Changes in mobility patterns and the switching roles of second homes as a result of the first wave of COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has already had significant impact on tourist flows worldwide. The requirements of safe models of tourism in the time of COVID-19, avoiding crowded localities and providing individual types of accommodation, can largely be met in second homes. This study aims to examine whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions impacted the usage patterns of second homes in terms of: (1) the number of visits and length of stay, (2) the purpose of the second-home utilisation. An integral part of the study was to recognise how these new and existing im/mobilities were determined by a range of personal, social, contextual, and relational factors. The data collected from direct interviews and online surveys was tested using sign and Wilcoxon tests, while the interactive classification tree (C&RT) model was used to explain the reasons for changing or maintaining an existing second-home usage pattern. The research results showed that for most second-home owners their home-usage pattern remained the same as in 2019. If it changed, it was more common to extend the stay by moving in, working at a distance, or commuting to work, rather than to shorten the stay at the second home.

Keywords:

• Second home
• COVID-19 pandemic
• mobility restriction
• mobility pattern
• second home-usage pattern

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the editors and the five anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that have significantly improved the quality of the paper. The authors thank Adam Parol, a student of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, for his assistance in carrying out the fieldwork upon which this paper is based.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 “0 ± 3” was applied in order to take into account the respondent’s fallibility of memory and the resulting potentially imprecise length of stay calculations – over- or underestimations).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adam Czarnecki

Adam Czarnecki is a Rural Geographer and Economist. He holds a MSc degree in Human Geography as well as a PhD and Docent degrees in Economics. His research expertise includes spatial economics, rural-urban relations, local development, rural tourism, and consumer economics. He has authored and co-authored four monographs, 80 book chapters, and papers in peer-reviewed journals. Adam has been involved in projects concerning spatio-economic aspects of rural development in Europe and, among them, those of which the outcomes are pertinent for peripheral settings.

Aneta Dacko

Aneta Dacko is a Land Surveyor and Spatial Planner. She holds MSc and PhD degrees in Geodesy, Cartography, and Spatial Planning. Her field of research includes rural development and rural land arrangement. Aneta has authored and co-authored about 30 scientific papers in peer-review journals and some book chapters. In addition to scientific work, she lectures to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Mariusz Dacko

Mariusz Dacko is an Economist. He holds an MSc degree in Economic Geodesy and a PhD degree in Business Management. His main fields of expertise include sustainable development and the management of natural resources. In his research, he uses Data Mining and System Dynamics methods. He has authored and co-authored about 100 scientific papers in peer-review journals and book chapters. Mariusz has been involved in several research and development projects about rural areas, e.g. those related to sustainable development, bio-economy, farmland consolidation, and the divestment in farms.