From authenticity to attractiveness of the natural and cultural heritage site as perceived by tourists in Ojców National Park

Abstract

This study focuses on the tourist perception of the attractiveness and authenticity of the popular natural and cultural heritage objects in Ojców National Park. A potential relationship between the opinions and ratings given by tourists and the perception of the authenticity of the objects was highlighted (based on the analysis of data obtained from Tripadvisor, Google, Polskie Szlaki and ZamkoMania websites). The authenticity of the selected attractions is a component that contributes to the experience of a small percentage of tourists who are visiting Ojców National Park. In each case, tourists’ experiences are concentrated on different elements, the authenticity of individual tourists’ experiences is substantially different, and tourists also differ in their understanding of authenticity. The data obtained from websites, however, is not sufficient to confirm the hypothesis about the decline in the importance of authenticity in the opinions of tourists. The presented results confirm the need for extensive research on the important role of existential authenticity in creating visitor satisfaction.

Keywords:

• tourist experience
• natural herritage
• cultural herritage
• authenticity
• Ojców National Park

1. Introduction

Among the components influencing the tourist’s experience, the authenticity of the chosen attractions is often mentioned. Moreover, the search for authenticity is considered to be the essence of cultural tourism, for example when the tourist’s aim is to be with other people in the places of their lives (search for a sense of place), or to commune with remnants of the past (search for a sense of the past). This is probably why many authors tend to believe that authenticity is the proper and most important motive for its practice (Chhabra et al., 2003). However, the search for authenticity is not a characteristic feature of all types of tourism; it may even be a non-essential factor, e.g. in the case of various forms of specialised tourism.

When authenticity is found, tourists associate it with concepts such as: fidelity to oneself, genuineness, frankness, self-fulfilment, own identity, own character, individuality or through negation as: artificiality, fakery, hypocrisy and falsification. Tourist attractions considered here are either authentic and remain so because they have not yet become influenced of the process of staging transformation, or their authenticity has been transformed and has a staged character (Mazurkiewicz, 2008). The former are increasingly hard to find, so questions arise:

− are the only types of attractions that currently draw tourists’ attention those that exhibit a modelled authenticity?

− is the search for authenticity a source of inspiration for undertaking touristic excursions, for example in a national park?

This study aims to:

1. assess the popularity and attractiveness of natural and cultural heritage sites in Ojców National Park in the opinion of tourists.

2. identify the potential relationship of the site ratings given by tourists vs. their perception of the authenticity of these sites.

3. verify if tourists recognize the importance of the authenticity of the site or disappearing authenticity of the natural or cultural heritage sites.

The focus of the study will be set on the authenticity of sites or objects, rather than, for example, on cultural events and various manifestations of living local culture. Ojców National Park, established in 1956, the smallest of Poland’s national parks (2163.21 ha), is located in Southern Poland, 10 km from the city limits of Krakow (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Location of the study area.

Source: Own compilation.

The inspiration and starting point for the topic was the opinion of a tourist evaluating his stay at castle sites in Korzkiew and Ojców in the Tripadvisor tool: “On Tripadvisor you will find information that/Korzkiew castle/is a guesthouse, but you should know that it is also a place to visit and, in addition, its free of charge. There is quite a large car park below the castle and a playground with atlas training and other gym equipment. The interior is open to the public free of charge—there are several levels of furnished rooms, where we can find, for example, antlers, weapons and beautiful ceilings. The walls of the castle are overgrown with creepers. A colossal difference from the ruins in Ojców, for which you have to pay, and there is absolutely nothing to see there.” The castle in Korzkiew (8 km from Ojców Castle) has been owned since 1997 by architect Jerzy Donimirski, who undertook the restoration and rebuilding of the castle and now makes it available as a hotel and restaurant facility.

2. Methods

Assessments of popularity, attractiveness and authenticity are based on tourists’ subjective perceptions, which poses a number of methodological problems. One of the groups of tools used to assess the popularity and attractiveness of tourist facilities comprises of online aggregators of opinions and ratings. As the number of tourists in a given region and Internet users increases, the importance of such opinion aggregators increases too (Jeacle & Carter, 2011; Pstrocka-Rak & Rak, 2020; Zajadacz, 2017). Among the most popular, besides Tripadvisor and Google Maps Local Guide, are: Lonely Planet, Expedia, Yelp, Zomato, Booking, Airbnb, Kayak, Expedia (Lee et al., 2011; Martin-Fuentes et al., 2020).

Research on the importance of the authenticity of objects in the opinion of tourists had not been conducted in the ONP before, while research on popularity and attractiveness was conducted to a limited extent and mainly on the basis of diagnostic surveys (Hibszer, 2013; Ziarkowski, 2011).

This study follows a content analysis approach and the case study was conducted with the use of secondary sources of information—quantitative data (ratings given by tourists staying in ONP) and qualitative data (textual opinions given by tourists staying in ONP). Opinions and ratings issued by tourists using the Tripadvisor website were obtained (n = 602 textual opinions and n = 602 ratings). Data obtained from the Tripadvisor opinion aggregator for the purposes of this study include all opinions on all sites within the Ojców National Park, issued up to December 2021, and placed under the “Things to do” tab and, in the case of one site—Korzkiew Castle—under the “Hotels” tab. The material from Tripadvisor—the most well-known website in the tourism industry among users and researchers, was supplemented with evaluations obtained from the Google Maps application and portals Polskie Szlaki and ZamkoMania (total n = 25572 ratings, all ratings issued up to December 2021). In the case of the analyzed ratings, tourists reviewing a site had the option to rate expressed on a five-point scale of 1–5. Obtained from aggregators, read and analyzed textual opinions included ratings, personal opinions, described emotions, experiences, recommendations, but also useful information of a practical nature. A table scheme was developed with 8 positive and 8 negative categories, including a group of opinions “authenticity of the place” and “lack of authenticity” (Table 4). The table prepared in this way includes 666 thematic threads out of 602 opinions expressed by tourists.

Tourists expressed their opinions in English, German, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, French, Hungarian, Dutch, Spanish and Polish, the share of which was 73.3% (Table 1).

