Abstract
The paper aims to present a comparison of visitor behaviors and visitor spatial and temporal distribution in a mountain national park between the pre-Covid-19 period (2017–2019) and Covid-19 pandemic year (2020). The research is based on pyroelectric sensor data from 2017–2020 and a survey of visitors designed to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of visitors and their behaviors and changes therein. The research data were used to identify two visitor clusters: Impact of Covid-19 (IC) and No-Impact of Covid-19 (N-IC). The research was conducted in Stolowe Mountains National Park (SMNP) in Poland using data from Monitoring System of tourist traffic (MSTT). A total of 374 respondents participated in the survey in 2020 period, which demonstrated a significant impact of the ongoing pandemic on many aspects of their behavior. These results were compared with the results obtained from 2,642 surveys carried out in 2017–2019. The findings are compared to findings reported by other authors. Some visitors did claim that the pandemic has not affected their behavior in any way.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Babbie E (2013) The Basics of Social Research 7th Edition, Chapman University, Cengage Learning, Boston, USA.
Bramanti A, Ricci S (2020) Structure and performance of the Italian alpine “core”: a counterfactual analysis. Worldw Hosp and Tour Them 12(4): 387–407. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-05-2020-0026
Chang CL, McAleer M, Ramos VA (2020) Charter for sustainable tourism after COVID-19. Sustainability 12(9): 3671. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093671
Corlett RT, Primack RB, Devictor V, et al. (2020) Impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on biodiversity conservation. Biol Cons 246: 108571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108571
Duro JA (2016) Seasonality of hotel demand in the main Spanish provinces: Measurements and decomposition exercises. Tour Man 52(1): 52–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.06.013
Farías-Torbidoni EI, Mas-Alòs S, Gil-Moreno-de-Mora G, et al. (2020) Health and Well-Being in Protected Natural Areas-Visitors’ Satisfaction in Three Different Protected Natural Area Categories in Catalonia, Spain. Int J Environ Res Pub Health 17(18): 6746. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186746
Farzanegan MR, Gholipour HF, Feizi M (2020) International Tourism and Outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Cross-Country Analysis. J Travel Res 60(3): 687–692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520931593
Ferrante M, Lo Magno GL, De Cantis S (2018) Measuring tourism seasonality across European countries. Tour Manag 68(5): 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.03.015
Gössling S (2020) Global environmental consequences of tourism. Glob Env Change 12(4): 283–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-3780(02)00044-4
Ioannides D, Gyimóthy S (2020) The COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity for escaping the unsustainable global tourism path. Tour Geogr 22(3): 624–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1763445
Jones N, McGinlay J, Jones A, et al. (2021) COVID-19 and protected areas: Impacts, conflicts and possible management solutions. Cons Let 14(4): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12800
Jiricka-Pürrer A, Tadini V, Salak B, et al. (2019) Do Protected Areas Contribute to Health and Well-Being? A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Int J Environ Res Pub Health 16(7): 1172. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071172
Mandić A (2021) Protected area management effectiveness and COVID-19: The case of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. J Out Recr and Tour 34(2): 100397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2021.100397
McGinlay J, Gkoumas V, Holtvoeth J, et al. (2020) The Impact of COVID-19 on the Management of European Protected Areas and Policy Implications. Forests 11(11) (1214). https://doi.org/10.3390/f11111214
Miller ZD, Freimund W, Dalenberg D, et al. (2021) Observing COVID-19 related behaviors in a high visitor use area of Arches National Park. PLoS ONE 16 (0247315). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247315
Niezgoda A, Markiewicz E. (2021). The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in National Parks — diagnosis and forecast of sustainable tourism. St Per 33(1): 9–24. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0014.8727
Neuburger L, Egger R (2020) Travel risk perception and travel behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020: a case study of the DACH region. Cur Is in Tour 24(7): 1003–1016. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1803807
Niewiadomski P (2020) COVID-19: from temporary de-globalisation to a re-discovery of tourism? Tour Geographies 22: 651–656. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1757749
Pessot E, Spoladore D, Zangiacomi A et al. (2021) Natural Resources in Health Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 13(5):2661. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052661
Polish Tourism Organisation, Poles’ holiday plans for 2020 (2020) (In Polish). https://www.pot.gov.pl/attachments/article/1804/Plany%20wakacyjne%20Polak%C3%B3w%202020%20ost.pdf, accessed on 2020-08-20.
