Scientific research into the effect of tourist traffic in a tourist area have shown that the excessive concentration of tourist traffic leads to overcrowding in attractive locations, over-advertising, and aggressive commercialization, which lower the aesthetic quality of tourists’ experiences and result in the degradation of natural and cultural resources. The effect of excessive tourist numbers is an increase in the price of services, rental fees, and real estate. In historical cities, it causes the gentrification of historical districts. One of the social effects of an increase in tourist numbers is a change in attitude amongst residents towards tourists. This change is dependent on how residents perceive the positive and negative effects of tourism. The appearance of a negative attitude among residents towards tourists is a result of exceeding the social carrying capacity limits, that is, the ability to accept changes as they take place. This article assesses the attitudes of residents and tourist service providers in Kraków with regard to increasing tourist traffic and the ongoing process of change in the cityscape leading to the gentrification of districts most often visited by tourists. On the basis of a study of 518 respondents, including 371 city residents and 147 representatives of the tourist industry (hotel owners, restaurateurs, and tourist service providers), an assessment is made of their attitudes towards the specific problems of tourism development in Kraków. The research results indicate a variety of attitudes among interested parties, thus confirming the research hypothesis that actors display varied approaches with regard to the further development of tourism in Kraków. The conclusions drawn could prove useful in shaping the city’s policy on tourism according to the idea of sustainable development, by taking into consideration the current and future needs of all interested parties.

The aim of this work is to verify the relationships between the co-creation of experiences, emotions, satisfaction and behavioural intentions of visitors to museums and heritage attractions. A further aim is to examine the moderating effect that a attractions may have on the above model depending on position on the continuum of consuming experiences. The work verifies nine hypotheses regarding the relationships between the variables and the moderating influence of the heritage attraction context. The research was conducted using the survey amongst visitors to three heritage attractions in Poland (N = 465). Analysis of the relationships between the variables were conducted using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), employing the SmartPLS 3 software. The paper confirms that relationships between co-creation, experiences and satisfaction of visitors depend on the context of the heritage attractions. It has been shown that the appearance of experiences is influenced by participation in their creation.

The aim of this paper is to assess the accessibility of flagship cultural attractions—that is, museums located in Krakow, a city with a rich historical heritage included in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List and distinguished by being a recipient of the Access City Award—for people with disabilities. This research shows the degree to which these museums have been adapted to receive visitors with disabilities. Assessments were also conducted with regard to access to the museums’ websites and the possibility for virtual tours of their collections. Out of a total of 50 museums, 31 were selected for this study, both leading museums in terms of attendance, such as Wawel Royal Castle, the National Museum, the Museum of Krakow, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and smaller ones such as the Aviation Museum. The research results indicate that Krakow museums are well-prepared for receiving people with physical disabilities and seniors but are less well adapted to receiving visually impaired and blind people and hearing-impaired and deaf people. Analysis of the museums’ websites showed that they are well-prepared in terms of compatibility and comprehensibility but that they received worse assessment scores with regard to their perceivability and functionality. Visitors to the museums are principally adults, adolescents, and seniors. People with disabilities make up 10% of all visitors.

An important problem for the development of tourism in the polar regions is the determination of the limit of tourist traffic that these regions can accept, without risking the degradation of the environment. One such region is Antarctica. This article describes the environmental conditions of Antarctica that decide its attractiveness for tourists, as well as its political and legal status. The factors that determine a tourist reception area of increasing intensity are analyzed. Based on the data of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), the volume of tourist traffic was determined, and environmental problems identified, which result from tourism development in Antarctica. The model of R.W. Butler—Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC)—was used to analyze the development of tourism. By the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, the number of tourists in the Antarctic region exceeded 40 thousand, which seems to be the largest figure (the “boom phase” in the Butler cycle) in sheer numbers, and which resulted in the introduction of less tourist-friendly behavior, from the point of view of environmental protection. On the basis of IAATO data, the environmental problems that are a consequence of the development of tourism in Antarctica are identified. Reference is made to climate change affecting the area, and on the basis of the Butler cycle, the hypothetical limits of the further development of tourism are described.

Urban space is often the cause of disputes. The underlying causes of these disputes are conflicting interests, attitudes and needs regarding the way it is used. Among the various functions performed by cities, tourism activities have been distinguished as the foremost in the cities of historical value. Mass tourism has developed in the last decade and its excessive flow of tourists has in turn leaded to overtourism which as described by literature is a negative phenomenon. The causes of conflicts related to the development of tourism and their scale are very diverse. The freezing of the tourism economy during the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to balance its development in the future. As described in the article, this research aims at identifying the attitudes and expectations of Krakow's residence towards the tools of balancing the tourism economy in the post pandemic period. The statistical analysis of the acquired data collected through questionnaires from 386 respondents during July 2020 revealed that most of the respondents support the preservation of cultural heritage and landscapes over business and profit making.

This article presents considerations on business models, overtourism, and sustainable development on an example of the most important Polish tourist destination, which is Krakow. The purpose of the article is to identify the values generated and captured by tourist enterprises in the context of the occurrence of a specific level of overtourism. The authors have attempted to identify the values of sustainable tourism declared by entrepreneurs, referring to the companies providing services as well as tourists and the local community. The research, conducted on a sample of 518 respondents including 371 residents and 147 entrepreneurs, not only allowed us to determine the attitudes of Krakow inhabitants toward the phenomenon of overtourism related to the Doxey model of irritation, but also to assess the impact of having/using a business model based on the acceptance of principles in sustainable tourism development. A comparison of the results obtained between enterprises declaring having and not having a business model indicates a great similarity in terms of declared value propositions.