Table 1. Percentage of ratings of Polish tourists on the most important cultural touristic attractions within the ONP according to Tripadvisor/December 2021

	oceny PL	Excellent	Very good	Average	Poor	Terrible
Zamek w Pieskowej Skale	71,6	74,2	65,6	76,0	100	50
Zamek w Ojcowie	67,3	78,6	62,5	66,7	57,1	66,7
Kaplica „Na Wodzie”	57,1	100	40,0	0,0	0,0	0,0
Pustelnia bł. Salomei	71,4	100	60,0	100	0,0	0,0
Park Zamkowy	50,0	50,0	0,0	0,0	0,0	0,0
Grota Łokietka	79,1	13,2	21,7	25,0	0	100
Jaskinia Ciemna	81,6	85,0	71,4	71,4	25,0	0,0
Źródło Miłości	85,7	0	100	100	100	0,0
RAZEM	73,3

Source: Own compilation.

An attempt was made to use tools (online opinion aggregators), which are not often used to analyze issues related to the evaluation of tourist attractions or destination image by tourists (Kladou & Mavragani, 2015; Safaaa et al., 2017; Żemła et al., 2020) and are much more often used by researchers in quantitative analyzes of the tourist services such as hotel services (Banerjee & Chua, 2016; Molinillo et al., 2016; O’Connor, 2010; Vásquez, 2011).

Results of studies using Tripadvisor’s aggregator are included in numerous works in the field of tourism. Among them, studies on the reliability of reviews collected on Tripadvisor seem to be very relevant (Fili & Križaj, 2016; Filieri et al., 2015; Jeacle & Carter, 2011). A growing number of works present analyses of such acquired reviews of selected types of tourist attractions and services (Miguéns et al., 2008, Zajadacz, 2017; Żemła et al., 2020). The Tripadvisor website is currently a multi-level search engine (metasearch engine). It is classified as a tourism information technology (Benckendorff et al., 2014), and creates the largest community of travellers Worldwide.

High popularity of Tripadvisor, which is used by half a billion people per month (Pstrocka-Rak & Rak, 2020), is due to the credibility and trust of users (Filieri et al., 2015), resulting from the lack of links between the evaluators and the rated (Fernandes, 2018). Manipulations are not admissible in the website and those responsible for facilities, attractions, etc. have the opportunity to respond to criticism from tourists (Fili & Križaj, 2016; Jeacle & Carter, 2011).

In addition, for this article, a search through literature was carried out. The inspiration for the author to undertake scientific research on the perception of attractiveness and authenticity of tourist attractions was, among others, many years of participant and passive observation, conducted as a licensed guide in the Ojcowski National Park and a guide on duty at cave sites in the ONP.

3. Literature review

The identification of the potential relationship of the ratings given vs. the perception of the authenticity has been widely discussed in tourism research (Andriotis, 2011; Bobot, 2012; Breathnach, 2006; Chhabra, 2007, 2019; Cohen, 1979; Daugstad & Kirchengast, 2013; Dueholm & Smed, 2014; Hughes, 1995; Jamal & Hill, 2004; Kim & Jamal, 2007; Kolar & Zabkar, 2010; Reisinger & Steiner, 2006; Rickly-Boyd, 2012; Salamone, 1997; Taylor, 2001; Waitt, 2000; Wang, 1999; Xie, 2004; Zhu, 2012). The concept of authenticity has been of interest to tourism sociologists and anthropologists (Boorstin, 1963; Cohen, 1988; MacCannell, 1976) as well as tourism marketing researchers (Frochot & Batat, 2013; Żemła, 2011).

The origins of the discussion along the axis of authenticity/non-authenticity of the tourist experience can be found in the reflection of D. Boorstin (1963) on tourists’ search for simulacrum substitutes for the real experience and MacCannell (1976), who introduced the concept of staged authenticity. MacCannell (1976), who introduced the concept of staged authenticity. His emphasis was on authentic experiences in tourism that may result from their absence in real life. These are at the same time the two most frequently cited positions on the definition of authenticity.

As noted in the introduction, the case study included in this work is an attempt to contribute to the current knowledge on the tourist perception of authenticity: recognition of the importance of site authenticity, disappearing authenticity of natural and cultural heritage sites, appearance of a falsified image of site environment. The sense of authenticity of a tourist attraction has a significant impact on the satisfaction of the visitor (Kolar & Zabkar, 2010; Nowacki, 2013). This is most relevant to tourists for whom authenticity is the determinant of an sites’ attractiveness. The issue of authenticity is beginning to be perceived as a determining factor in tourist decision-making (Kim & Jamal, 2007; Kolar & Zabkar, 2010; McIntosh & Prentice, 1999; Taylor, 2001) and as a determinant of the quality of tourist attractions (Drummond, 2001; Nowacki, 2013; Yeoman et al., 2007). Moreover, numerous attempts have been made to classify places in terms of their authenticity (Brida, Disegna & Scuderi, 2013; Chhabra, 2008; Cohen, 1979; Salamone, 1997). Authenticity as a value judgement category becomes an essential one (Horolets, 2012) and, for example, D. Boorstin (1963) made a distinction in this context between aesthetically and morally bad (mass tourism) and good and beautiful (individual travel) practices.

In order to answer the question posed in the introduction - are the only types of attractions that currently draw tourists’ attention those that exhibit a modelled authenticity? - it is worth referring to the systematics of the concept of authenticity. Wang (1999) distinguished three types of authenticity, which he called objective, constructive and existential, respectively. Chronologically speaking, researchers initially focused on the authenticity of objects, calling it objective, objectivist, indexical (Chronis & Hampton, 2008; Grayson & Martinec, 2004). Objective authenticity is a concept that originated in museology, where the important question for visitors is whether an exhibit is original, whether it presents the value attributed to it. It refers to a set of reliable information that describes the natural, geographical, social and cultural face of an area and constitutes an objective feature of it that can be verified (Żemła, 2011). The authenticity of objects is verified using pre-approved criteria (with difficulties in explicitly formulating them) and confirmed by experts, after detailed analyses. The recognition of something as authentic or not takes place without the influence of other factors external to the perception procedure itself. In the discussion concerning the authenticity of the tourist experience, there is also the view that the sense of authenticity may depend on the tourist himself. Assuming that the world surrounding people does not exist objectively—independently of their consciousness—but, on the contrary, it is constructed by them in this consciousness, authenticity or no-authenticity is the result of how tourists see and perceive the values and objects visited. They see and perceive them according to their own socially shaped way of understanding, defining and interpreting authenticity (imagination, expectations, preferences, faith, political beliefs) (Mazurkiewicz, 2008). In such an understanding, if a tourist considers something to be authentic, then that is what it is, regardless of experts’ opinion. Moreover, something that initially appears to be non authentic may, over time, acquire signs of authenticity (Cohen, 1988). This effect of comparisons between expectations and perception is called constructivist (symbolic) authenticity (Cohen, 1988; Reisinger & Steiner, 2006; Wang, 1999). The perception of constructivist authenticity depends on the context, situation and intersubjective conditions in which it is experienced (Nowacki, 2013). Original cultural objects and events are authentic not because they are original, but because they are perceived as signs or symbols of authenticity. According to Wang (1999), adopting a dualism between objectivist and constructivist authenticity is not sufficient, as it does not provide a full description of the tourist’s behaviour and feelings, so existential (subjective, reconciled) authenticity is substantially different. Additionally, it is differentiated in the literature into temporal and existential (Pearce, 2007). The notion of authenticity, in this view, has more to do with the activity and its subject than its object and characterises the so-called attentive tourist (Moscardo, 1996).

