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A. Panasiuk
of tourism. Instead, it is a way of functioning, organizing and managing the urban
tourism economy (Nijkamp and Verdonkschot 2000; Brelik 2015). It means that from
the point of view of urban tourist destinations, such competences are possessed by the
city’s self-government with all institutions and business entities cooperating with the
city, serving mainly inbound traffic and dealing with the creation and sharing of the
tourist offerings. Behaviours and activity of entities operating in urban tourist destinations should create harmonious relations between the broadly understood environment, including both the natural and anthropogenic system, and tourism development.
Therefore, it can be concluded that sustainable tourism refers to a situation where
negative consequences of tourism activities are not irreversible for the environment,
while bringing positive effects to tourists, communities of reception areas, as well
as entities providing tourist services.
The use of the concept of sustainable tourism in the conditions of an urban
tourist destination applies to all entities involved in the tourism development process:
tourists, residents, tourist enterprises and the destination itself (Ritchie and Crouch
2003). The implementation of sustainable tourism rules in practice is associated
with the quality of tourist consumption. The level of quality depends on the extent
to which the development pace of entities which provide tourist offerings takes into
account the possibilities of absorbing the natural environment as well as the volume
and structure of tourist traffic, including the impact on guests’pro-environmental
behaviour.
Exploitation of the natural environment andthe associated natural tourism values
in the tourist service process should take tourist use standards into account (Tang
2015). The standards regarding the natural environment take the form of indicators of
tourist capacity and absorption. Tourist capacity indicates the maximum level of use
of tourist infrastructures, resulting e.g. from the number of places in the municipal
accommodation base. From the point of view of sustainable tourism issues, the tourist
absorption index (which determines the maximum ability of a urban destination to
accept the burden of tourist traffic) is more important. This indicator informs us about
the size of the load of a surface unit, which on the one hand provides guests with
optimal conditions of stay, and on the other setsthe upper limit of the permissible load
of devastation processes in the environment. In many urban destinations, significant
excess of the upper absorption rates are observed. It causes a gradual degradation
of the elements of the natural and cultural environment. Frequent excessof these
ratios results from the need to maximize economic profitability, which is the result
of intensive development of the tourist economy.
4 Contemporary Threats in Tourism
The issues of sustainable development are associated with global premises on potential threats to the environment, which are the result of social and economic activities. The most frequently mentioned global threats include issues of such nature as
(Panasiuk 2008):
A. Panasiuk
of tourism. Instead, it is a way of functioning, organizing and managing the urban
tourism economy (Nijkamp and Verdonkschot 2000; Brelik 2015). It means that from
the point of view of urban tourist destinations, such competences are possessed by the
city’s self-government with all institutions and business entities cooperating with the
city, serving mainly inbound traffic and dealing with the creation and sharing of the
tourist offerings. Behaviours and activity of entities operating in urban tourist destinations should create harmonious relations between the broadly understood environment, including both the natural and anthropogenic system, and tourism development.
Therefore, it can be concluded that sustainable tourism refers to a situation where
negative consequences of tourism activities are not irreversible for the environment,
while bringing positive effects to tourists, communities of reception areas, as well
as entities providing tourist services.
The use of the concept of sustainable tourism in the conditions of an urban
tourist destination applies to all entities involved in the tourism development process:
tourists, residents, tourist enterprises and the destination itself (Ritchie and Crouch
2003). The implementation of sustainable tourism rules in practice is associated
with the quality of tourist consumption. The level of quality depends on the extent
to which the development pace of entities which provide tourist offerings takes into
account the possibilities of absorbing the natural environment as well as the volume
and structure of tourist traffic, including the impact on guests’pro-environmental
behaviour.
Exploitation of the natural environment andthe associated natural tourism values
in the tourist service process should take tourist use standards into account (Tang
2015). The standards regarding the natural environment take the form of indicators of
tourist capacity and absorption. Tourist capacity indicates the maximum level of use
of tourist infrastructures, resulting e.g. from the number of places in the municipal
accommodation base. From the point of view of sustainable tourism issues, the tourist
absorption index (which determines the maximum ability of a urban destination to
accept the burden of tourist traffic) is more important. This indicator informs us about
the size of the load of a surface unit, which on the one hand provides guests with
optimal conditions of stay, and on the other setsthe upper limit of the permissible load
of devastation processes in the environment. In many urban destinations, significant
excess of the upper absorption rates are observed. It causes a gradual degradation
of the elements of the natural and cultural environment. Frequent excessof these
ratios results from the need to maximize economic profitability, which is the result
of intensive development of the tourist economy.
4 Contemporary Threats in Tourism
The issues of sustainable development are associated with global premises on potential threats to the environment, which are the result of social and economic activities. The most frequently mentioned global threats include issues of such nature as
(Panasiuk 2008):