Making trails: Horses and equestrian tourism in Poland

Abstract

This article is devoted to the issues of contemporary equestrian tourism in Poland and the factors determining its current state, as well as development opportunities and barriers. Using extensive literature sources, limited statistical data and estimations, as well as the opinions expressed by leading experts in the field, the author addresses the current situation of equestrian tourism in Poland and the possibility of assessing its impact on local/regional development, thus contributing to the discussion about global and local arenas, and glocalization (A term introduced by Japanese economists in the 1980s and popularised by Robertson (1997) who understood it as the co-presence of both universalising and particularising tendencies). Today, it is understood mostly as the adaptation of a global product for a local market (which helps increase sales), yet the author prefers Robertson's definition, as a form of protection against increasing globalization.