The article presents the results of empirical research conducted in Poznan during the three major... more The article presents the results of empirical research conducted in Poznan during the three major sporting events: 6. Poznan Half Marathon, "Cavaliada" and the European Junior Swimming Championships. It was decided to see which event generate the highest tourist traffic in the studied city. Article also indicates what kind of tourism behaviors exhibit both athletes and fans during sporting event competition. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the extent to which participants in sporting events (players and fans) take additional tourist activity in the city on the occasion of participation in sports competitions (shopping, going to restaurants, etc.) The highest rank of sporting event the stronger effect on the frequency of these behaviors, and whether sports tourism promotes the development of other forms of tourism, for example cultural tourism (visit to the museum, participation in a cultural event, etc.). Analysis of the collected data shows that the organization o...
The main goal of this article is to show the impact of sporting events on the creation of a posit... more The main goal of this article is to show the impact of sporting events on the creation of a positive image of a tourist destination city. Theoretical considerations have been supported by empirical research carried out during the three sporting events that took place in Poznan. In the theoretical part of this work Authors have defined a concept of a sporting event, the image of a tourist destination and the impact of sports events shown on the image of the city based on the literature analysis. The fourth section of this article presents the results of empirical research, which shows that the organization of sporting events is conducive to creating a positive image of the city. Wprowadzenie Organizacja znaczących wydarzen sportowych przynosi liczne korzyści ekonomiczne, ale takze przyczynia sie do poprawy wizerunku miejsca, w ktorym impreza sie odbywa. „Kraje, miasta coraz cześciej starają sie wykorzystac roznorodne wydarzenia sportowe (zwlaszcza o randze miedzynarodowej) do kreowan...
Volunteering is fundamental in the organization of sporting events of any rank, and there is no d... more Volunteering is fundamental in the organization of sporting events of any rank, and there is no doubt that without volunteers, the realization of such events would not be possible. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between selected socio-demographic factors (gender, age, place of residence, professional activity, and—rarely researched—previous experience in sports volunteering) and the motivation of people who have signed up to be volunteers at the 2023 European Games in Poland. In total, 535 respondents completed the Olympic Volunteer Motivation Scale (OVMS) designed to assess the motivation of volunteers at multi-sport events in the Olympic tradition. A questionnaire survey was conducted among a group of students of the University of Physical Education in Krakow, who had signed up as volunteers via an online form. The respondents were required to provide data on their gender, age, place of residence, professional activities, and sports volunteering experie...
Running has been very popular for years, especially in organized mass runs. Various running event... more Running has been very popular for years, especially in organized mass runs. Various running events take place all over the world, at different distances and locations, including charity running events. However, there has not been any research on the social impact of these events on participants to date. This article/paper is an attempt to remedy this situation. The authors conducted their research by the diagnostic survey method using standardized interview technique during the 6th Santa Claus Run organized in Poznan on the day of Santa Claus. A sample of 136 runners: 49 male respondents and 87 female respondents participated in the event voluntarily and completed a questionnaire. Therefore, the main goal of the study was to recognize the relationship between the lifestyles of men and women in the context of participation in a charity running event, in order to evaluate the differences between them. The specific goal was to discern the motives to take part in such kind of an event, ...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Motivations to run marathons have been recognised by many researchers, but few have paid attentio... more Motivations to run marathons have been recognised by many researchers, but few have paid attention to triathletes. Mass triathlon participation is a new trend, which manifests itself as a human need to invoke strong emotions and seek them in difficult sports, as well as to travel to participate in such events. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to recognise the motivations to participate in triathlons among men and women respondents, and to evaluate the differences between them. The empirical research among triathletes (n = 1141) recognised the motives for participation in mass triathlon sporting events in accordance with four types of orientation: social, experience, factual, and result. Most important conclusions resulting from the conducted research indicate that women significantly more often displayed the will to feel unity and integration, as well as the desire to gain recognition in the eyes of others, as compared to men. For men, the desire to feel equal was signific...
