Tourist traffic structure in Polish mountain national parks included in the "Man and Biosphere" program

Celem niniejszej pracy jest określenie struktury ruchu turystycznego w polskich górskich parkach narodowych należących do sieci „Człowiek i Biosfera”, do których zaliczają się : Karkonoski Park Narodowy, Tatrzański Park Narodowy, Babiogórski Park Narodowy i Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy. Analizy dokonano na podstawie badań ankietowych, przeprowadzonych przede wszystkim w okresie tzw. długich weekendów, w okresie maj–czerwiec 2012 roku. Przebadano łącznie 749 ankietowanych. Według zebranych danych, zdecydowana większość turystów to osoby młode, posiadające wykształcenie wyższe. Większość wyjazdów trwała powyżej 3 dni. Ponadto większość respondentów pochodziła z województw, w których położone są parki narodowe, lub z województw sąsiadujących.The U N E S C O “Man and Biosphere” program was created mainly to protect valuable ecosystems, which are attractive places for tourists (Prato et al. 2005). There are ten biosphere reserves in Poland, including four in mountain areas of national parks : Karkonosze, Tatra, Babia Góra, and Bieszczady. The aim of this paper is to describe the general structure of tourist trends in these areas on the basis of surveys conducted mainly during so-called “long weekends ” ( M ay, June 2012 ). Respondents were asked about the length of their stay, who they were accompanied by, what types of tourist activity they were going to pursue, and the name of their hometown. According to the data collected, the majority of visitors were young people with a higher education. Most trips lasted more than three days. In addition, the majority of the respondents came from voivodeships in which national parks are located and from neighboring voivodeships

The diversity of the tourists movement in the Tatra National Park : selected examples

The Tatra National Park is the most often visited national park in Poland. About 3 milions people visit the Tatra National Park every year. The research was conducted in August and September 2009 on the Orla Perć trail and in August 2012 on the peak of Kasprowy Wierch and in the Strążyska Valley. A total number of 650 tourists were surveyed. The study includes the general characterization of the tourist structure in the Tatras. It also describes the frequency of the tourist visits and includes an assessment of tourists’ experiences in the Tatra Mountains. The results inform also about the knowledge of the TOPR emergency rescue phone number among the tourists. The main objective of the survey was to determine the tourists’ motivation. On the basis of the completed data certain conclusions were made. There are a lot of different motives for carrying out tourist activities in the Tatra National Park. Most of the tourists specified recreation and relaxation as the main objectives of their trip. A tourists’ knowledge of the TOPR emergency rescue phone number as well as the tourists’ mountain experiences are better among those people who visit the Tatras more often and those who choose more difficult trails

Monitoring of tourist traffic in the Kasprowy Wierch area : methods and research problems

Celem niniejszej pracy jest zaprezentowanie i porównanie dwóch istotnych metod pomiarowych ruchu turystycznego : pomiaru bezpośredniego i przy użyciu czujnika ruchu. W tym celu w dniach 13–15 sierpnia 2013 r. dokonano jednoczesnego pomiaru ruchu przy użyciu obydwu narzędzi, w tym samym miejscu. W pracy przedstawiono istniejące techniki badań pomiarowych oraz zaprezentowano wady i zalety dwóch metod wybranych do porównania. Ukazano również porównanie wyników obydwu badań oraz prawdopodobne przyczyny błędów pomiarowych zaistniałych w trakcie realizowanych badań.Tatra National Park is one of the most often visited national parks in Poland. The Kasprowy Wierch area is one of the most popular tourist areas in the Tatras due to its cable car. Important from the point of view of managing the Tatras would be to know the size and structure of tourist traffic. The purpose of this paper is to present and compare two relevant methods of tourist traffic measurement : ( 1 ) direct observation, ( 2 ) use of an infrared counter. Both methods were used on August 13 – 15, 2013, at the same location. The paper briefly describes tourist traffic measurement techniques and their advantageand disadvantages. The author also presents a comparison of the results of both studies and probable reasons for counting errors that occurred during the ongoing research

The role of field works in the visitor monitoring studies in mountain protected areas (a case study of Skalnaté pleso)