4. Case study: Ojców National Park

National parks in their touristic dimension are also an area of interest for those seeking traces of human activity (Armaitiene et al., 2014; Eagles et al., 2002; La Page, 2012; Rio & Nunes, 2012). A wide group of works addresses the concept of combining cultural and nature tourism elements in national parks (Bruno et al., 2014; Dhimitri et al., 2015; Wall & Fredman, 2007).

4.1. Heritage in Ojców National Park

Ojców National Park (ONP) occupies a small part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland (approximately 1%)—the most rocky section of the Prądnik Valley and the lower section of the Sąspowska Valley. In addition to its wealth of natural, cultural and landscape forms, it is characterised by a relatively well-preserved spatial order providing an interesting example of the coexistence of natural and cultural heritage assets (Partyka & Sołtys-Lelek, 2019). There are 43 historic buildings in the ONP, which are owned by the Park, private individuals, the church and other institutions, such as the Wawel Royal Castle and PTTK. It is one of the few national parks in Europe with such a large accumulation of cultural objects in such a small area. The historical axis of the ONP area is the former trade route from Kraków to Silesia and the Prądnik River, which enabled the development of settlement and industry—both based on water power in this rocky area.

As early as the 19th century descriptions of the Prądnik Valley delighted in its landscape, which is a harmonious combination of natural and cultural elements, in particular: the relief with fancifully shaped rocks and caves, with which many legends are associated, the richness of vegetation, as well as the castles in Ojców and Pieskowa Skała and the architectural complex of the Blessed Salomea’s Hermitage in Grodzisk (Ziarkowski, 2011). A tourist hiking the Ojcowski trails now encounters a wealth of material heritage in terms of residential architecture, religious buildings, spa facilities and industrial buildings associated with the use of the Prądnik River waters.

Among the residential buildings, apart from manor houses and villas, the most prominent are the castles in Ojców and Pieskowa Skała in the park and in Korzkiew, in its surroundings. The first two were built on the initiative of King Casimir the Great, while the third one was founded by the Zaklików knights of Syrokomla coat of arms. The castle in Ojców was built close to the older defensive foundations of Prince Konrad Mazowiecki’s stronghold on Okopy Hill. The majority of castles in the Małopolska region date back to the 14th and 15th centuries. About 80% of them were erected on inaccessible hills, and 30% have preserved their former architectural form, i.e. have a full volume, such as the castle in Pieskowa Skała. Others, due to the destructive activities of time, nature and man himself, have fallen into ruin, such as the castle in Ojców. The difficulties in managing castles are usually of financial nature and depend on the entity managing the castle (communal ownership, state ownership, private ownership)—yet it needs to be noted that almost half of the castle sites in Małopolska have been adapted for tourism.

When assessing the number of tourists interested in Ojców and Pieskowa Skała castles, it should be taken into account that the number of tickets sold does not fully reflect the interest in these sites. In Pieskowa Skała, until 2021, ticket purchase was not obligatory for visits to the outer courtyard and the restaurant and service area. The castle in Ojcow, on the other hand, is discussed and shown to the vast majority of organised groups by guides from the level of the Castle Park in close proximity to the car park below the castle, where individual tourists also start their trek along the Prądnik Valley. The functioning of the castles in Pieskowa Skała and Ojców from the 14th to the 19th century, as the main centres of the Ojców starosty and the key of the magnate estate, meant that no other residential buildings were built during this period (Ziarkowski, 2004). Mansions were mainly erected in villages under the rule of the nobles and the knighthood, away from the Prądnik Valley. In villa-type constructions, and in addition to examples of spa buildings, the building in Młynnik—“Kamieniec”, built of poorly worked limestone—stands out, a villa built in 1927–30 for an employee of the Jagiellonian University, Professor Władysław Konopczyński.

Another group of cultural heritage objects in the ONP are the buildings of the spa, functioning in Ojców from the beginning of the second half of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War II. The material heritage of this period includes elements of the fragmentarily preserved Spa Park. J. Partyka and Ziarkowski (2004) mapped 38 existing spa buildings in the Prądnik Valley, including two hotels, five residential buildings and twelve boarding houses, and listed 20 buildings among the non-existing ones, with, in the first place—Goplana, a hydropathic establishment stripped down in 1937. One particularly interesting feature of Ojców’s spa architecture, reflecting the trends and fashions prevailing in art at the time, is the heterogeneous character of its architecture, synthesised in a study by Żółciak (2004).

The waters of the Prądnik River were used as a source of energy to move the wheels of various industrial plants, ranging from hammer mills, ironworkers, fulling mills, oil mills, paper mills to mills and sawmills. Hajto-Pinkas (2016) noted among the existing facilities within the boundaries of today’s ONP: 11 milling plants, a sawmill and a Hamernia (the Forge), and among the non-existing ones: 9 mills, 3 sawmills, a powder mill and a soda water plant. It mentions only three mills as currently active: the Krzemień mill in Wola Kalinowska, and the Katarzyński and Mosur mills in Grodzisk.

