Overtourism results in pressure exerted on the natural environment, negative impacts on local communities and lower tourist satisfaction in many protected areas (PAs). This phenomenon has become an increasingly important issue in the management of national parks (NPs) in Poland, especially the mountain ones. Countering and alleviating the effects of overtourism requires developing appropriate management strategies based on the detailed analysis of tourism monitoring data. Having recognized this need, a research was conducted to develop methodology for analyzing daily visitors in NPs (methodological objective), to identify regularities characteristic for visitor flow in mountain NPs in Poland (cognitive objective), and to present the usefulness of monitoring studies in developing effective strategies aimed at tourist traffic management in NPs and their surrounding areas (application objective). The availability of data allowed conducting analyses for three national parks: The Pieniny NP (PNP), The Stołowe Mountains NP (SMNP) and The Tatra NP (TNP). The analyses covering the period 2017-2022 revealed a strong intensification of visitor flow and a growing problem of overtourism in the analyzed areas, primarily in TNP. An increase in maximum daily values, the number of days showing these values, and intensified tourist traffic off-high season were found. Using Daily Visitor Index and Seasonality Index, high-, mid-, and low seasons were identified, including the similarities in traffic seasonality between PNP and SMNP, along with the different nature of TNP, where the winter season was additionally separated. Using the Monthly Visitor Index and Gini coefficient, the long-term variation analysis revealed a reduction in the seasonality of tourism resulting from higher intensity of visits off summer season, in particular the extension of mid-seasons. Due to the growing number of high season visitors and the increasing visitor flow, it is necessary to implement time-limit measures at specific locations and activities aimed at temporal and spatial tourist traffic dispersion. The study shows the development process of overtourism in NPs. It also gives indications that the uneven spatial distribution of visitor flow determines the need for diagnosing overtourism in places and periods with the highest visitation intensity. Such a diagnosis is essential for effective tourism management in NPs and supports decision-making processes for the development of surrounding localities.

National parks are highly valuable natural areas and have the potential to attract a large number of visitors. The number of visitors at national parks is systematically increasing, often exceeding Tourism Carrying Capacity (TCC) of trails. This situation requires adjusting the number of park visitors to adapt to sustainable management systems of visitor flow, thus preventing or counteracting overtourism. The aim of the study is to propose a comprehensive method for tourists monitoring in mid-mountain national park presented on the example of the Stołowe Mountains National Park (SMNP) in Poland, called as Monitoring System of tourist traffic (MSTT). The study describes six stages procedure of tourists Monitoring System creation and application as an optimal measurement technique. The MSTT enabled a multidimensional analysis of tourist traffic in SMNP. With the help of 39 pyroelectric sensors and surveys data spatio-temporal characteristic of visitor flow was obtained. The data generated in MSTT included hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual reports, taking into account the direction of traffic measuring both directions: entries (IN), exits (OUT) and passages (IN+OUT). The results from pyroelectric sensors were supplemented with field surveys, where visitor’s motivations, preferences, and behaviours were determined. In 2017 a total of 871,344 visitors were recorded in SMNP what causes one of the most popular national parks in Poland. The SMNP is a suitable destination for short breaks leisure visits in wilderness. In order to sustain MSTT methodology in the long-run the set of guidelines together with the workload estimates were presented. In the future, the MSTT can be further developed, including monitoring of climbing, cycling, cross-country skiing, car traffic and illegal tourism assessment. The MSTT can be considered as a useful tool for tourism management in mid-mountain national parks throughout the entire calendar year.

In recent years the Stołowe Mountains National Park has become an increasingly popular destination for the purposes of mountain tourism. Such tourism takes different forms throughout the year, but the most common is hiking. Its continuing popularity results from the close contact with nature it provides, along with the possibility of active leisure pursuits and exploration. The aim of the study is to describe the motivations, preferences and leisure behaviours of hiking tourists who visit the Stołowe Mountains National Park, through survey-based research in 2015 and 2016. The study will highlight the relationship between the respondents’ characteristics and their motivations, preferences and behaviour, to identify the main kinds of tourists.

The potential of the Sudetes Mountains for the development of geotouristic products // Potencjał regionu Sudetów w kreowaniu produktów geoturystycznych

A landscape is part of our daily lives and our perception of its features may significantly impact our quality of life. This article presents the results of research aimed at determining the influence of biometeorological conditions on the way in which we perceive the landscape. An eye tracker was used throughout each season of the year to determine how 52 respondents observed the landscape while taking into consideration whether the landscape had a favorable or unfavorable impact on those same respondents. Additionally, each test was preceded by the completion of a questionnaire intended to assess the mental and physical state of each respondent. The calculated eye movement indexes demonstrated the impact of the biometeorological conditions on their perception of the landscape. Statistically significant differences in their perception of the landscape were ascertained depending on the type of weather and the respondents’ general feeling irrespective of their sex.