Artykuł pokazuje kształtowanie się funkcji turystycznej polskich makroregionów w warunkach kryzysu gospodarczego XXI w. Wykorzystując dane statystyczne GUS, zidentyfikowano wskaźniki syntetyczne funkcji turystycznej przyjętych do analizy regionów, posługując się w tym celu pewnym zbiorem mierników. Podjęte badania zmierzały do udzielenia odpowiedzi na pytania: czy światowy kryzys gospodarczy XXI w. zmienił ocenę zdolności pełnienia funkcji turystycznej przyjętych do analizy regionów? W których z nich odnotowano wysokie wskaźniki funkcji turystycznej, a  które osiągnęły w tym względzie niekorzystne oceny?

The aim of this article is to present the development of the tourist function of Polish macroregions. By means of statistical data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland, a set of measures have been implemented to identify the synthetic indicators of the tourist function used for the analysis of the regions. The analysis aims to provide an answer to the following question: Has the global economic crisis of the XXI century altered the assessment of the ability of the analysed regions to fulfill their tourist function? Which of the analysed regions are characterized with high indicators of the tourist function and which of them might be negatively assessed in this respect?
In the light of the analysis carried out it is possible to infer that the crisis affected the process of shaping the tourist function of Polish macroregions in which an indicator of a tourist function in 2009 decreased in comparison with the previous year. This might serve as a proof of dependency between the tourist area, its factors and the global economy. However, it seems necessary to emphasise that in the year 2010 an increase of a synthetic indicator of the tourist function has been noted in most regions included in the studies. The authors believe that such results might have a clear connection with the depreciation of the Polish zloty on financial markets and thus an increase in Poland’s attractiveness as a tourist destination. The second stimulant counteracting the factors weakening the tourist function of macroregions were infrastructure investments connected with Poland’s preparations for the European Football Championships – EURO 2012.