Slovakia is renowned for its remarkable and rare natural beauty, abundant in natural resources with several noteworthy geological features. However, the protection of nature has primarily been understood as the protection of biodiversity in Slovakia. For the conservation of geological diversity and landforms, very little has been done. Geoconservation or the protection of geodiversity is being applied to specific places known as geosites, where significant earth elements (geological, paleontological, geomorphological, hydrological and pedological) are protected, preserved and managed. Most geosites benefit from existing protected areas. Their protection is random and does not result from the recognition of their values. As discussed in the paper, geotourism related activities can undoubtedly contribute to promoting the protection of geosites in protected areas. Besides, through a geotourism approach, geodiversity can obtain public attention and positively influence the state of protected areas by its activities. Such initiatives not only can improve the protection of geological sites but also can play a crucial role in sustainable tourism development.

Geotourism as a globally growing phenomenon is based on several principles where sustainability plays a key role. The value of an individual site of visitors’ interest (geosite, geomorphosite, or site of geological heritage—a primary point of interest in geotourism) may be expressed via specific assessment methods. However, recent geosite assessment methods are primarily focused on various aspects of geoheritage (e.g., location, scientific value, representativeness, etc.) and very low attention is paid to the majority of geotourism participants—people for whom the various geotourism products are introduced and offered. The geotourism development itself would not be possible without interest of tourists (visitors) in such places. Without the knowledge of relevant visitor data incorporated within the assessment, as discussed in this paper, such values, representing the result of the geosite assessment process, cannot be effectively utilized to help future geosite development and management activities related to overall (geo)tourism progress.

This study examines the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in tourism planning and sustainable destination management, using Gelnica, Slovakia, as a case study. The research highlights a key challenge—the absence of systematic visitor data collection—which hinders tourism market analysis, demand assessment, and strategic decision-making. The study integrates alternative data sources, including the Google Places API, to address this gap to analyse Points of Interest (POIs) based on user-generated reviews, ratings, and spatial attributes. The methodological framework combines data acquisition, spatial analysis, and GIS-based visualisation, employing thematic and heat maps to assess tourism resources and visitor behaviour. The findings reveal critical spatial patterns and tourism dynamics, identifying high-demand zones and underutilised locations. Results underscore the potential of GIS to optimise tourism infrastructure, enhance visitor management, and inform evidence-based decision-making. This study advocates for systematically integrating GIS technologies with visitor monitoring and digital tools to improve destination competitiveness and sustainability. The proposed GIS-driven approach offers a scalable and transferable model for data-informed tourism planning in similar historic and environmentally sensitive regions.

Sustainable tourism development within protected areas has been a subject of interest for professionals. The effective development of nature-based tourism can be beneficial to both the environment and people. This work presents the results of research on the positive and negative impacts of tourism in protected areas of Slovakia as perceived by the administrations of individual protected areas of the country. Subsequently, the paper highlights the major issues affecting sustainable tourism development in protected areas in Slovakia, based on a review of recent legislation and strategic documents. The results of the study indicate that the status of a large-scale protected area does not play a role in the perception of the impact of tourism. The most significant impacts of tourism in protected areas, according to their administrations’ perceptions, include an increase in waste production, informing local people about the value of the natural and cultural heritage, the education of visitors, the conflict of interest in using natural resources when doing business in a protected area, and the destruction of natural habitats. However, when linking the impacts of tourism to sustainable tourism development in these areas, current Slovak legislation does not allow for the sufficient development of nature-based tourism in protected areas in Slovakia. In this regard, appropriate measures are required to positively change the recent situation in this field.

The impact of tourism on quality of life standards in regions is significant in terms of people, planet, and profit. This paper examines the subnational NUTS 2 level regions, (in line with Eurostat) by applying several interlinked and connected indicators. Adopting the three Ps (people, planet, profit) of the Sustainability Services Marketing Mix, this article discusses the fusion of 54 regions of Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria) into clusters according to the selected accommodation tourism indicators used by the European Statistical Agency (Eurostat) to evaluate tourism. Since many variables of the Prague region significantly exceed the values of the remaining regions, this region has been considered as an individual cluster, excluded from the cluster analysis. The cluster analysis resulted in the definition of six clusters consisting of regions with similar indicators’ statistics characteristics. The presented approach changes the traditional approach to clusters in tourism and provokes thinking about new criteria of clustering and solutions in the field of tourism, especially when considering future cooperation, competitiveness, and sustainable development.

The worldwide expansion of geotourism and its ongoing development have captured the interest of numerous scholars, prompting them to investigate various theoretical dimensions within this emerging field. This paper explores the concept of geotourism products and the importance of comprehensively understanding this topic. A thorough review of the existing literature indicates that different researchers offer diverse definitions and interpretations of geotourism products. However, analysis of relevant publications reveals that these perspectives do not adequately incorporate the fundamental principles of geotourism alongside the well-defined and broadly accepted concept of tourism products in general. To facilitate the accurate analysis of research outcomes and to support the effective advancement of geotourism, this paper advocates for a clear and well-defined understanding of what constitutes a geotourism product.