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of non-mega sporting events on the... more The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of non-mega sporting events on the perception of negative externalities of host residents. The detailed aim of the study was to examine whether the inhabitants of the city feel the negative effects of organizing sporting events (communication problems or inappropriate behavior of supporters) and do they believe that these events increase the level of crime in the city or, despite these inconveniences, they are satisfied with the organization of sporting events in their place of residence. The case study is the city of Poznan and two, well-known events in this agglomeration. The first one is the Poznan Half Marathon—medium scale mass event, the second one is Cavaliada—elite international equestrian event. The theoretical part of this article presents the meaning of sporting events organization for tourism industry and indicates the positive and negative effects this kind of tourism brings to host cities. The whole refers ...
Celem badań było poznanie motywacji do startu w półmaratonie dwóch grup biegaczy: mieszkańców Poz... more Celem badań było poznanie motywacji do startu w półmaratonie dwóch grup biegaczy: mieszkańców Poznania (sportowców biorących udział w biegu organizowanym w miejscu zamieszkania) i aktywnych turystów sportowych, a także ocena różnic motywacji obu grup. Problem badawczy stał się istotny ze względu na wzrost popularności turystyki biegowej, która jest zachętą dla biegaczy do podejmowania aktywności fizycznej poza ich miejscem zamieszkania. Podział Freyera i Grossa (2002), w którym autorzy wyróżnili cztery typy motywów uczestnictwa w imprezach sportowych, stał się podstawą do opracowania kwestionariusza ankietowego. Badania empiryczne (n = 346) umożliwiły poznanie powodów uczestnictwa w wydarzeniach sportowych. Wyniki wskazują, że obiema grupami respondentów (mieszkańcy Poznania oraz turyści sportowi) kierują różne rodzaje motywacji. Najistotniejszą ich grupą dla lokalnych biegaczy okazały się motywy zorientowane na wynik, a dla turystów sportowych – motywy skierowane na przeżycia, co p...
The aim of the study is to to examine the motivations for participating in a half-marathon among ... more The aim of the study is to to examine the motivations for participating in a half-marathon among two groups of runners, local running in their place of residence and sports tourists, and to evaluate the differences between them. With the increase in the popularity of ‘running tourism’ the question becomes important as it encourages runners to engage in physical activity outside their everyday place of residence. Freyer and Gross’s (2002) four types of motivation for participation in sports events was the basis for the development of the author’s questionnaire. The empirical research (sample size=346) then recognized these motives for participation. The article also presents a review of the literature on such motivations in mass running events. Results indicate that both group of respondents, residents of the place where the half-marathon was organised and sports tourists, have different forms of motivation. The greatest relevance for sports tourists turned out to be motivation for s...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
The impact of sports events on the promotion of physical activity, healthy lifestyles and sports ... more The impact of sports events on the promotion of physical activity, healthy lifestyles and sports participation is debatable, and most of the literature is on mega-events. This begs the question if more evidence of this type of impact can be found for non-mega events. Research on sports legacy often refers to the tangible effects such as infrastructure that is left after the competition. However, the construction of new facilities does not automatically result in attracting participants. Despite the high expectations of events organizers in terms of their impacts on pro-health behavior of people, few studies provide empirical evidence that events encourage sport fans to become more physically active. The aim of this research was to examine whether a mass run promotes physical activity among spectators, and whether a mass run influences the willingness of spectators to start in half marathon in the future. A written paper–pencil survey was collected from 510 spectators during the 6th ...
The article presents the results of empirical research conducted in Poznan during the three major... more The article presents the results of empirical research conducted in Poznan during the three major sporting events: 6. Poznan Half Marathon, "Cavaliada" and the European Junior Swimming Championships. It was decided to see which event generate the highest tourist traffic in the studied city. Article also indicates what kind of tourism behaviors exhibit both athletes and fans during sporting event competition. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the extent to which participants in sporting events (players and fans) take additional tourist activity in the city on the occasion of participation in sports competitions (shopping, going to restaurants, etc.) The highest rank of sporting event the stronger effect on the frequency of these behaviors, and whether sports tourism promotes the development of other forms of tourism, for example cultural tourism (visit to the museum, participation in a cultural event, etc.). Analysis of the collected data shows that the organization o...
