, Australia and Canada (Newsome et al 2012;Rozenkiewicz et al 2020;Santangelo & Valente 2020;Widawski et al 2020).…”