Abstract |
Tatra Mts. is an unique alpine ridge in Poland.. The whole Polish part of Tatra is a protected area as a national park (Tatry National Park – TNP). Its area is 21,164 ha. Every year 2.5 millions of tourists visit TNP. Tourist activity is one of the factor of nature degradation in Tatras. The most transformed are the areas with the greatest tourist penetration: Morskie Oko lake, Kasprowy Wierch Mt. and Koscieliska valley. The paper presents preliminary results of the studies dealing with the problems of tourist penetration in the Morskie Oko (MO) and Kasprowy Wierch (KW) regions. In the MO area needs and desires of tourists, time budget during stay at the place and tourists’ evaluation of infrastructure were studied with the use of special questionnaires. At Kasprowy Wierch the streams of tourists were observed. The number of tourists on each tourist track crossing KW was accounted. The results of the studies point to great diversity of tourist activity in TNP (making pictures, enjoying nature, walking in the surroundings, climbing, relax). The results can be useful for managing of tourist activity, for making corrections in TNP protection system and for establishing the methods minimising degradation of tourist tracks and its surroundings. |