Spa resorts in Europe have recently faced a need to adapt to the heterogeneous market, due to the health-related demand changes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough assessment of tourists visiting spa resorts. The present study focuses primarily on Polish medical (therapeutic) spa resorts. The findings of the primary study reveal a complex approach to the profiling of spa resort tourists who were categorized into two groups regarding funding source of treatment, namely non-commercial and commercial. Primary data were obtained from 2050 tourists visiting the medical Polish spa resorts relating to the socio-demographic, behavioural and psychographic characteristics. The empirical evidence is based on a variety of statistical tools chosen according to the measurement scale for answers (metric, non-metric data). Knowing the profiles of spa resort tourists is important for local government entities and managers of spa treatment enterprises in order to develop and manage a spa resort product that meets the needs of their customers.

Geotourism and industrial tourism are the newest developments of tourism industry. Recent world seeks the new offers, the new ideas of free time activities. People are used to have a choice and to look for new destinations. Monotonous, uniform schedules of standard tourism entertainments are over. Diversity brings attractiveness and makes the new products more competitive at the tough tourism market. Geotourism and industrial tourism attractions, the latter commonly related to the closure of factories, perfectly fit to diversification of the offers, so much appreciated by modern tourists.

Tourist activity of secondary school students between 15 and 19 was evaluated. Research focuses on social factors influencing tourist activity among Kraków's youths. Observation of leisure activities, frequency of travel, and reasons for travelling leads to the determination of probable main trends in youth tourism.

In theoretical studies on the typology of tourists, various criteria for their identification can be found. A drawback of this approach is the lack of one common concept of tourist division, which would allow for comparing research results at various academic and marketing centers. There is a definition problem of tourism and the tourist themselves, the concepts often differing from each other, thus, there is no common ground on which the theories of the separation and division of tourists can be built. In the presented publication, a review of selected, varying tourist types have been conducted. Typologies of tourists are based on various criteria, ranging from sociological and psychological to demographic, geographic, economic, marketing and others often having an interdisciplinary basis. First of all, attempts were made to show the diversity of typological concepts presented in the world. They are used in scientific research but only refer to a small group of respondents and it is difficult to compare the results with other results based on other divisions. In conclusion, a new, proprietary division has been proposed, which, it seems, could be used by various academic centers, allowing greater possibilities for the comparison of research results in the area of tourism. It is based on the awareness and subjective understanding of the phenomenon of tourism which is interpreted differently in many areas and environments.

W artykule dokonano analizy rozwoju turystyki przemysłowej i geoturystki w oparciu o istniejące walory znajdujące się na terenie Tarnowskich Gór. Jest to jedno z najciekawszych miast w Polsce, posiadających walory, które stanowią dziedzictwo narodowe związane z rozwojem górnictwa i przemysłu. Zwrócono również uwagę na możliwości rozwoju tych form turystyki, które mogą stać się szansą rozwoju miasta przez turystykę. Powiązania przemysłu, geologii i turystyki są w Tarnowskich Górach aż nadto widoczne. Autorzy artykułu starali się to wyeksponować.//The state of development of attractions, basing on the product of industrial tourism and geotourism in Tarnowskie Góry, has been analysed in the article. Tarnowskie Góry is one of the most fascinating cities in Poland possessing great value that constitute national heritage as far as development of mining and industry is concerned. Considerable attention has been given to the possibility of development of these forms of tourism which can become a chance for the city’s development via tourism. The interrelations between industry, geology and tourism are clearly visible in Tarnowskie Góry. Thus the authors of this paper have aimed at highlighting that very fact.