Diversification of municipalities located in the impact area of national parks in terms of environmental requirements of sustainable tourism

Abstract

The main objective of the paper was to show the diversification of Polish municipalities that have national parks within their boundaries in terms of implementing sustainable tourism priorities. The study focused on ecological and environmental aspects, primarily related to the shaping and maintenance of green areas, as well as waste and wastewater management. The assessment was based on statistical data taken from the Local Data Bank for the years 2012-2018. The authors determined their own set of indicators, describing green areas management, the environmental risk associated with waste and wastewater generation, and the reshaping of the forest and agricultural landscape. The obtained results were compared with the spatial diversification of the surveyed administrative units in terms of tourist attractiveness carried out by us in 2018. The study made it possible to indicate, among others, municipalities that are prime tourist destinations and have highly developed tourist facilities, but do not keep up with sustainable tourism activities. There are also units that carry out activities in the field of forest and agricultural land protection, invest in public green areas, properly manage sewage and wastewater, and, at the same time, are not attractive for tourists.