The long list of material heritage objects is supplemented by 39 sacred buildings, including three churches, one chapel and elements of small sacred architecture: four statues, 11 crosses and 20 wayside shrines (Hibszer, 2013). The unique 17th-century architectural and sculptural ensemble in Grodzisk, realised in connection with the beginning of the beatification process of Princess Salomea, comes to the fore. Situated on a lofty rock on the Prądnik River, its history is closely linked to the Poor Clare nuns who were brought there by Duke Bolesław Wstydliwy at the beginning of the second half of the 13th century. Significantly, one of the nuns who worked there until 1320 was actually Salomea—the duke’s sister, widow of the Halych King Koloman, who died in 1268. One element of the Castle’s rich iconographic programme that attracts particular attention among tourists is the sculpture of an elephant with an obelisk, which was originally topped by a statue of the Virgin Mary, in reference to the invocation from the Litany of Loretto “ivory tower”, probably inspired by Bernini’s work in front of the Roman church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. One of the most frequently photographed tourist sites in Ojców National Park is the chapel of St Joseph the Worker in Ojców, nicknamed the “On the Water” chapel because of its location above the Prądnik riverbed. Originally one of the buildings of a functioning spa, it was the site of a wave bath in the Prądnik river. Since 1901, it has had a religious function. Intangible heritage is not the subject of this paper, so it is only worth mentioning that the Chapel of St Joseph the Worker is a living example of the wealth of all kinds of stories, legends and tales of the Prądnik Valley. Guides are fond of quoting a version of the location of the building “On the Water” as the result of the cleverness of Ojców’s inhabitants in the face of the prohibition on building religious buildings on land during the period of the Russian Partition. Even in factual terms, referring to this difficult period in the history of the Polish nation, which lost its independence for 123 years, it should be remembered that the Prądnik Valley played an important role in the history of the January Uprising in 1863. A reminder of this uprising is, among others, the main quarters of the insurgents of Apolinary Kurowski, which was the hotel “Pod Łokietkiem”, the castle in Pieskowa Skała, as the camp of Marian Langiewicz’s unit, or the peasant houses along the entire Prądnik Valley, where the insurgents were located.

4.2. Results

The very wide range of tangible heritage sites outlined above is only marginally reflected in the number of sites reviewed by tourists on opinion aggregators. In the list of twenty sites (Table 2) recorded in the opinion aggregators Tripadvisor, Google, Polskie Szlaki and ZamkoMania—there are only eight tangible cultural heritage sites, an other eight natural heritage sites and then four that, due to their nature, could be perceived by tourists as natural and/or cultural heritage—Grotto Łokietka, Cave Ciemna, Okopy Hill and Spring of Love. Tourists gave ratings and textual opinions to a very narrow group of sites. It shall suffice to mention that the most frequently rated site—Pieskowa Skała Castle collected almost 45% of all opinions on sites in ONP, and only six sites (Table 3) received a total of ninety percent of ratings. Castles are the most frequently assessed heritage sites. The buildings in Pieskowa Skała, the ruins in Ojców and Korzkiew castle, located in the park’s buffer zone, received a total of 67% of all object ratings in Ojców National Park. Against this backdrop, the cultural heritage of the complex of sites associated with the figure of Blessed Salomea in Grodzisk and the potential of this site in the context of cultural tourism, is almost unnoticeable.

Table 2. The most important attractions within ONP according to ratings provided by Tripadvisor, Google, Polskie Szlaki and ZamkoMania websites/December 2021/. NS—natural sites, CS—cultural sites, NCS—natural and cultural sites

			Number of ratings
			A Tripadvisor	B Google	C Polskie Szlaki	D ZamkoMania	Łącznie A+B+C	% Cumulative series A+B+C
1	Zamek w Pieskowej Skale	CS	183	11035	346	198	11564	44.8
2	Zamek w Ojcowie	CS	52	3353	244	141	3649	58.9
3	Brama Krakowska	NS	41	2301	144	-	2486	68.5
4	Zamek w Korzkwi*	CS	109	2071	52	-	2232	77.1
5	Grota Łokietka	NCS	67	1559	183	-	1809	84.1
6	Jaskinia Ciemna	NCS	38	1559	74	-	1671	90.6
7	Maczuga Herkulesa	NS	60	757	229	-	1046	94.7
8	Kaplica na Wodzie	CS	7	217	160	-	384	96.2
9	Igła Deotymy	NS	8	157	55	-	220	97.0
10	Muzeum OPN	CS	6	180	25	-	211	97.8
11	Skała Rękawica	NS	-	91	57	-	148	98.4
12	Boroniówka	CS	12	112	4	-	128	98.9
13	Źródło Miłości	NCS	7	24	76	-	107	99.3
14	Pustelnia Bł. Salomei	CS	7	39	15	-	61	99.5
15	Góra Okopy	NCS	-	-	47	-	47	99.7
16	Skały Wenryhory	NS	-	-	19	-	19	99.8
17	Jonaszówka	NS	5	11	-	-	16	99.9
18	Źródła w Dolinie Sąspowskiej	NS	-	-	16	-	16	99.9
19	Wąwóz Ciasne Skałki	NS	-	-	14	-	14	99.9
20	Młyn Tarnówki w Grodzisku	CS	-	-	7	-	7	100.0
	RAZEM	20	602	23466	1767	339	25835

*-the castle in Korzkiew in the buffer zone of the OPN

Source: Own compilation.

Table 3. Ratings of the most important attractions within the ONP according to Tripadvisor, Google, Polish Trails and ZamkoMania/December 2021/

		(1) Tripadvisor	(2) Google	(3) Polskie Szlaki	(4) ZamkoMania	Average rating 1+2+3	Attraction ranking
		Ocena	Ocena	Ocena	Ocena
1	Zamek w Pieskowej Skale	4,5	4,6	4,5	4,3	4.5	10
2	Zamek w Ojcowie	3,5	4,3	4,3	3,8	4.0	19
3	Brama Krakowska	4,5	4,8	4,6		4.6	6
4	Grota Łokietka	4,5	4,5	4,5		4.5	10
5	Jaskinia Ciemna	4,0	4,5	4,4		4.3	16
6	Maczuga Herkulesa	4,5	4,7	4,4		4.5	10
7	Kaplica na Wodzie	4,5	4,8	4,4		4.6	6
8	Igła Deotymy	4,0	4,6	4,4		4.3	16
9	Muzeum OPN	4,5	4,5	4,4		4.5	10
10	Skała Rękawica	-	4,9	4,7		4.8	2
11	Boroniówka	5,0	4,8	5,0		4.9	1
12	Źródło Miłości	3,5	4,5	4,2		4.1	18
13	Pustelnia Bł. Salomei	4,0	4,9	4,4		4.4	15
14	Góra Okopy	-	-	4,7		4.7	3
15	Skały Wenryhory	-	-	4,5		4.5	10
16	Jonaszówka	4,5	4,6	-		4.6	6
17	Źródła w Dol.Sąspowskiej	-	-	4,7		4.7	3
18	Wąwóz Ciasne Skałki	-	-	4,7		4.7	3
19	Młyn Tarnówki	-	-	3,9		3.9	20
20	Zamek w Korzkwi*	5,0	4,6	4,2	-	4,6	6
	RAZEM	4,3	4,6	4,5	4,1	4,5

*-the castle in Korzkiew in the buffer zone of the OPN.

