From overtourism to no-tourism – costs and benefits of extreme volume of tourism traffic as perceived by inhabitants of two Polish destinations

Abstract

Overtourism might be one of the most characteristic trends and phenomena of tourism in the 2010s. However, after a rapid transformation caused by overtourism, an even faster and more unexpected change appeared in 2020: due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism temporarily disappeared from cities and other destinations worldwide. These two opposite and extreme phenomena were so close in time that they can be compared and their perception by different tourism stakeholders can be analyzed. Host communities were often major victims of overtourism, which led to the development of anti-tourism attitudes in many destinations. However, many inhabitants were also severely affected by the recent decline in tourism, as plenty of them depended economically on tourist arrivals and tourism revenues. This research is conducted for two of the most important destinations in Poland: Kraków and Białka Tatrzańska. The study aims to compare how the transformations to and from overtourism are perceived by inhabitants of these two typical and important tourism destinations. The results show that the impact of tourism was not perceived as crucial by the residents of either destination and that this remains true for both overtourism and no-tourism. However, the economic importance of tourism was strongly emphasized. Additionally, the indicated impact of tourism on their lives and their destination was much stronger for the residents of Białka Tatrzańska than those of Kraków. The study aims to fill the knowledge gap regarding how tourism development (including overtourism and no-tourism) is perceived by inhabitants of cities and tourism resorts, particularly in terms of experiencing the benefits and costs of both extreme situations.