Skalnaté pleso is the most frequently visited place in a whole Slovakian Tatra National Park. That is because of the cable cars operating in this area. Apart from that, there are also 4 tourist trails in the area of Łomnicki Staw, which enables tourist dispersion from the research site to the other neighbouring mountain areas. Since visitor monitoring brings a lot of benefits from the perspective of protected area management, monitoring studies are priority for the protected areas managers. Monitoring research methods are divided into 4 main categories : direct on-site observations, on-site automatic countings, visit registrations and inferred counts (Cessford, Muhar 2003 ). The aim of this article is to present the role of field works in the visitor monitoring studies in the mountain protected areas. For the author’s studies, it is planned to use methods from all of the basic categories, since each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Most of the methods used by the author involve field works but only their combination with methods of statistical analysis allows for getting reliable information about visitors in protected areas, together with their spatial and qualitative distribution

Impact of experience on the motives of skiers on the example of Tatra ski resorts : Kasprowy Wierch (Poland) and Tatrzańska Łomnica (Slovakia)

Zarówno motywacje turystyczne, jak i doświadczenie turystyczne, są uzależnione m.in. od procesów psychologicznych zachodzących w każdym człowieku indywidualnie. Są one ze sobą ściśle związane pod wieloma aspektami i wzajemnie na siebie oddziałują. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest scharakteryzowanie wzajemnych zależności między motywacjami a wcześniejszymi doświadczeniami górskimi i narciarskimi respondentów z dwóch tatrzańskich ośrodków narciarskich: Kasprowy Wierch (Polska) i Tatrzańska Łomnica (Słowacja). W pracy zastosowano badania ankietowe na próbie łącznie 404 respondentów (Kasprowy Wierch - 197; Tatrzańska Łomnica - 207). Badania ankietowe przeprowadzono, stosując technikę PAPI, czyli wywiad bezpośredni, w sezonie zimowym 2014/2015 i 2015/2016. Badania potwierdzają, że zarówno motywacje turystyczne, jak i wcześniejsze doświadczenia górskie i narciarskie są od siebie zależne. Zarówno wcześniejsze doświadczenia, jak i motywacje turystyczne są zależne od innych czynników, w tym m.in. od typu uprawianej aktywności czy też częstotliwości przyjazdów. badań wynika, że przede wszystkim wcześniejsze doświadczenia górskie wpływają na inne zmienne, m.in. na motywacje turystyczne.Both the motivation and the experience of tourists depend on psychological processes, being very individual for each person. They are closely related with each other and, also, they are affected by each other in many aspects. The aim of this article is to characterize the relationship between the motivation and the past mountain and ski experience of respondents from two Tatra ski resorts: Kasprowy Wierch (Poland) and Tatrzańska Łomnica (Slovakia). In order to gain information about the motivation and experience of tourists a survey using the PAPI technique was conducted during the winter seasons 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. A total of 404 questionnaires was collected (Kasprowy Wierch - 197; Tatrzańska Łomnica - 207). The results confirm that tourists’ motivation as well as their past mountain and ski experience are dependent on each other. Past experience and tourist motivation are both affected by other factors, including the type of activity or the frequency of visits. The research also shows that especially the past mountain experience affects many other variables including tourist motivation

Tourism intensity in the area of Łomnicki Staw, July-October 2014

Monitoring ruchu turystycznego jest istotnym elementem wspierającym właściwe zarządzanie obszarami chronionymi. Pozwala on m.in. na identyfikację miejsc o dużym natężeniu ruchu turystycznego oraz potencjalnych konfliktów na linii człowiek-środowisko przyrodnicze. Łomnicki Staw, głównie dzięki funkcjonowaniu systemu kolejek linowych, jest jednym z najczęściej odwiedzanych miejsc w rejonie Tatr Słowackich. Celem niniejszych badań było określenie natężenia ruchu turystycznego na szlakach w obrębie Łomnickiego Stawu. Badania prowadzono metodą obserwacji bezpośredniej w wybrane dni od lipca do października 2014 r.Monitoring of tourist movement is an important element which support proper management of protected areas. Monitoring allows to identify the areas with the highest tourist pressure. It can also help to identify potential conflicts between man and the natural environment. Łomnicki Staw is one of the most often visited areas in the Slovak Tatra Mountains, mainly due to the functioning the cable cars.The aim of this study was to determine the tourist pressure on the trails within the Łomnicki Staw.The research were conducted using direct observation from July to October 2014