The main goal of this article is to show the impact of sporting events on the creation of a posit... more The main goal of this article is to show the impact of sporting events on the creation of a positive image of a tourist destination city. Theoretical considerations have been supported by empirical research carried out during the three sporting events that took place in Poznan. In the theoretical part of this work Authors have defined a concept of a sporting event, the image of a tourist destination and the impact of sports events shown on the image of the city based on the literature analysis. The fourth section of this article presents the results of empirical research, which shows that the organization of sporting events is conducive to creating a positive image of the city. Wprowadzenie Organizacja znaczących wydarzen sportowych przynosi liczne korzyści ekonomiczne, ale takze przyczynia sie do poprawy wizerunku miejsca, w ktorym impreza sie odbywa. „Kraje, miasta coraz cześciej starają sie wykorzystac roznorodne wydarzenia sportowe (zwlaszcza o randze miedzynarodowej) do kreowan...
Volunteering is fundamental in the organization of sporting events of any rank, and there is no d... more Volunteering is fundamental in the organization of sporting events of any rank, and there is no doubt that without volunteers, the realization of such events would not be possible. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between selected socio-demographic factors (gender, age, place of residence, professional activity, and—rarely researched—previous experience in sports volunteering) and the motivation of people who have signed up to be volunteers at the 2023 European Games in Poland. In total, 535 respondents completed the Olympic Volunteer Motivation Scale (OVMS) designed to assess the motivation of volunteers at multi-sport events in the Olympic tradition. A questionnaire survey was conducted among a group of students of the University of Physical Education in Krakow, who had signed up as volunteers via an online form. The respondents were required to provide data on their gender, age, place of residence, professional activities, and sports volunteering experie...
Running has been very popular for years, especially in organized mass runs. Various running event... more Running has been very popular for years, especially in organized mass runs. Various running events take place all over the world, at different distances and locations, including charity running events. However, there has not been any research on the social impact of these events on participants to date. This article/paper is an attempt to remedy this situation. The authors conducted their research by the diagnostic survey method using standardized interview technique during the 6th Santa Claus Run organized in Poznan on the day of Santa Claus. A sample of 136 runners: 49 male respondents and 87 female respondents participated in the event voluntarily and completed a questionnaire. Therefore, the main goal of the study was to recognize the relationship between the lifestyles of men and women in the context of participation in a charity running event, in order to evaluate the differences between them. The specific goal was to discern the motives to take part in such kind of an event, ...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Motivations to run marathons have been recognised by many researchers, but few have paid attentio... more Motivations to run marathons have been recognised by many researchers, but few have paid attention to triathletes. Mass triathlon participation is a new trend, which manifests itself as a human need to invoke strong emotions and seek them in difficult sports, as well as to travel to participate in such events. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to recognise the motivations to participate in triathlons among men and women respondents, and to evaluate the differences between them. The empirical research among triathletes (n = 1141) recognised the motives for participation in mass triathlon sporting events in accordance with four types of orientation: social, experience, factual, and result. Most important conclusions resulting from the conducted research indicate that women significantly more often displayed the will to feel unity and integration, as well as the desire to gain recognition in the eyes of others, as compared to men. For men, the desire to feel equal was signific...
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of non-mega sporting events on the... more The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of non-mega sporting events on the perception of negative externalities of host residents. The detailed aim of the study was to examine whether the inhabitants of the city feel the negative effects of organizing sporting events (communication problems or inappropriate behavior of supporters) and do they believe that these events increase the level of crime in the city or, despite these inconveniences, they are satisfied with the organization of sporting events in their place of residence. The case study is the city of Poznan and two, well-known events in this agglomeration. The first one is the Poznan Half Marathon—medium scale mass event, the second one is Cavaliada—elite international equestrian event. The theoretical part of this article presents the meaning of sporting events organization for tourism industry and indicates the positive and negative effects this kind of tourism brings to host cities. The whole refers ...
