The Opawskie Mountains are the most eastward part of the Polish Sudetes. They can serve as an example of a region that has been undergoing significant changes in respect of tourism development for the last 15 years. The beginnings of tourism in this region date back to the end of the 18th century, whereas its dynamic development is related mainly to establishment of a health resort in Głuchołazy (Bad Zigenhals) and popularisation of the summer-resort localities of Jarnołtówek Barbara Woś 104 and Pokrzywna at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, when the Biskupia Kopa region was recognised as one of the most attractive areas in Silesia. The Second World War inhibited tourism development of the region. Dynamic tourism development did not occur until the seventies of the 20th century; at that time, several resort facilities were constructed in the Biskupia Kopa region. Further changes were triggered in the nineties of the 20th century – the period of privatisation of resort facilities and development of agritourism. The changes in tourism development were related to numerous problems encountered on at the meeting point of economy, tourism and environment protection. In case of the Opawskie Mountains region, some problems were resolved ...
Sustainable development is a preferred model of economy in which the most important assumption is social and economic development leading to civili-zation progress and economic development with maximum reduction of adverse impact on the natural environment. Regions where introduction and observation of ecodevelopment principles is particularly important are rural areas. Increasing costs of production and the lack of stable prices of agricultural products make many farmers abandon agricultural activity and search for additional sources of income outside of agriculture. Tourism can be an alternative for agriculture and an additional source of income. Development of agricultural tourism enables to create new jobs without emigration and complete abandonment of current agricul-tural activity. Linking agricultural and tourist agricultural may become the basis for an attractive tourist product. Polish country is perfect for sustainable tourism based on ecodevelopment principles of which are ideal for agrotourism and ecot-ourism. The complementary agrotourist and ecotourist offer provides additional opportunities for development of rural areas, forming the basis for cooperation between individual farms and create a tourist product typical for a given town or region. ...
Growing demand for interesting agro- and eco-tourism products motivates owners of agrotourism farms to expand the range of services on offer. Develop-ment of agrotourism products should be based on the values of the naturalenvironment and culture. The purpose of this article is to analyse the use of the values of the natural environment in the offer of agrotourism farms located on the verge of the Świętokrzyski National Park as an area with a high tourist potential. The study is based on a questionnaire research performed in the summer of 2010 in agrotourism farms located in the analysed area.
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For a few years there has been an increasing interest in the offer of agrot-ourism farms located in areas with exceptional natural and cultural values. Wy-sowa is an example of such localities - this is a small spa village located in Beskid Niski efficiently combining tourist and spa functions, attracting tourists with de-veloped tourist facilities presenting numerous values of the natural and cultural environment. The purpose of the article is to analyse selected elements of the tour-ist offer of agrotourism farms located in Wysowa.
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