Monitoring System of tourist traffic(MSTT) for tourists monitoring in mid-mountain national park,SW Poland

National parks are highly valuable natural areas and have the potential to attract a large number of visitors.The number of visitors at national parks is systematically increasing,often exceeding Tourism Carrying Capacity(TCC)of trails.This situation requires adjusting the number of park visitors to adapt to sustainable management systems of visitor flow,thus preventing or counteracting overtourism.The aim of the study is to propose a comprehensive method for tourists monitoring in mid-mountain national park presented on the example of the Sto?owe Mountains National Park(SMNP)in Poland,called as Monitoring System of tourist traffic(MSTT).The study describes six stages procedure of tourists Monitoring System creation and application as an optimal measurement technique.The MSTT enabled a multidimensional analysis of tourist traffic in SMNP.With the help of 39 pyroelectric sensors and surveys data spatio-temporal characteristic of visitor flow was obtained.The data generated in MSTT included hourly,daily,weekly,monthly,and annual reports,taking into account the direction of traffic measuring both directions:entries(IN),exits(OUT)and passages(IN+OUT).The results from pyroelectric sensors were supplemented with field surveys,where visitor’s motivations,preferences,and behaviours were determined.In 2017 a total of 871,344 visitors were recorded in SMNP what causes one of the most popular national parks in Poland.The SMNP is a suitable destination for short breaks leisure visits in wilderness.In order to sustain MSTT methodology in the long-run the set of guidelines together with the workload estimates were presented.In the future,the MSTT can be further developed,including monitoring of climbing,cycling,cross-country skiing,car traffic and illegal tourism assessment.The MSTT can be considered as a useful tool for tourism management in mid-mountain national parks throughout the entire calendar year.

Effects of Covid-19 on tourist's behavior and number in mountain national park:The case of the Stolowe Mts.National Park,Poland

The paper aims to present a comparison of visitor behaviors and visitor spatial and temporal distribution in a mountain national park between the pre-Covid-19 period(2017-2019)and Covid-19 pandemic year(2020).The research is based on pyroelectric sensor data from 2017-2020 and a survey of visitors designed to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of visitors and their behaviors and changes therein.The research data were used to identify two visitor clusters:Impact of Covid-19(IC)and No-Impact of Covid-19(N-IC).The research was conducted in Stolowe Mountains National Park(SMNP)in Poland using data from Monitoring System of tourist traffic(MSTT).A total of 374 respondents participated in the survey in 2020 period,which demonstrated a significant impact of the ongoing pandemic on many aspects of their behavior.These results were compared with the results obtained from 2,642 surveys carried out in 2017-2019.The findings are compared to findings reported by other authors.Some visitors did claim that the pandemic has not affected their behavior in any way.