The main goal of the article is to describe the short-term impacts of reported new cases and deaths of the COVID-19 disease on hotels’ performances in the nine major Polish urban hotel markets: Kraków, Warszawa, Poznań, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Lublin, Łódź, Katowice, and Sopot. Time range of the analysis covers the period from January 5, 2020 (the beginning of the very first week when the COVID-19 cases were evidenced) to March 14, 2020 (the initial phase of lockdown was introduced by the Polish government). Various geographical contexts of the COVID-19 impacts are considered: national, European, and global. Generalized method of moments was applied to investigate the influence of reported COVID-19 cases (deaths) on both occupancy and revenue per available room. The results show that the most significant, negative impact of the pandemic on hotel performances is confirmed at the European level of the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, the negative influence of national cases of COVID-19 is more significant in less internationalized (or less-populated) urban destinations. Thus, the hotel industry (especially in the most internationalized, biggest Polish cities) might be recovered only when issues of the COVID-19 epidemic will be solved at the European level.

Purpose: This study aims to measure the effect on prices through the differing characteristics and attributes of hotels. Design/methodology/approach: A hedonic price model (HPM) was adopted to estimate the impact of various site and situational factors on hotel prices in Warsaw, Poland. To better understand room rates not explained by HPM, spatial analysis of residuals was used. Datasets regarding prices from three different online travel agents (OTAs) and star ratings, either official or provided by OTAs, were investigated. Findings: A significant impact on hotel prices by star rating has been confirmed. Every additional star allows the hotel to set approximately 25 to 36 per cent higher prices, which is in line with previous studies. Moreover, two factors indicated a high but still underestimated theoretical hotel prices: location within the city centre and proximity to the international airport. Practical implications: The results of this study suggest that hoteliers should use a spatial analysis of room rates offered by the competing enterprises. Moreover, managers are expected to verify their price tactics and policies according to the geographical determinants of hotel prices investigated. Originality/value: The uniqueness of the study is highlighted by comparison of HPMs based on data from different OTAs, analysing differences in HPMs based on star ratings provided by OTAs and official systems and spatial analysis of residuals of estimated HPMs. Moreover, this study is among the first to examine the usage of HPM in the hospitality industry in East-Central Europe.

The main goal of the paper is to verify the impact of the absorption of European Union (EU) grants on land cover changes in Polish municipalities in the years 2012–2018. The selection of the research area was justified by the fact that Poland is the largest and significantly spatially differentiated transition economy in Central-Eastern Europe, recognised as a substantial beneficiary of EU accession in 2004. The time range of analysis was set as the result of a comparison of data availability in Corine Land Cover (CLC) and Statistics Poland. The CLC dataset referring to land cover and land use changes between 2012 and 2018 was used. The focus on modifications taking place within one of the main land cover groups at level 3 of detail was applied in this research. These changes were analysed as percentages referring to the area of the municipality and to the total area of changes in the investigated period. Two categories of EU grants were considered: total and infrastructural (granted under EU Operational Programme “Infrastructure and Environment”). Moreover, some control economic, social, demographic, institutional, infrastructural, and environmental variables were applied to better explain land cover changes. Moran’s local statistic was employed to detect spatial hot-spots of EU grants absorption, as well as hot-spots of land cover changes. Then, a collection of various variables related to determinants of land cover changes was set. Economic factors, including EU grants absorption, as well as factors related to accessibility, agrarian structure, demography, environment, and spatial planning were investigated. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to convert the set of all considered variables into a set of few uncorrelated predictors. Finally, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was applied to describe the spatially varied impact of investigated determinants, including EU grants, represented by estimated principal components on land cover changes.

The main purpose of the research is to address the real, operational context of participatory budgeting. It is argued that this method of budgeting might be a useful tool for developing various ideas at a local level, including social/spatial justice, civil society, human capital, information society, or sustainable development. However, the implementation of participatory budgeting might, conversely, result from development processes. A combination of quantitative methods (principal component analysis and regression analysis) was applied to define the real motives for local authorities to employ participatory budgeting. To address the research questions mentioned in the paper, all rural communes employing participatory budgeting in Poland in 2017 were investigated. It was confirmed that participatory budgeting is an effect of development processes rather than a tool for achieving development goals. Interestingly, social/spatial injustice might significantly stimulate inhabitants’ engagement in participatory budgeting. On the other hand, the development of information society supports processes related to social involvement, including participatory budgeting.

The main goal of the paper is to identify the perception of technology by managers of five-star hotels located in Antalya region (Turkey). The managerial perception in the following contexts is discussed in detail: the enterprise, the employees, the managers and the competitiveness of hotel entities. The selection of such research area was determined by the fact that Antalya is one of the top Turkish tourist destinations, with international profile of visitors and intense hotel competition. The following three types of hotels were investigated: hotels affiliated with international chains, hotels affiliated with national brands and independent enterprises. Furthermore, 12 selected general managers were interviewed regarding the above-mentioned hotel types. The results confirmed that managers of internationally affiliated hotels are more focused on increasing their employees’ skills and competencies compared to managers of independent entities.

The goal of the study is to explore the co-evolution of the tourism and industrial sectors. This paper addresses the concept of inter-path dependency as the theoretical framework for this study. The case study of Bełchatów industrial district is applied to discuss the co-evolution of tourism and heavy industries. Tourism and heavy industries are usually seen as mutually exclusive. However, in the case of the Bełchatów industrial district, tourism (starting from social tourism, through business tourism and educational tourism) is confirmed as being complementary to the industrial path shaped by triggering events (launch of radical industrialisation, and economic transition). Recently, implementation of the Just Transition Mechanism was planned and includes development of leisure tourism in the case study area. Some doubts of that intersectoral linkages are discussed in the paper – mainly in the context of the expected sustainable development of the Bełchatów industrial district – and followed by policy recommendations.