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.

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.

Cities, in particular those of historical value, are popular destinations for mass tourism. The urban space is often the main cause of conflicts, at the heart of which lie conflicting interests, attitudes and needs relating to the way this space is utilized. The aim of the research described in this article is to identify the intensity of conflicts between residents, tourists and the tourism sector. The research was conducted in 2020. The statistical analysis of the obtained data included questionnaires from 386 respondents. Analysis was conducted of the conflicts that arose among tourism sector players, who were classified into groups – tourist entrepreneurs, residents, and local authorities. Respondents often indicated conflict arising between tourists and residents, and between tourist sector entrepreneurs and residents. In the opinion of respondents, conflicts were the result of result of varying structures in the hierarchy of values and of differences in attitudes towards the city.

The tendency of enterprises to use open innovations can be seen in the literature in many areas of research and practical application. However, the use of the concept of open innovation in local administration entities is less noticeable. The research gap in this area prompts the authors to examine such a tendency among city representatives in the example of the Tourism Friendly Cities (TFC) group. TFC is a group of nine tourism destinations that are also European cities struggling with the impact of modern tourism. They take part in the URBACT program under the European Territorial Cooperation program. The goal of the article is to identify the basic problems of TFCs with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the propensity of TFC representatives to transfer innovative solutions in the form of open innovation. The article presents findings based on interviews with 104 experts from these cities, consisting of representatives of the public and private sectors. Research results indicate that the key problems of modern tourism in TFCs include constraints related to the lack of parking spaces, high rents and high prices of land, and short-term rental housing. The experts recommend measures to increase resilience and competitiveness initiated by business owners and at the initiative of the local administration. Key tools in this regard include and local community communication and engagement, creating attractions that benefit both residents and visitors, and measuring and monitoring tourism. In all, 92.8% of the experts believe that the right solution for the development of methods and tools for stakeholder cooperation in TFCs is to share the developed solutions in the form of open innovation.

The process of coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to create various scenarios for returning to the path of tourism development. The search for suitable and effective solutions was at the heart of the Tourism Friendly Cities project, in which eight European cities participated. The aim is to define the challenges and tools related to the sustainability of urban tourism. The empirical research was based on the opinions of experts from eight cities involved, and concerned four thematic areas: the quality of life and tourism in the city before and during/after COVID-19, tourism dysfunctions, the sources of conflicts between local stakeholders, and the tools for the sustainable reconstruction of tourism. The results confirmed the existence of a wide range of declared tools for the development of sustainable tourism after the pandemic. The conducted research indicates key areas of conflict in the field of tourism activity. The authors also come to the conclusion that tools for regulating tourist traffic should not be universal, but should meet the individual needs of the city.

The freezing of economies due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused damage not only on the sales side but also on the labor market due to the outflow of staff from companies specializing in the organization of meetings. The return of the meetings industry sector to the development path will involve skillful change management, including in the area of competencies and skills. To inventory and assess the competencies of employees in the meetings industry, this study was carried out among specialized enterprises in the meetings industry in Poland, Hungary, and Ireland, on samples of two research groups, i.e. the Director General (CEO) and operational employees based on questionnaires and individual in-depth interviews (IDI). The obtained results allowed to establish the hierarchy of self-assessment of own managerial competencies, assessment of the competencies of the CEO by the employees, areas of increasing team competencies, and areas of staff development in the sector shortly, contributing to the recovery from the pandemic crisis. Raising the competencies and qualifications of employees is perceived as one of the most powerful tools for overcoming the pandemic crisis, obtaining 68% positive indications among CEOs in Poland, 77% indications in Hungary, and 84% in Ireland. In all analyzed countries, the meetings industry is indicated as a strategic product of the tourist market. Among the planned long-term actions aimed at overcoming the pandemic crisis, increasing employee competencies is perceived as an opportunity for the companies operating the meetings industry sector (90% in Poland, and 80% in Hungary and Ireland). AcknowledgmentThis study was done in frames of the project “Vocational competences in MICE sector” co-financed in frames of European Union program Erasmus + as part of the program The Dialog for Transformation, Erasmus+, 2020–2021.