Development of tourism activities in rural areas in Poland

Abstract

The aim of the article was to trace the changes that have occurred in recent years in Poland in tourism in rural areas. Due to the significant percentage of agricultural land (approx. 60%) and forests (approx. 30%) in the structure of land use, particular attention was paid to agrotourism and forest tourism. Additionally, the problem of categorisation of rural accommodation facilities was discussed. The paper uses data from the Central Statistical Office for the years 2010 and 2016 and data from portals run by the Polish Federation of Rural Tourism “Hospitable Farms” and the State Forests. This article was based on the analysis of existing data (desk research). The study shows that most agritourism accommodation was located in small farms, but agritourism services more often offered larger and economically stronger farms. Due to the small scale of agritourism services provision, its significant impact on rural areas development should not be assumed. Constantly growing number of people using various forms of forest education and constantly growing number of forest tourist facilities proves the increased interest of the society in this form of rural tourism and the positive benefits of staying in forested areas.