Stereotypowy i wypromowany wizerunek turystyczny Polski w świadomości mieszkańców Unii Europejskiej

Abstract

The main purpose of the article is to discuss issues concerning the “tourist image” with the view to define it properly against the background of the literature of that subject, as well as to show the complexity of relations between a tourist image and a tourist product. In the article Poland is treated as one global tourist product – the place. The tourist image of our country is than analysed from two different angles. First of them being the “supply” aspect of tourist image i.e. promoted product and the second seen as the “demand” aspect from the point of view of a tourist. The latter, before the trip to a given country, usually being a kind of stereotypical one, which later, hopefully, transforms into a given tourist’s personal image and eventually has a decisive influence on the general image of the given product. There is also a hypothesis raised, that the general image of Poland as a tourist product is at present negative in the countries of the UE in both of its aspects. The above thus applies both to the promoted image of our country (which was proved on the basis of the analysis of the contents of five guides of Poland accessible abroad and the review of trips to Poland on offer in some catalogues of foreign tour operators) and to the stereotypical image of Poland (according to the results of survey investigations conducted with inhabitants of chosen foreign countries). The author thinks that due to the wrongly chosen, un-diversified from the point of view of different tourist markets of the EU, tourist offer, Poland remains the unknown country, not identified with any significant tourist attraction. The country, where due to the poor tourist promotion, the tourist's personal perception after visit appears finally much better than promoted and stereotypical images, which seems to be a highly unfavourable phenomenon.