Source: Own compilation.

No villa facilities in the Prądnik Valley were rated by tourists. Among industrial sites, out of the 11 existing milling sites, tourists rated the Tarnówka Mill in Grodzisk and Boroniówka. Of the nearly 40 religious sites located in Ojców National Park, ratings were given to the Blessed Salomea’s Hermitage complex in Grodzisk and the “On The Water” chapel. The latter object appears in the tourists’ opinions, next to the building of the former “Pod Łokietkiem” hotel, which now houses the ONP Education and Museum Centre, as a modest representation of the almost 40 existing spa buildings of the historical spa in Ojców. The heritage of the January Uprising period (crosses, graves, plaques) was not noted in the opinions.

The highest rating of 5.0 in the Tripadvisor review aggregator was given to the Korzkiew Castle, located in the park’s buffer zone and classified in the “hotels” category (109 opinions), and the Boroniówka mill settlement (12 opinions). In this aggregator, among the sites with a significant number of opinions, other material heritage sites did not score high (Figure 2). The image of ratings is not altered after taking into account data from Google and Polskie Szlaki aggregators (Table 3). It is worth noting the degree of comparability of the average ratings of the sites in the three aggregators used on the example of the sites in ONP. Tourists gave ratings there that differed by only 0.3 points on average (i.e. below the range of half ratings on a scale of 1–5).

Figure 2. Rating of Ojców National Park sites in Tripadvisor’s opinion aggregator in 2021.

Left Vertical axis—number of reviews, Right vertical axis—rating. The castle in Korzkiew in the buffer zone of the OPNSource: Own compilation.

In the ranking of ONP’s most important attractions, the highest ranked site in 2021 was the Boroniówka milling settlement (Table 5), and high scores in the group of cultural sites were recorded in the following order: Okopy Hill and Korzkiew Castle. In the case of Boroniówka, tourists appreciated above all the presence of the “nice” owners, who “themselves with great passion restored the old mill”. They noticed the attention to every detail and the great heart put into maintaining the place. Evaluators most often used the phrases: beautiful, extremely atmospheric, peaceful, charming and pleasant place, and there are even opinions like: “… everything we saw there is so beautifully restored, so coherent aesthetically, that one would love to live and reside there”. The second site, Okopy Hill, was only rated in the aggregator Polskie Szlaki, with no feedback in words. On the other hand, the analysis of opinions on the third highest rated ONP heritage site—the Korzkiew Castle (located in the park’s buffer zone) is more complex, due to its service hotel and restaurant character. Tourists rate it as a “secluded, romantic, beautiful” place for “classy” people, with “brilliantly, tastefully furnished interiors”, to be used also for business meetings. For some, it is a place where “childhood dreams of a night within the castle walls came true”, others “dreamt of a wedding”, while others “drinking coffee in a deckchair under the castle walls, overgrown with ivy and smelling the scent of roses growing everywhere, felt like “kings of the world”. It is important for tourists that this “lovely little castle” can be visited on their own, everything can be “touched” and all the “nooks and crannies” can be explored.

In the ranking, no predominance of cultural heritage sites taken together over natural heritage sites was observed in the group of highest rated sites, while the group of lowest rated sites included three cultural heritage sites—Młyn Tarnówki, but this site was only assessed and the aggregator PolskieSzlaki, and was not noted in the others, Ojców Castle and the Fountain of Love. The latter two sites received by far the highest number of “poor” and “terrible” notes in the Tripadvisor aggregator (Figure 3) among all assessed sites in ONP.

Figure 3. Attractiveness of Ojców National Park sites in the light of opinions presented by tourists on Tripadvisor in 2021 (518 ratings).

Ratings from left to right: Excellent, Very good, Average, Poor, Terrible. The castle in Korzkiew in the buffer zone of the OPNSource: Own compilation.

What seems particularly interesting is the comparison of negative evaluations and opinions concerning the three castle sites in the ONP and the ONP buffer zone, which is based on a very large set of ratings in the three aggregators (a total of 17,500 all evaluations and opinions). In the case of the Ojców Castle site, tourists are aware of the importance of the site, but find it uninteresting in its current state and there are even opinions that “the ruins are waiting to be rebuilt”. In one opinion, a tourist remarks that “not much to look at” are the words most often heard when passing visitors, yet one has to trigger a great deal of imagination to appreciate such a place. In the case of the castle site in Pieskowa Skała, opinions prevail that the renovated castle looks phenomenal and that the immediate surroundings of the castle with the Hercules Mace “simply captivate”. However, in many evaluations there is a phrase that “feels unsatisfactory”, which tourists are unable to strictly define. This lack of satisfaction can be attributed to the manner in which the object is made accessible, as it is stated that the interior of the museum smacks slightly of “PRL”, that the slippers from the 1980s are annoying, that the staff are very unpleasant and that it is forbidden to take photos.

The vast majority are threads raised in a positive context (78%)(Table 4). The highest percentages of positive opinions were recorded for the following sites: Korzkiew Castle (93%), Boroniówka (91%), Łokietek’s Cave (86%) and “on the Water” Chapel (83%), while the highest percentages of negative opinions concerned the sites: Źródło Miłości (72%) and Ojców Castle (46%).