Visitor profiling for cable car mountain destinations as a basis for protected area management : a case study of the summer season in the Tatra Mountains at Kasprowy Wierch (Poland) and Skalnaté Pleso (Slovakia)

Protected areas play a crucial role in the conservation of vulnerable mountain ecosystems, but at the same time they may serve as tourist destinations and attract large numbers of visitors. Areas located in close proximity to cable cars belong to some of the most challenging sites for mountain protected area management. This study focuses on two cable car areas: Kasprowy Wierch (Tatra National Park, Poland) and Skalnaté Pleso (Tatra National Park, Slovakia). Both sites belong to the most heavily used leisure destinations in the Tatra Mountains. The study focused on the summer, snow-free tourist peak-season, for which there is an ongoing discussion concerning the development of cable car services. In 2014 and 2015, on-site interviews were conducted in the two study areas (n = 3 304). In order to better understand visitors’ needs and goals, visitor profiling using K-means clustering was performed. Four distinct segments based on visitor motivations were identified: nature oriented (32 %), family / friends & well-being oriented (23 %), sports oriented (14 %), and a mixed segment with multiple motivations (31 %). The results show that two tourist segments were not particularly interested in nature experience, although they visited protected areas. A significant relationship between motivational segments and trip characteristics was identified. The visitor segments defined can be used practically in the management of cable car destinations located within protected areas

Skiers' expectations as a challenge for managers of protected areas : a case study from the Tatra National Parks in Poland and Slovakia

Mountain areas are particularly attractive for the development of winter activities such as skiing, owing to both morphological and climatic conditions. However, mountain areas are at the same time vulnerable. For this reason, they are often under protection. This study focuses on two important and heavily used ski resorts in the Tatra National Parks, Kasprowy Wierch (Poland) and Skalnaté Pleso (Slovakia), looking at skiers’ opinions and complaints regarding the resorts. In addition, a comparison between the resorts was conducted. In order to verify the relationship between socio-demographic variables and the skiers’ opinions, two types of statistical tests were used: Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Chi-square. The results show that the Kasprowy Wierch ski resort received a larger number of negative comments than Skalnate Pleso. However, Skalnate Pleso drew more negative opinions regarding the impact of the cable car and ski area on the landscape. The consequences of fulfilling visitors’ expectations can be used practically by the managers of the protected areas

The ephemeral landscape of sunrise as a tourists’ motivating factor for night-time ascents of Babia Góra

The aim of the study was to verify changeability of the sunrise ephemeral landscape observed from the peak of Babia Góra and to confirm that it acted as a tourist attraction. Every sunrise during summer holidays weekends was observed from Babia Góra peak and described. The data about the weather conditions and number of tourists were collected. Survey interviews with randomly selected tourists who had seen sunrise (269) were conducted in order to obtain information about their motivations for night-time ascents of Babia Góra. The changeability of the ephemeral landscape of sunrise was proved. Most of the tourists who have visited Babia Góra at dawn (84%) agreed that the will to observe the sunrise was one of motivating factors for them, however they pointed out many others, as well

Sunrise as a tourist attraction in the context of tourist motivation theory : a case study of the peak of Babia Góra (Western Carpathians)

Tourist ascents of mountain peaks before sunrise are increasingly popular. Babia Góra (Western Carpathians) is a peak on the Polish-Slovak border frequently visited by a great number of tourists at sunrise. The main objective of our research, based on the case study of Babia Gora, was to answer a more general question whether the sunrise can be considered a tourist attraction. The research included the observation and description of every sunrise at summer holiday weekends during 2012 from the peak of Babia Góra as well as the collection of data on the number of tourists and weather conditions. Survey interviews, using questionnaire, with randomly selected hikers present on the peak of Babia Góra at sunrise (269) were conducted. The investigation showed that during summer holiday sunrises there were a maximum of 130 people on the summit of Babia Góra at the same time. Most of the surveyed people (84%) agreed that the opportunity to observe the sunrise was one of the pull factors for them. This confirms the hypothesis that sunrise constitutes a tourist attraction