Nowa metoda oceny atrakcyjności turystycznej szlaków pieszych na przykładzie szlaków pieszych Oddziału Łódzkiego PTTK

Abstract

This paper deals with marked walking trails within the range of operation of the Łódź branch of the PTTK totaling 396 km. According to Drobniak (1979), the trail is understood here as a road used by a tourist along with the adjacent area within his/her field of vision, which has an effect on tourist’s experience. Thus the breadth of the trail varies depending on the openness of landscape. Tourist attractiveness is understood, according to Kaczmarek, Stasiak and Włodarczyk (2002), as a combination of tourist assets, tourist infrastructure and accessibility. Tourist attractiveness has been evaluated using both field methods and inhouse studies: cataloguing, search queries, photographic documentation, interviews, questionnaire surveys, field observation and evaluation of landscape by respondents, cartographic methods and point-based grade classification. Source data were taken from maps in the scale of 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000 and 1:260000, inventory sheets, questionnaires, photographs, index cards provided by the regional conservator of monuments, protection plans and natural sites inventory provided by the regional nature conservator, materials of the PTTK. The main idea of this innovatory methods for evaluating the tourist attractiveness of walking trail is to achieve comparability of different trail sections not influenced by author’s views. Apart from data collected by trail inventory, this method uses also such complementary techniques as visual evaluation of trail attractiveness, interviews with specialists (PTTK members) and questionnaire surveys among potential trail users. Visual evaluation of trail attractiveness has been carried out using the method proposed by Pietrzak, Miedzińska and Styperek (1999). Each hiker has been provided with a camera and a map in the scale of 1:35000. They have been asked to walk along a section of green-marked PKWN trail and take ten pictures of each negatively and positively assessed fragments of landscape. They also had to mark on the map the shot locations and directions and to give a title to each photograph. Interviews with PTTK members represented a valuable source of information that helped to find out what trail features determine their attractiveness and to estimate the importance of particular components. To assure objectivity of the method the trail features and tourist assets have been evaluated by respondents: each respondent was given a questionnaire to fill up and a set of photographs. The analysis of research results: visual attractiveness of trail section, interviews with PTTK members, questionnaire survey, allowed for most adequate selection of variables for evaluation of trail attractiveness. It has been done using the point-based grade classification taking into account the following elements: twisting course, relative heights, land cover and its diversity, trail surface, landscape type, natural assets, anthropogenic assets, accessibility, trail marking, information posts, rest sites, complementary tourist infrastructure. Other characteristics that can be assessed positively or negatively depending on particular likings of a potential user (e.g. highest slope gradient or total trail length) have been left out of consideration. The method is composed of two main phases. Phase I consists in point-based grade classification of each of the 14 elements mentioned above. It was based either on the intensity of a given characteristic (e.g. twisting course) or respondents’ opinions assessing attractiveness of particular trail features (e.g. land cover). In accordance with the total points awarded to a particular trail, four classes have been established for each element. Class of each element ascribed to a given trail represented the number of points awarded to this trail, which defined its attractiveness from the point of view of the given element. This was the result of the first phase of the procedure. Phase II of the classification consisted in ascribing percentage weights to each element. The weights have been ascribed according to author’s own experience as well as interviews with PTTK members. First, weights have been ascribed to elements determining trail attractiveness. Second, total points awarded to a trail in the phase I were multiply by corresponding percentage weights. Last, after completing this calculation for all 14 elements, the products were sum up separately for each trail. The result represented the trail attra-ctiveness indicator. Evaluation of the method: The method is based on summary classification aggregating all elements of attractiveness. This method is of considerable scholarly significance. It allows for diversification of trails as to their attractiveness and shows quantitatively similarities and differences between trails from the point of view of particular elements. It can also have practical applications, as it provides the tourist with information about preferable trail characteristics so he/she can chose an itinerary according to his/her likings. It should be noticed that the results vary depending on who ascribes weights to particular elements (e.g. a nature lover or fitness fan) Advantages of the method: – comparability, relationship between occurrence of trail features and trail length, – high objectivity due to referring to respondents’ opinion in the phase I, – usability of the method for evaluation of attractiveness of other lowland trails, – possibility to adjust the method to particular tourist preferences (each potential user can ascribe weights according to his likings). Disadvantages of the method: – labour consumption (necessity of detailed field and cartographic studies), – no differentiation of landscape attractiveness according to season (landscape assessed by respondents was typical of summer-time).