Table 4. Content analysis of reviews of cultural sites in ONP on Tripadvisor

Threads included in the feedback	Total	Castle in Pieskowa Skała	Castle in Ojców	Castle in Korzkiew*	Boroniówka	Chapel on the Water	Hermitage of Blessed Salomea	Castle Park	Łokietek’s Cave	Dark Cave	Spring of Love
Number of threads raised in opinions	666	286	84	152	22	12	8	2	43	39	18
Threads raised in a negative context	149	65	39	11	2	2	2	0	6	9	13
Threads raised in a positive context	517	221	45	141	20	10	6	2	37	30	5
Lack of authenticity	19	9	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
Aesthetic aspect - exterior (unattractive facility)	4	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Aesthetic aspect - unattractive interior	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lack of atmosphere, feel of the place	5	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-
Unsuccessful restoration/reconstruction	3	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Poor quality of services/ticket prices, organisation, staff/	80	44	16	9	2	2	-	-	4	3	-
Not very interesting site, nothing interesting	34	11	13	-	-	-	2	-	2	2	4
Lack of environmental qualities, unattractive surroundings	2	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Authenticity of the place	42	18	9	11	1	-	-	-	-	2	1
Aesthetics - exterior (beautiful facility)	85	52	12	11	2	6	2	-	-	-	-
Aesthetic aspect - attractive interior	71	25	-	25	4		-	-	11	6	-
Successful restoration/reconstruction	47	28	-	16	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Atmosphere, feel of the place	66	11	7	24	4	2	3	1	5	9	-
High quality of service/ticket prices, organisation, staff/	100	31	-	39	4	-	-	-	17	9	-
Interesting facility	22	11	1	-	4	2	1	1	2	-	-
Environmental qualities, attractive surroundings	86	45	16	15	-	-	-	-	2	4	4

Source: own compilation based on text reviews on Tripadvisor (as of November 2021).

*-the castle in Korzkiew in the buffer zone of the OPN.

Tourists very rarely focus in their opinions on the authenticity of tourist attractions (together these opinions accounted for only 8% of all positive opinions). This theme was most often mentioned in a positive context in the case of the castles in Pieskowa Skała, Korzków and Ojców. A much more important theme in the opinions was the quality of services (19%), the aspect of the external aesthetic qualities of the site (16%) and the assets of the surroundings (16%). By far the most frequently mentioned theme in the negative context was the quality of services (54% of negative opinions). The aspect of lack of authenticity was only mentioned in the case of the castles in Pieskowa Skała and Ojców, the Dark Cave and, above all, the Spring of Love, but together these opinions accounted for only 13% of all negative opinions.

In the case of the top-rated ONP site, Boroniówka, the context of authenticity manifests itself in the opinions of tourists in the form of “a great living history lesson”, the opportunity to observe “with one’s own eyes for the first time in one’s life how flour used to be milled” and the fact of “saving history from destruction and oblivion”. A recurring theme of reference to history is illustrated by the opinion: “A settlement brought back to life with great respect for history. It has not been made into a modern, digital money-making machine”. A very important element contributing to the high rating was the opportunity to taste home-baked goods and to buy “organic” flour, milled right here.

The opinions about the Korzkiew castle resound with admiration for the attention to detail and appreciation of the “great idea to restore the castle and bring it back to life”. The aspect of authenticity appears in the opinions not only in the material context, but also of experiences, for example the smell of living bouquets, enjoying wine in the cloister, studying books by the fireplace. It is appreciated that the owner has done a wonderful job restoring this ruin to life, maintaining the character of an authentic historic place.

Tourists have pointed out that the site at Pieskowa Skała is not just a beautiful castle in the magnificent scenery of Ojców National Park, but an authentic place with a wealth of perfectly maintained artefacts. The context of the lack of authenticity in the case of the Pieskowa Skała castle appears, for example, in the tourists’ criticism of the succinct description of the numbered artefacts and the extra charge for the “Italian garden”, which turned out to be a collection of hedges with empty spaces for flowers. Negative reviews include the phrases: “literally two chambers and a courtyard” and “emptiness” in the castle interiors.

In the case of Ojców Castle, tourists lament that so little remains of the former stronghold’s splendour. Extremely negative opinions about Ojców Castle state that “the entrance is not worth the price of admission, it’s one big gag, embarrassment and a stretch”. This is because “apart from an old well and a small watchtower, there is nothing to see there” and therefore “it is difficult to call it a castle”. There is no shortage of opinions that “the castle has been demolished and is waiting to be rebuilt”.

In the case of the Spring of Love, tourists in their opinions do not comment on its arrangement according to J. Żółciak’s design and in cultural terms point out that it was originally located just under the Krakowska Gate, but since the road was built “the water flows underground through pipes, so the spring is a bit artificial”. Much more significant in the negative comments is that “this water is not drinkable without being boiled first” and “hundreds of people trying this water in the hope of great love seem to ignore the sanitary warnings”. Tourists call for “reconciling legend and reality”, i.e. “either make the water potable or moving the spring to a place where the outflowing water can be drunk”.

An interesting example of a set of cultural heritage objects in the ONP area in the context of assessing their authenticity is represented by the buildings in Grodzisk. In the area identified by tourists as the Hermitage of Blessed Salomea, according to some researchers, guides and tourists themselves, there are remains of a castle erected by the Silesian Duke Henry the Bearded in 1228 (Rokosz, 2017). It was supposed to have functioned under the name “Skała” “(Rock”) or “Scala” more or less until the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Kołodziejski (1996) firmly rejected the possibility of a castle functioning at this site and pointed to a completely different location, in the village of Sułoszowa, nearly 4 km to the northwest. In the light of another hypothesis, Grodzisko is the site of a fortified monastery of the Poor Clares of Princess Salomea, which was issued by virtue of a privilege issued in 1257 by Bolesław the Chaste, which is supported by stratigraphic observations and source material acquired in 2016–2017 (Wojenka, 2019).

In the case of the famous “On the Water” chapel dedicated to St. Joseph the Worker, as mentioned earlier, the unusual location of the temple on the Prądnik stream contributed to the legend that this was a deliberate action to circumvent the decree of Tsar Nicholas II, forbidding the construction of religious buildings on “fatherland”, by building it “on water”. Such an interpretation, often appearing in tourists’ opinions as an explanation for the origins of the site, and presented as a legend in written tourist sources and during guided tours by tourist guides, should of course be rejected. Indeed, the idea of adapting the wooden spa baths on Prądnik for worship purposes arose from the needs of visitors and local people, who were troubled by the long distance to the nearest churches, located in Smardzowice and Skala. The adaptation of the building into a chapel was carried out by local workers, and the character of the chapel, built in 1901, is determined primarily by the architecture of the earlier spa baths.

5. Discussion

The study of the importance of the authenticity of objects in the opinion of tourists, conducted for the first time in the area of ONP, contributes to understanding the experiences of people visiting national parks in Poland and fills the gap in research at the national level. The research carried out so far in these protection zones has mainly focused on understanding the motivation, attitudes and behavior of tourists. An attempt to answer the question whether the search for authenticity is a source of inspiration for making tourist trips makes significant theoretical contributions in the management of areas of naturalistic interest.