Celem badań było poznanie motywacji do startu w półmaratonie dwóch grup biegaczy: mieszkańców Poz... more Celem badań było poznanie motywacji do startu w półmaratonie dwóch grup biegaczy: mieszkańców Poznania (sportowców biorących udział w biegu organizowanym w miejscu zamieszkania) i aktywnych turystów sportowych, a także ocena różnic motywacji obu grup. Problem badawczy stał się istotny ze względu na wzrost popularności turystyki biegowej, która jest zachętą dla biegaczy do podejmowania aktywności fizycznej poza ich miejscem zamieszkania. Podział Freyera i Grossa (2002), w którym autorzy wyróżnili cztery typy motywów uczestnictwa w imprezach sportowych, stał się podstawą do opracowania kwestionariusza ankietowego. Badania empiryczne (n = 346) umożliwiły poznanie powodów uczestnictwa w wydarzeniach sportowych. Wyniki wskazują, że obiema grupami respondentów (mieszkańcy Poznania oraz turyści sportowi) kierują różne rodzaje motywacji. Najistotniejszą ich grupą dla lokalnych biegaczy okazały się motywy zorientowane na wynik, a dla turystów sportowych – motywy skierowane na przeżycia, co p...
The aim of the study is to to examine the motivations for participating in a half-marathon among ... more The aim of the study is to to examine the motivations for participating in a half-marathon among two groups of runners, local running in their place of residence and sports tourists, and to evaluate the differences between them. With the increase in the popularity of ‘running tourism’ the question becomes important as it encourages runners to engage in physical activity outside their everyday place of residence. Freyer and Gross’s (2002) four types of motivation for participation in sports events was the basis for the development of the author’s questionnaire. The empirical research (sample size=346) then recognized these motives for participation. The article also presents a review of the literature on such motivations in mass running events. Results indicate that both group of respondents, residents of the place where the half-marathon was organised and sports tourists, have different forms of motivation. The greatest relevance for sports tourists turned out to be motivation for s...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
The impact of sports events on the promotion of physical activity, healthy lifestyles and sports ... more The impact of sports events on the promotion of physical activity, healthy lifestyles and sports participation is debatable, and most of the literature is on mega-events. This begs the question if more evidence of this type of impact can be found for non-mega events. Research on sports legacy often refers to the tangible effects such as infrastructure that is left after the competition. However, the construction of new facilities does not automatically result in attracting participants. Despite the high expectations of events organizers in terms of their impacts on pro-health behavior of people, few studies provide empirical evidence that events encourage sport fans to become more physically active. The aim of this research was to examine whether a mass run promotes physical activity among spectators, and whether a mass run influences the willingness of spectators to start in half marathon in the future. A written paper–pencil survey was collected from 510 spectators during the 6th ...
Undertaking physical recreational activity is an indispensable element of physical culture, servi... more Undertaking physical recreational activity is an indispensable element of physical culture, serving the regeneration of psychophysical strength and fulfilling a great deal of human cognitive and functional needs. Realized in the leisure time, in the first place it is to support the active rest. Also tourism is an intended, intentionally chosen for an individual’s needs physical activity. As an activity undertaken in one’s leisure time, influencing a human being not only through the recognition of reality, shaping inter-human relations, but also through improvement of motor skills, it also has a significant meaning for our health. Physical activity performed by a tourist , with keeping proper proportions of physical effort, rest, and the longest possible contact with natural environment, has a beneficial impact on their psychophysical shape and contributes to health improvement. That is why the natural environment should be used as an important factor in rationalization of methods of human strength restoration.
