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.

The paper describes issues of brand management from marketing point of view and tourism product. Tourism product refers to both destination product and products of tourism enterprises. On the basis of theoretical considerations the concept of tourism brand has been developed. Regional administration is responsible for erection and support of tourism brand. Next basic crises phenomenon that determine tourist economy in regional context have been identified. Issues of relationships between brand and crises have been given particular attention. The main aim of the study is to depict the importance and usage of regional tourist brand. Brand usage should foster tourist demand and destination management. It is assumed that regions with well-developed tourist brand may react more actively to tourist crises. The issue should be considered in both long- and short term.

The article discusses the issue of landscape planning in conditions of social crisis. While reviewing the issue of collision and conflict in the context of man – environment interaction, the reference was made to the theoretical indications in the field of strategic and planning activities in the brand creation process in terms of space and landscape. An important context is created by a practical aspect of reference to Europe’s good practice of strategic activities based, among others, on landscape planning in the process of implementing spatial policy – such as spatial planning, brand creation and management, and monitoring. In the management of landscape using the appropriate planning mechanisms and the adequate sequence of the formation of strategic documents not only minimizes the risk of degradation to the natural environment, but is also an important factor in implementing the principles of sustainable development and integrated order. Protected areas are a kind of “environmental brand”. The existence of such areas creates an image of the attractive, low degraded natural environment, which is crucial for the development of various forms of ecological tourism, and equally for their eco-certification. In addition to the theoretical aspects, the results of analytical studies concerning a case study of the protected area within the urban system were cited. In the example discussed, a nature reserve “Żurawiniec” in Poznan was used as an “environmental label” to promote living in a place evoking positive associations and to increase the attractiveness of the developer’s offer. In this case, the investor's interest was more important than taking care of the quality of the landscape, integrated order, sustainable development, or future significance of these areas.

During the ongoing financial crisis significant changes in tourist demand can be observed. As a result, it has become very important for particular destinations to look for competitive advantages in order to prevent adverse events. Destination branding is an important area in terms of competition, while quality which is its essential element is not easy to define. The paper attempts to answer two key questions: What factors determine the quality of such a product as a destination? Is it worth concentrating on the high quality of the destination during an economic crisis? As presented in the theoretical part, and further confirmed by empirical results, the key to the development of the quality of the destination is its infrastructure. That is an important conclusion because it is an area that is easier to manage than the attractiveness of a destination. Accordingly, it is also easier to create it in an economic crisis. Additionally, as research shows, almost all respondents indicated that quality can be an important tool in preventing adverse events.

In every field of the economy there is now the aspiration for building strong brands. In tourism, which is specific, they are attributed not only to the products and the tourist companies, but also more and more often to the reception areas. The aim of the paper is to show how such special place branding of one of the most popular tourism destinations in Poland – Krakow – is seen amongst visitors from Spain. The concept of the brand was explained and its elements were indicated. The particular attention was concentrated on the brand of the destination area, showing the specificity of the process of its building. Next the impact of the economic crisis in the 21st century on tourism of Spaniards was shown and the number of visitors coming from this country to Krakow was analysed. In the end the hypothesis was validated that the image of Krakow in the Spanish tourists’ opinion has changed between 2006-2010. For that purpose the findings of the research into tourist traffic in the city were used. In order to investigate the differences in the estimate of particular elements of the brand Krakow the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA by Ranks test and contingency coefficients was employed. The analyses showed that, despite the economic crisis, which obviously afflicted Spain at the end of the first decade of 21st century, Spanish tourists are an increasingly significant percentage of the foreign tourists in Krakow. The improvement in the image of the city in their opinion certainly contributed to it. The opinions about the beauty of Krakow and the safety in the city (i.e. the emotional values) has changed the most, but the relatively large evolution has also affected: the sanitary state of the city, internet availability and entertainment.