In the case of cultural heritage sites in ONP—at the stage of building of the database of tourists’ opinions using Tripadvisor—no inconsistencies nor misinformation, authorised by the service itself, which were pointed out by other authors were reported (Pstrocka-Rak & Rak, 2020).

The results of the analysis of the rating aggregator data indicate that tourists identified a very narrow group of sites, including heritage sites, with the national park. This is in line with the results of previous work conducted in the ONP (Ziarkowski, 2011). In a study conducted by Hibszer (2013), the three most valuable cultural objects found in the ONP are the castle in Pieskowa Skała, the castle in Ojców and the “On the Water” chapel. According to the inhabitants of Ojców, these are, in order, the castle in Ojców, the castle in Pieskowa Skała and the “Na Wodzie” chapel. Ziarkowski (2011), using results of a questionnaire-based survey, indicated the elements of the landscape that, in the opinion of tourists, are most important for the attractiveness of ONP and determined the degree of importance of natural and cultural values. He showed that historical buildings have a greater impact on the attractiveness of the landscape of Ojców National Park area than is commonly believed, and among the most frequent indications of the park’s symbols (Table 5), such as Maczuga Herkulesa and Jaskinia Łokietka, respondents were equally likely to mention the castles in Pieskowa Skała and Ojców.

Table 5. Symbols of ONP in the opinion of respondents. ONP natural sites, OK cultural sites, OPK natural and cultural sites

Wyszczególnienie		% głosów
Maczuga Herkulesa	ON	38,8
Zamek w Pieskowej Skale	OK	20,8
Jaskinia Łokietka	ONK	15,0
Zamek w Ojcowie	OK	14,6
Nietoperz	ON	2,9
Brama Krakowska	ON	2,9
Rzeka Prądnik	ON	2,1
Kaplica na Wodzie	ON	1,7
Brzoza Ojcowska	ON	0,4
Jaskinia Ciemna	ONK	0,4
Inne		0,4

Source: Based on Ziarkowski (2011). Sample of 240 respondents.

The numerous opinions and evaluations contained in the aggregators used in this study confirm the speculations of Ziarkowski (2011) that the selection of the attractions included in Table 5 was mainly influenced by the process referred to by MacCannell (1976) as the sacralisation of the view. He postulates that less popular places, such as the Hermitage of Blessed Salomea in Grodzisk, should be promoted to tourists and visitors. The appeal concerning this site is confirmed by the distant positions shown above in the rankings of the number of opinions on the most important cultural tourism attractions within ONP and the value of attractiveness ratings. The church in Grodzisk is statistically three times less recognisable as a sacred object, and the hermitage of Blessed Salomea twice as much as the “Na Wodzie” chapel.

An interesting observation when analysing the opinions contained in the aggregators is the negligible presence of evaluations of small architecture objects. This confirms the conclusions of Hibszer’s (2013) work. He showed that for the local population the objects of small sacred architecture are an integral part of the familiarised space, but due to their dispersion over the Park’s area, they are not able to count them accurately, resulting in the impression that they are overlooked by part of the local population. Among tourists, on the other hand, the reason for the low perception of small architecture (crosses and chapels) is the fact that these objects are not dominant in the landscape that tourists have come to admire.

When discussing the attractiveness and authenticity of cultural heritage sites in the opinion of tourists in the Ojcowski National Park, one should keep in mind the premises of Cohen (1979), i.e., among other things, the full awareness of tourists of the situations in which they are set by tour operators. Group tours may only visit Ojców National Park under the supervision of authorised guides and the number of participants served by one guide may not exceed 50 people. To a large extent, ONP guides direct tourists in organised groups to seek authenticity, bypassing, as Cohen (2011) writes, “the superficiality of often inauthentic attractions”. The distinction between the individual tourist and the ONP visitor in a group also seems to be relevant to the three factors distinguished by Żemła (2011) that influence the quality of experiences in the context of authenticity, which are: the differentiated time of contact between the tourist and the attraction, the differentiated possibilities of verifying their authenticity and the importance of aesthetic experiences. It should be emphasised that the conclusions of Żemła et al. (2020) that tourists have serious difficulties in correctly assessing the authenticity of attractions such as historic buildings have been confirmed, and this is largely due to the way in which they are made available and the interpretation of heritage and the presence of the unique atmosphere of a place.

The importance of the authenticity of an attraction for the tourist experience varies from one situation to another and depends, among other things, on the nature of the tourist attraction (Żemła, 2011). For example, in the case of historic buildings such as castles in the ONP area, the possibilities for the tourist to verify their authenticity are very limited. In the absence of expert knowledge, even with the availability of reliable and up-to-date published materials, it is difficult for the tourist to objectively assess the authenticity of the buildings. The numerous negative opinions of tourists about the Ojców castle do not confirm the trend of intellectual and sensual fascination with the ruins and the accompanying process of decay, fragmentation and destruction (Boym, 2010). The results of the analysis carried out in the case study of three Polish castles—the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the castle in Bobolice and the palace in Pszczyna (Żemła et al., 2020)—are consistent with the above results of the work on castles in the ONP region. In both cases, there is a group of tourists who actually care about the objective authenticity of the visited objects and do not accept contemporary reconstructions or forms of staged authenticity. However, this group is a minority and their opinions are not representative of the general public of visitors.

Replacing the original object with its copy and explaining this situation to tourists should result in a significant decrease in satisfaction with the visiting experience. Mikos von Rohrscheidt (2010) and Żemła (2011) point out that the potential substitution of an authentic object with a copy is almost unnoticeable by tourists, so their level of satisfaction is not affected. The example of the development, arrangement of the Spring of Love in its new location related to the construction of a road along the bottom of the Prądnik Valley, due to the small number of opinions, does not give a clear confirmation or denial of such a position. There are, however, opinions about the “artificiality” of the object. The example of the “On the Water” chapel with a different original function of the building, or the undetermined original archaeological location of Grodzisko, on the other hand, confirm the opinions of researchers that the mere appearance of an object or its history is not an important element for a tourist. What is important is direct contact with something unique, unusual, the so-called nimbus of authenticity (Mikos von Rohrscheidt, 2010; Żemła, 2011).