The areas of high sightseeing tourist and natural attractiveness, allowing undertaking diversified forms of rest, connected also with physical recreational activity, are frequently rural areas. In the period of multifunctional countryside development, where tourism is one of the forms of realization, has emerged a research area so far unrecognized, which requires defining and separation of the utility of countryside areas of high sightseeing tourist and natural attractiveness for undertaking physical recreational activity. The form of tourism realized in rural areas is agrotourism – the activity of providing tourism services by an agricultural family on their own farm with the use of their spare housing stock. The offer of an agrotourism farm usually contains the stay on the farm (accommodation) connected with board (i.e. meals). Its greatest advantage offered to tourists is a direct contact with rural environment through staying on a farm, participating in the farmer’s and his family’s life and making use of the existing sightseeing tourist and natural conditions of a particular village and region. The stay on the farm guarantees its guests the closeness to nature, freedom to move and is conducive to undertaking different forms of outdoor physical activity, especially in the situation when the places for its realization are located and organized in the proper and well-considered way. In this connection, the owners of agrotourism farms should become specialists in the field of physical culture and play a greater and greater role in shaping the level of awareness and knowledge about pro-healthy significance of active rest in their guests. That is why it was assumed that from both scientific and utilitarian points of view, it is important to carry out the research concerning the issue of offering broadly understood movement and creating the conditions encouraging the guests to undertaking physical activity in their leisure time by agrotourism farms’owners. From the point of view of the undertaken research, also the participation of the owners in shaping positive habits of spending leisure time, ways of strength restoration and active rest among their farms’guests, especially with the use of sightseeing tourist and natural values of the region, is quite important. The issues of the study are supplemented by the research into the attitudes and views of agrotourism farms’guests in this scope.
The subject matter of the research presented in the thesis was the analysis of the influence of sightseeing tourist and natural conditions on the intensity of the occurrence of agrotourism activity, preparation of a recreation base and offered forms of physical recreation, and on undertaking physical recreational activity by agrotourism farms’guests. The subject of the study, due to its multiple plots and complexity, was divided into two areas, and two stages of research resulting from them.
The subject matter of the first area of research based on secondary data were natural values of Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland) voivodship in a cross-section of poviats . Within this research stage the analysis of the conditions for rural tourism development, including agrotourism at the level of poviats of Wielkopolskie voivodship was conducted, preceded by the selection of sightseeing tourist and natural factors chosen on the basis of subject literature. To carry out the valorization of rural recreational space due to the diversity of sightseeing tourist and natural values and the evaluation of their impact on the existence and development of rural tourism and agrotourism, the following measurable factors co-defining these values were taken into consideration:
the area of special natural values legally protected (in % of total area),
forestation rate (in % of total area),
amount of lakes (in % of total area),
participation of meadows and pastures in the total amount of arable lands (%),
number of nature monuments for 1 km2.
In the second stage of the research , study with the use of diagnostic poll method was conducted in order to establish the impact of sightseeing tourist and natural values on:
making the decisions concerning running the agrotourism business by the owners of agrotourism farms;
preparation of the physical recreation offer in agrotourism farms and their neighbourhood;
guests’ decisions concerning the choice of an agrotourism farm as a place allowing undertaking physical recreation.
The study included agrotourism farms in the area of Międzychód poviat because (as the first stage of the research indicated) it comes first in Wielkopolskie voivodship in terms of the occurrence of sightseeing tourist and natural values. Personal interview with survey questionnaire comprised 54 agrotourism farms’owners who agreed on including their farms in the study, which makes 83% of all agrotourism farms community in Międzychód poviat. To know the opinions of the guests of agrotourism farms examined, from May to September 2009 by means of mail questionnaire technique and through the medium of the analyzed farms’owners, 248 guests of agrotourism farms were examined.
The conducted research allowed the verification of established research hypotheses and formulation of final conclusions:
Wielkopolska is a region significantly diversified with respect to the concentration of sightseeing tourist and natural features , where particular features examined are characterized by a great degree of changeability in the cross-section of poviats. The area which can be considered as possessing the best conditions for the development of rural tourism and agrotourism and for preparing recreation base and undertaking physical activity by the guests of agrotourism farms in Wielkopolska is Międzychód poviat. In this poviat all the features examined are characterized by high values in relation to the mean for the entire voivodship.