The aim of this study is to systematize the approaches to the issues of risk and uncertainty, both in crisis management as well as in risk management. This analysis tries to explain problems of risks and uncertainties, which should be considered in any tourism project management and at every stage of its implementation. The paper is going to distinguish the possibility of crisis management from risk management, which often seems to be mixed together in theory and practice. The analysis is going to show that the practical expression of risk management strategy should be an introduction to any tourism enterprise and apart from this strategy in any tourism company the crisis management strategy and a contingency plan should be prepared in case of an event, which would have disastrous consequences for the participants of tourism. This paper is focussed on entering the ongoing debate about the most effective methods and strategies for crisis management in this area, which additionally determines the context of risk identification, assessment and analysis as well as the response to the threat. Other issues that are critically recognized in this paper relate to crisis management, including: anatomy and incubation crisis, economic recovery and prevention. The analysis focuses particularly on the fundamental development of crisis management strategies that play a very important role in the tourism industry. The mentioned strategies are employed to assure the continuity of normal business and the safety of tourists in the event of a crisis. The analysis tries to show the most effective methods and strategies in the area of crisis management to determine the context of identification, risk assessment and analysis referring to the response to the threat. This study concerns not only strategic and operational methods of crisis management and risk management when referring to the companies operating in tourism, but also is trying to show how to identify threats in the future and how to modify and clarify uncertainties. The paper attempts to approach the wider issues of crisis management relating to the impact of globalization, deregulation of markets, the current financial crisis, the intensity level of competition, the high pace of innovation, the rise of political and social conflicts, terrorism, and adverse climate change. The main objective of this widely recognized area of crisis management will be to provide stability in tourism enterprises.

All over the world, the tourist and hotel industry has been affected by the economic crisis. In Poland owners of large networks had also to verify their investment plans. Moreover, as widely recognized, the tourist industry remains one of the most sensitive sectors of the economy in terms of economic fluctuations. Limited and reduced global tourist activity caused by the economic crisis translates into the problems faced by tourist offices and other companies whose activities are related to the tourist market.
The article presents some results of research into crisis management in Polish tourist enterprises. The main goal of this research focuses on analyzing dense relations between crisis management in a tourist enterprise and organizational learning. The key presumption serving as a foundation for the two case studies refers to the thesis that the effectiveness of crisis management depends both on the effectiveness of the learning process leading to crisis suppression as well as on the ability to profit from a crisis in the learning process. The research procedure described in this paper should be perceived as a fragment of a methodological proposal in terms of crisis management research within the framework of organizational learning in tourism.

The aim of this article is analysis of deciding factors of partnership between the entities on the market of tourist services, it presents importance of trust between firms as the factor to relationship development, although it is not strong point of current cooperation in the analysed market. The important factors of partnerships are: transparency of principles of cooperation between analysed entities, sense of direction to mutual benefits, good flow of information, understanding expectations, commitment and sense of direction for the long-term cooperation. Creating partnership relations is largely the result of a certain type of evolution. Forming long-term relations between the entities that participate on the market of tourist services can bring many advantages, such as, for example: improvement of the quality of tourist services, reducing the risk related to the procurement of services and improvement in communication between the entities on the market of tourist services. The benefits listed influence the mutually positive perception of partners as well as motivate for further development of longlasting, positive relations on the market of tourist services, thanks to which the engaged entities build a competitive advantage on the market.

The aim of this article is to present the innovations and various systems that generate innovation and which influence the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism industry from the context of globalization and the emerging threats crisis. The paper presents selected generated innovation systems as a cluster, a regional network of innovative, regional innovation systems which show characteristics of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises and their innovative activity. Each innovation system has external constraints determined by the following four forms: National Innovation System, Regional Innovation System, Sectoral Innovation System, Technological Innovation System. Generating innovations through these systems builds on expertise, institutional density, effects, and various networking configurations. Generated innovation systems cannot be based on undirected offers. It is not possible to adapt the normal tools for supporting innovations, because companies from different industries have different needs and expectations. In order for innovation activities expectations and needs to be specific, support should be addressed to the core and the most competitive industries in the region.

