GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites Year XV, vol. 40, no. 1, 2022, p.232-241 ISSN 2065-1198, E-ISSN 2065-0817 DOI 10.30892/gtg.40128-824 http://gtg.webhost.uoradea.ro/ OUTDOOR TOURISM, KAYAKING, TOURISM POTENTIAL AND TOURISM OPERATIONS IN CENTRAL- EASTERN EUROPE: THE CASE OF POLAND Elżbieta LEWANDOWICZ * University Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Geoengineering, Institute of Geodesy and Civil Engineering, Department of Geoinformation and Cartography, Olsztyn, Poland e-mail: leela@uwm.edu.pl Joanna BAC-BRONOWICZ University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Wrocław, Department of Geotechnology, Hydro Technology, and Underground and Hydro Engineering, Wrocław, Poland, e-mail: joanna.bac-bronowicz@pwr.edu.pl Citation: Lewandowicz, E., & Bac-Bronowicz, J. (2022). OUTDOOR TOURISM, KAYAKING, TOURISM POTENTIAL AND TOURISM OPERATIONS IN CENTRAL- EASTERN EUROPE: THE CASE OF POLAND. GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites, 40(1), 232–241. https://doi.org/10.30892/gtg.40128-824 Abstract: This article aimed to describe the potential of outdoor tourism in Poland, with emphasis on kayaking tours. Reports and strategy documents generated by the Polish Tourism Organization (PTO), spatial data, and information about tourism operators in Poland were processed and analyzed. An analysis of geographic data and business registers revealed considerable differences across Polish regions and the absence of a sustainable tourism development strategy in Poland. The results do not justify PTO’s recommendations for promoting the development of outdoor tourism operators in selected Polish regions. The study demonstrated that in some Polish regions, the development of the tourist industry is contingent on the efforts made by local entrepreneurs, whereas other regions do not tap into their tourism potential despite ample natural resources for the development of water tourism. Entrepreneurship indicators in the outdoor tourism sector have generally increased in the last 46 years, but considerable differences are noted across Polish voivodeships. The study revealed that the development of outdoor tourism is highly fragmented and that strong local hubs of tourist activity exist at the local level. The interest in water tourism has increased markedly in the last two years because this form of active recreation promotes social distancing and can be safety practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this article was to describe the potential of outdoor tourism in Poland, with emphasis on kayaking tours. Reports and strategy documents generated by the Polish Tourism Organization (PTO), spatial data, and data about tourism operators in Poland were processed and analyzed. The study revealed that the development of outdoor tourism is highly fragmented and that strong local hubs of tourist activity exist at the local level. Tourists preferences for participating in kayaking tours in different voivodeships do not match the recommendations of the PTO. Key words: outdoor tourism, adventure tourism, ecotourism, kayaking, outdoor tourism potential, tourism operators * * * * * * INTRODUCTION The tourism potential of Central-Eastern Europe was recognized only in 1999 after the political and economic transformations in the region (Ivy and Copp, 1999). Considerable research on the development of tourism in this part of Europe was done in the following decades (Mazurski, 2000; Copp and Ivy, 2001; Marciszewska, 2006; Paesler, 2007; Hughes and Allen, 2009; Saarinen and Jarkko, 2017; Niewiadomski, 2018; Hall, 2020; Klitsounova, 2020). Central-Eastern Europe is open to changes in the tourist market and has vast potential for developing various types of tourism (Grzelak and Roszko-Wójtowicz, 2020). However, the growth of tourism in the region was initially hampered by the scarcity of the accompanying infrastructure, and it was limited to urban or city tourism. This negative trend was reversed as Central- European countries became more affluent. The region's rapid economic growth has led to new recreational development in attractive natural sites and in the vicinity of water bodies. Tourism is a major source of income. It contributes to regional development (Butler et al., 1997; Balaguer and Cantavella-Jorda, 2002), which is why tourism operators should receive support. According to the literature, poorly developed regions in Eastern Europe find it difficult to harness their vast natural and geographic potential for sustainable tourism development (Hegarty and Przezborska, 2005). The popularity of tourism and water sports is on the rise around the world (Gössling et al., 2012, 2015; Folgado-Fernández et al., 2018). Water bodies are used for a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities, including kayaking, water biking, water motorsports, sailing, windsurfing, scuba diving and iceboating. Water tourism is less popular in Central-Eastern Europe (Folgado-Fernández et al., 2018). However, according to Gössling et al. (2012), domestic and international tourism share in domestic water use is relatively low in Central-Eastern Europe (Figure 1). River and sea kayaking is an increasingly popular category of outdoor tourism. The development of water tourism is strongly linked with the existing natural resources. Fossgard and Fredman (2019) have argued that river regulation projects and water sports involving scooters and motorboats impede the development of kayaking. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly limited tourist activities (Gössling et al., 2021). However, outdoor tourism was the first sector where restrictions were gradually lifted because outdoor activities * Corresponding author