The most significant impact on the number of agricultural farms running tourist activity is demonstrated by the amount of lakes and forestation rate. Both features perform very important functions for tourism and recreation. They have a crucial impact on sightseeing and natural attractiveness of a given area and determine the emergence of farms dealing with rural tourism and agrotourism.
There is a strong correlation between sightseeing tourist and natural conditionings on a specific agrotourism farm, and the conditions for physical recreation.
The greatest influence on undertaking physical recreational activity by agrotourism farms’guests has the occurrence of surface waters.
People choosing holidays on an agrotourism farm pay attention to forms allowing undertaking physical recreational activity offered in its area and make use of the physical recreation offer prepared by its owner. They also think that the occurrence of sightseeing tourist and natural conditions influences tourist and recreational attractiveness of a farm and the choice of a farm as a place of guests’rest, and it also increases the attractiveness of the stay and creates favourable conditions for undertaking recreational activity.
Sightseeing tourist and natural conditions influence the amount of physical recreation forms offered by the hosts, which as a result influences the guests’decision concerning the choice of a particular agrotourist farm as a place to rest.
Sightseeing tourist and natural conditions and an attractive physical recreation offer considering its versatile forms have a highly positive influence on the intensity of effort undertaken by the guests during physical recreation.
The research showed that the development of agrotourist business depends on the intensity of sightseeing and natural conditions occurring in rural areas, while the usefulness of rural areas for undertaking physical recreational activity with the use of the natural environment is very large. Rural recreational space constitutes the environment in which the features making rest possible occur and in which the processes of regeneration of psychophysical strengths of a human can take place. So, rural areas possessing suitable sightseeing and natural conditions which are in favour of the development of rural tourism and agrotourism make the space for realization of broadly understood physical culture.
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Papers by Joanna Poczta
The areas of high sightseeing tourist and natural attractiveness, allowing undertaking diversified forms of rest, connected also with physical recreational activity, are frequently rural areas. In the period of multifunctional countryside development, where tourism is one of the forms of realization, has emerged a research area so far unrecognized, which requires defining and separation of the utility of countryside areas of high sightseeing tourist and natural attractiveness for undertaking physical recreational activity. The form of tourism realized in rural areas is agrotourism – the activity of providing tourism services by an agricultural family on their own farm with the use of their spare housing stock. The offer of an agrotourism farm usually contains the stay on the farm (accommodation) connected with board (i.e. meals). Its greatest advantage offered to tourists is a direct contact with rural environment through staying on a farm, participating in the farmer’s and his family’s life and making use of the existing sightseeing tourist and natural conditions of a particular village and region. The stay on the farm guarantees its guests the closeness to nature, freedom to move and is conducive to undertaking different forms of outdoor physical activity, especially in the situation when the places for its realization are located and organized in the proper and well-considered way. In this connection, the owners of agrotourism farms should become specialists in the field of physical culture and play a greater and greater role in shaping the level of awareness and knowledge about pro-healthy significance of active rest in their guests. That is why it was assumed that from both scientific and utilitarian points of view, it is important to carry out the research concerning the issue of offering broadly understood movement and creating the conditions encouraging the guests to undertaking physical activity in their leisure time by agrotourism farms’owners. From the point of view of the undertaken research, also the participation of the owners in shaping positive habits of spending leisure time, ways of strength restoration and active rest among their farms’guests, especially with the use of sightseeing tourist and natural values of the region, is quite important. The issues of the study are supplemented by the research into the attitudes and views of agrotourism farms’guests in this scope.
The subject matter of the research presented in the thesis was the analysis of the influence of sightseeing tourist and natural conditions on the intensity of the occurrence of agrotourism activity, preparation of a recreation base and offered forms of physical recreation, and on undertaking physical recreational activity by agrotourism farms’guests. The subject of the study, due to its multiple plots and complexity, was divided into two areas, and two stages of research resulting from them.
