Overtourism and the impact of tourist traffic on the daily life of city residents: a case study of Poznan

ABSTRACT

According to ranking conducted by TripAdvisor in 2019, Poznan is the fifth most popular city for tourists coming to Poland. Tourists mainly focus on the very center of Poznan – the Old Town, which is one of the most historic districts of the city. The aim of this research was to show whether Poznan is a place potentially threatened by overtourism, which affects the quality of life of its residents and negatively influences their experience of living in the city. The paper also attempts to prove that as a result of gentrification and the city’s revitalization of social spaces and socio-spatial processes, the indigenous cultural and social fabric of the city is being destroyed. The research used a comparative method, source analysis and uncategorized in-depth interviews with snowball sampling. The study showed that overtourism is not yet present in Poznan, but if the direction of tourism development in the city does not change in the coming years, overtourism could be a threat. The case of Poznan shows that its residents perceive the phenomenon of losing the benefits of everyday life in the city center and increasingly feel alien in a space with which they have been associated for years.

KEYWORDS:

• Overtourism
• tourist traffic
• tourism
• historic cities
• Poznan
• Poland

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the editors and reviewers for constructive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mateusz Rozmiarek

Mateusz Rozmiarek is the Assistant Professor at the Poznan University of Physical Education, Poland. He is the author of numerous publications on sports tourism, the history of sport, and the influences of politics and international relations on sport and the Olympic movement.

Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko

Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko is the Assistant Professor at the Poznan University of Physical Education, Poland. She is the author of over 180 publications on sports tourism, cultural tourism, and the impact of sporting events on health and physical activity.

Marek Kazimierczak

Marek Kazimierczak is the Professor at the Poznan University of Physical Education, Poland. He runs the Department of Sports Tourism. He is the author of over 100 publications on philosophy, ethics, sport ethics, tourism ethics, sports tourism and overtourism.