Attitudes towards development of tourism among young citizens of a tourism city

ABSTRACT

One of the dilemmas of contemporary tourism is to reconcile the intensive development of tourism with comfortable coexistence with residents. However, the perception of this phenomenon can vary, especially among younger generations of residents. The aim of the article is to assess the influence of tourists’ misbehavior in public places on the tendency of Generation Y residents to create urban zones exclusively for residents. The research was conducted in the Polish city of Kraków, one of the most crowded destinations in Poland. The results reveal that young citizens of Kraków do not perceive tourism in their city as a factor limiting their quality of life or impacting them negatively. However, they confirm that they have experienced typical negative phenomena connected with overtourism. Meanwhile, much more often they appreciate the benefits of tourism, such as a stronger economy and a wider offer of cultural events. Another important conclusion from the research is the fact that the attitude of young Millennials towards tourism in their city is completely different from that of the rest of the host community. Numerous publications have shown clearly that the citizens of Kraków perceive the negative impacts of overtourism, and many of them have an anti-tourism attitude.

KEYWORDS:

• Overtourism
• tourism impact
• innovative attitudes
• Poland
• kraków
• millennials

Disclosure statement

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

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Silesian University of Technology [Grant Number ROZ 1: 13/010 / BK_22 / 0065]

Notes on contributors

Zygmunt Kruczek

Zygmunt Kruczek is an associate professor, Ph.D. in physical culture, Head of Department of Geography of Tourism and Ecology at the Faculty of Tourism and Recreation in Krakow. He specializes in research on tourist attractions, regional aspects of the geography of tourism, tourism promotion and information, President of the Polish Association of Tourism Experts.

Adam R. Szromek

Adam R. Szromek is a professor of social sciences and a lecturer at the Silesian University of Technology in Poland. His research interests include heritage tourism and health tourism with a special focus on business models in tourism enterprises. He is also an expert in research methodology, statistics and causal inference.

Michał Żemła

Michał Żemła is an associate professor at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland with a research interest in tourism destinations marketing and management, winter sports destinations and in overtourism.