The subject matter of the first area of research based on secondary data were natural values of Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland) voivodship in a cross-section of poviats . Within this research stage the analysis of the conditions for rural tourism development, including agrotourism at the level of poviats of Wielkopolskie voivodship was conducted, preceded by the selection of sightseeing tourist and natural factors chosen on the basis of subject literature. To carry out the valorization of rural recreational space due to the diversity of sightseeing tourist and natural values and the evaluation of their impact on the existence and development of rural tourism and agrotourism, the following measurable factors co-defining these values were taken into consideration:
the area of special natural values legally protected (in % of total area),
forestation rate (in % of total area),
amount of lakes (in % of total area),
participation of meadows and pastures in the total amount of arable lands (%),
number of nature monuments for 1 km2.
In the second stage of the research , study with the use of diagnostic poll method was conducted in order to establish the impact of sightseeing tourist and natural values on:
making the decisions concerning running the agrotourism business by the owners of agrotourism farms;
preparation of the physical recreation offer in agrotourism farms and their neighbourhood;
guests’ decisions concerning the choice of an agrotourism farm as a place allowing undertaking physical recreation.
The study included agrotourism farms in the area of Międzychód poviat because (as the first stage of the research indicated) it comes first in Wielkopolskie voivodship in terms of the occurrence of sightseeing tourist and natural values. Personal interview with survey questionnaire comprised 54 agrotourism farms’owners who agreed on including their farms in the study, which makes 83% of all agrotourism farms community in Międzychód poviat. To know the opinions of the guests of agrotourism farms examined, from May to September 2009 by means of mail questionnaire technique and through the medium of the analyzed farms’owners, 248 guests of agrotourism farms were examined.
The conducted research allowed the verification of established research hypotheses and formulation of final conclusions:
Wielkopolska is a region significantly diversified with respect to the concentration of sightseeing tourist and natural features , where particular features examined are characterized by a great degree of changeability in the cross-section of poviats. The area which can be considered as possessing the best conditions for the development of rural tourism and agrotourism and for preparing recreation base and undertaking physical activity by the guests of agrotourism farms in Wielkopolska is Międzychód poviat. In this poviat all the features examined are characterized by high values in relation to the mean for the entire voivodship.
The most significant impact on the number of agricultural farms running tourist activity is demonstrated by the amount of lakes and forestation rate. Both features perform very important functions for tourism and recreation. They have a crucial impact on sightseeing and natural attractiveness of a given area and determine the emergence of farms dealing with rural tourism and agrotourism.
There is a strong correlation between sightseeing tourist and natural conditionings on a specific agrotourism farm, and the conditions for physical recreation.
The greatest influence on undertaking physical recreational activity by agrotourism farms’guests has the occurrence of surface waters.
People choosing holidays on an agrotourism farm pay attention to forms allowing undertaking physical recreational activity offered in its area and make use of the physical recreation offer prepared by its owner. They also think that the occurrence of sightseeing tourist and natural conditions influences tourist and recreational attractiveness of a farm and the choice of a farm as a place of guests’rest, and it also increases the attractiveness of the stay and creates favourable conditions for undertaking recreational activity.
Sightseeing tourist and natural conditions influence the amount of physical recreation forms offered by the hosts, which as a result influences the guests’decision concerning the choice of a particular agrotourist farm as a place to rest.
Sightseeing tourist and natural conditions and an attractive physical recreation offer considering its versatile forms have a highly positive influence on the intensity of effort undertaken by the guests during physical recreation.
The research showed that the development of agrotourist business depends on the intensity of sightseeing and natural conditions occurring in rural areas, while the usefulness of rural areas for undertaking physical recreational activity with the use of the natural environment is very large. Rural recreational space constitutes the environment in which the features making rest possible occur and in which the processes of regeneration of psychophysical strengths of a human can take place. So, rural areas possessing suitable sightseeing and natural conditions which are in favour of the development of rural tourism and agrotourism make the space for realization of broadly understood physical culture.