Tourist attractions ranking at the top of the rankings generated by tourists are considered “magnets” - evoking admiration and awe. Considering the number of opinions in the case of heritage sites in the ONP region, these are the castles in Pieskowa Skała, Ojców and Korzków. Zajadacz (2017) notes that it is too rare that the problem of dissatisfaction in the tourist space is analysed in relation to those places and objects that, in the opinion of tourists, are the main attractions of given destinations. This is not confirmed in the case of the analysed national park given the number of low ratings and negative opinions about the castle ruins in Ojców.

National Parks should develop a mechanism for collecting feedback, including primary (e.g. visitor surveys) and secondary sources from the Internet (e.g. TripAdvisor reviews), as these comments and suggestions are invaluable, whether they are positive or negative (Park & Nicolau, 2015). In the case of practical implications, the above research results, as an example of the use of opinion aggregators, can help decision makers and managers to interpret the online image of national parks created by tourists (Hausmann et al., 2020; Stoleriu et al., 2019), better understand their preferences. The adopted method allows both to monitor the perception of tourists’ experiences in order to plan the organization of tourism in national parks in an attractive way, and to adopt a strategy for its potential correction and improvement (McCool et al., 2021). It has been proven that a small group of objects from the area of the ONP were in the opinions of tourists, so also in this context national parks should ensure that they are more widely present on websites such as TripAdvisor. Research on the interpretation of the authenticity of the objects was carried out in the National Park, which is characterized by one of the highest tourist traffic density indicators among Polish national parks. This will allow in the future to extend the application of this method to other less traveled areas, less explored areas of cultural importance, thus contributing to the identification of key management factors.

6. Conclusion and future research

The aim of this work was to obtain an image of the popularity and attractiveness of the ONP natural and cultural heritage objects in the opinions of tourists and their perception of the site authenticity. The studied natural and cultural heritage sites in Ojców National Park, in the opinion of users of online opinion aggregators, are recognized and perceived well, both in terms of their popularity and attractiveness. However, it was found that a significant group of sites not only failed to receive reviews, but were not even submitted for evaluation. In addition, the assessment of cultural heritage sites in the context of authenticity, more often than in the case of natural heritage sites, is hampered by the fact that a sizeable group of opinions and evaluations are exclusively concerned with issues of tourism organisation, including the notion of quality of services. On the other hand, the tourism service factor, including the quality of services, may stimulate an authentic experience or significantly limit it. It is reasonable to examine, for example with the use of a diagnostic survey, in-depth interviews, etc., the potential relationship between the quality of services in a given facility and the authenticity of the tourist’s experience.

This work showed that the authenticity of the chosen attractions is an element that influences the experience of a small percentage of tourists visiting ONP, and they also differ in their understanding of authenticity. A statistically marginal topic in the analysed tourists’ opinions is the problem of the disappearance of authenticity of heritage sites and the emergence of a falsified image of space due to the growing needs of tourism. The data obtained from websites, however, is not sufficient material to confirm the hypothesis about the decline in the importance of authenticity in the tourist perceptions. Tourists have a clear problem with unequivocally and correctly assessing the authenticity of tourist attractions such as historic buildings, including, for example, castles and castle ruins. A crucial meaning to the quality of the experience is related to how the object is made accessible and how the heritage is interpreted. The presence or absence of the unique atmosphere of the site and the qualities of the site’s surroundings, as perceived by the tourist is of no lesser importance. These aspects became apparent, for example, in the case of the two most frequently assessed heritage sites in Ojców National Park—the castles in Pieskowa Skała and Ojców. The difficulties in assessing their attractiveness on the basis of tourists’ opinions are mainly due to the diversity and multifaceted nature of heritage objects. In addition, the distribution of positive and negative perceptions may depend on many different factors, including the mood or well-beingof the tourist at a given time. Also the profile of the tourist as an individual (individual interest, education, age, social background) and features of the location such as the communication setting, the weather, the personality and disposition of the heritage interpreter, etc., may be factors determining the perception of the heritage site. The presented results confirm the need for extensive research on the important role of existential authenticity in creating visitor satisfaction. The role of authenticity in the objective meaning is in such a case not as important but should not be underestimated.

It is particularly important to obtain a more complete picture of tourists’ dissatisfaction with tourist attractions, resulting from their lack of authenticity. This will require extending the research to include in-depth interviews (IDI). It will be of equal importance to investigate the importance of authenticity in the creation of the tourist offer on the part of tourism organisers, guides, pilots, animators, etc. I Next stage of the research should focus on how and to what extent the perceived highly-authentic natural and cultural heritage sites are included in the offer of the tourism industry.

Finally, it needs to be stressed that the outcome of this study is limited in a way that is typical for case studies (Brida et al., 2014; Yin, 2004; Żemła et al., 2020). The results of the case study are very difficult to interpret in a direct cause-effect manner and should not be generalized. The selection of the area—Ojców National Park and the objects of analysis based on the opinions of tourists, although justified, was of a subjective nature. Further studies are thus required, in particular, repeating similar studies in other national parks and other countries. The author of the study, working also as a professional tourist guide, sees the possibility of measuring the role of authenticity in assessing the attractiveness of heritage sites through direct contact with tourists, for example using the participant observation method.

Declaration of conflicting interests

Author declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of the article.

Acknowledgment

The analysis of the acquired data was aimed at assessing the popularity and attractiveness of cultural heritage sites in the Ojców National Park. In the next stage, the identification of the potential relationship of the ratings given vs. the perception of the authenticity of the sites among tourists will be carried out. An attempt will be also made to check for the presence in tourists’ opinions of problems such as: the importance of the authenticity of the site, disappearing authenticity of cultural heritage sites, appearance of a falsified image of site space due to the growing needs of tourism. The presented results confirm the need for extensive research on the important role of existential authenticity in creating visitor satisfaction.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of the article.

Notes on contributors

Witold Warcholik

Witold Warcholik, PhD in Earth Sciences, Pedagogical University of Krakow, Institute of Law, Economics and Administration, Department of Tourism and Regional Studies. Author of several publications on geography, cartography and GIS, an avid Krakow fan, licensed Krakow city and OPN guide, a tour guide. The results of the research described in this article refer to the author’s broader projects in the field of tourism, including issues related to the attractiveness and authenticity of natural and cultural heritage sites.

Witold Warcholik PhD in Earth Sciences, geodetic engineer, currently employed in the Department of Tourism and Regional Studies at the Pedagogical University of Krakow. Author of several publications on tourism, geomorphology, cartography and GIS, an avid Krakow fan, licensed Krakow city and OPN guide, a tour guide, marathon runner, mountaineering enthusiast and a photographer.