Rice WL, Lacey G, Peel V, et al. (2020) Examining Health Promotion in Parks: A Cross-National Inquiry of Healthy Parks Healthy People Programs. Recr Parks and Tour in Publ Health 4(1): 5–14. https://doi.org/10.2979/rptph.4.1.02
Rogowski M, Małek B (2016) The Visitors monitoring in the Stołowe Mts. National Park — the objective of project and preliminary results, Tourist development: determinants and plans. Volume XVIII — Nature tourism and conditions of its development, Poznan, Poland 18(2): 79–97. (In Polish). http://turystyka.amu.edu.pl/tomy/tir18.pdf, accessed on 2021-08-20.
Rogowski M (2017) Mountain hiking in the Stołowe Mountains National Park. Tur/Tour 27(2): 89–97. https://doi.org/10.1515/tour-2017-0017
Rogowski M (2018) Use of Monitoring System of Tourist Traffic (MSTT) in Stolowe Mts. National Park for Visitors description. Econ and Envir 65(2): 87–98. https://www.ekonomiaisrodowisko.pl/journal/article/view/159, accessed on 2020-08-2.
Rogowski M (2020) Monitoring System of tourist traffic (MSTT) for tourists monitoring in mid-mountain national park, SW Poland. J Mt Sci 17(8): 2035–2047. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5965-y
Rogowski M (2021) A method to analyze variability and seasonality the visitors in mountain national park in period 2017–2020 (Stołowe Mts. National Park; Poland), J of Outd Recr and Tour 35(3): 100407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2021.100407
Rogowski M, Rusztecka M (2021) Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourist behaviour and number in the Karkonosze National Park. Op Corc 58(1): 27–44
Rogowski M (2022) The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Nature-Based Tourism in National Parks. Case Studies for Poland. J of Env Man and Tour 2(58): 572–585. https://doi.org/10.14505/jemt.v13.2(58).25
Roman M, Niedziółka A, Krasnodębski A (2020) Respondents’ Involvement in Tourist Activities at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229610
Santos A, Madrid C, Haegeman K, et al. (2020) Behavioural changes in tourism in times of Covid-19, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC121262, accessed on 2021-08-20.
Seraphin H, Dosquet F (2020) Mountain tourism and second home tourism as post COVID-19 lockdown placebo? Worldw Hosp and Tour Them 12(4): 485–500. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-05-2020-0027
Smith MKS, Smit IPJ, Swemmer LK, et al. (2021) Sustainability of protected areas: Vulnerabilities and opportunities as revealed by COVID-19 in a national park management agency. Biol Cons 255(3): 108985. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108985
Souza CN, Rodrigues AC, Correia RA, et al. (2021) No visit, no interest: How COVID-19 has affected public interest in world’s national parks, Biological Conservation 256(4): 109015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109015
Spenceley A, McCool S, Newsome D, et al. (2021) Tourism in protected and conserved areas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Parks 27(3): 103–118. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2021.PARKS-27-SIAS.en
Templeton AJ, Goonan K, Fyall A (2021) COVID-19 and its impact on visitation and management at US national parks, Int Hosp Rev, 35(2): 240–259. https://doi.org/10.1108/IHR-08-2020-0039
Uglis J, Jeczmyk A, Zawadka J, et al. (2021) Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourist plans: a case study from Poland. Cur Is in Tour 16(3): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1960803
Young B, Chang P J (2020) The effect of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) risk perception on behavioural intention towards ‘untact’ tourism in South Korea during the first wave of the pandemic (March 2020), Cur Is in Tour 24(7): 1017–1035. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1798895
þorhallsdóttir G, Ólafsson R (2017) A method to analyse seasonality in the distribution of tourists in Iceland. J of Out Recr and Tour 19: 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2017.05.001
Acknowledgements
This research has been conducted in cooperation with Stolowe Mountain National Park.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rogowski, M. Effects of Covid-19 on tourist’s behavior and number in mountain national park: The case of the Stołowe Mts. National Park, Poland. J. Mt. Sci. 19, 2044–2059 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7205-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-7205-5