Developing and maintaining the competitive advantages of tourism enterprises based on their innovative activity is fundamental for successful functioning in the tourism economy based on knowledge. At the same time, the scientific discussion about innovation in tourism is focused on problems concerning sources of innovations, their design and implementation, while the issue of capturing value from innovation is lacking in the literature. It is surprising, giving that the ability of an enterprise to retain value is a necessary condition for enhancing its competitiveness. Both theory and practice present a wide range of different value capture mechanisms which could be used by the tourist enterprises. However, not all of those mechanisms are fully compatible with the specificities of service activities, provided in the tourism sector. This paper presents the most common mechanisms which, despite their limitations, may significantly support tourist enterprises in battles for value from the implemented innovations.

Tourist enterprises more and more often use information technologies to support their external relations and internal processes as well. In the presented paper the second direction will be discussed in more detail. In this sphere the main result of IT applications is internal excellence, that is built by: task automation, support for decision making, Knowledge management and for business processes and structures development. In this way organizational competitiveness is improved and long term business development is facilitated. The aim of this paper is to present the status quo as well as changes to internal IT support in small and medium tourist enterprises and to depict their correlations with other competitiveness levers.
The goal will be realized based on the results of the empirical research, that was conducted by the Department of Management in Tourism among 74 SMTE’s. The paper will be closed by conclusions and practical recommendations with reference to the covered problems, and some suggested directions for further research will be enumerated as well.

The objective of this paper is to identify possibilities for tourist company client reorientation by means of modern technologies implementation, and also to provide empirical verification of the current application scope regarding these technologies. The research, performed by means of diagnostic survey, was conducted in April and May 2011 in a group of over 100 people representing clients of Rainbow Tours and Triada tour operators, who visited their agencies located in Wrocław. The study focused on customer service in travel agencies using online technologies. The paper presents: 1) the new IT functions in tourist businesses, 2) new expectations of modern tourist clients, 3) empirical research of the tourist www pages, 4) clients and tourist agencies reorientation from CRM to CMR. The main methods helpful in covering clients by the process of such tourist service creation from a CMR perspective are as follows: information exchange, client enquiry monitoring, joint preparation and implementation of projects, knowledge creation, development and sharing in ethical perspectives, the introduction of motivation systems facilitating learning processes – ongoing education and improvement, knowledge sharing climate creation and the skill of social and individual barrier elimination in the course of this process, stimulating staff initiatives and creativity, as well as the construction of an incentive system focused on client participation (e.g. client coaching), the introduction of partnership cooperation between a tourist enterprise – an employee – a client.

The author discusses basic ideas related to tourist motivation and the theoretical aspect of travel motivation factors. They are presented from a new perspective, in a three-part structure. The classification of tourist motivating factors is inspired by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Hellwig’s concept of linear ordering of objects in multidimensional space, Ritchie – Crouch model, and Rheinberg’s definition of motivation. The author of the paper puts for-ward a thesis according to which tourist motivation is affected by basically deferent factors which occur in the tourist market place. These factors are referred to as motivators which, when they occur, lead to satisfaction, hygiene factors which, when they do not occur, lead to dissatisfaction, and demotivators which, when they occur, lead to dissatisfaction. They may have a simultaneous impact on humans (tourists). The presented concept of the trychotomy of motivating factors in tourist motivation is a creative development of Herzberg’s two-factor theory – the author proposes a more detailed definition of the above factors and extends the area of research by including demotivators in the analysis. Areas of their impact on touristic value of a destination (place visited by tourists) are totally different, although they occur simultaneously in a given tourist region (destination). That is why this concept serves as a methodological directive, which suggests that the scope of the study should be expanded to include demotivating factors related to the investigated phenomenon.

Current socio-economic changes in Poland and broadly understood technological deve-lopments are the source of transformations in the educational system, and at the same time in the perception of education by society. It is impossible to build a knowledge based society without an education system adjusted to contemporary requirements. This ‘adjustment’ is a strategic issue in all European countries. Education is also the source of – as is so important nowadays – competitiveness and innovation. Education is also the key to contemporary crises and fears. Education of future generations is oriented towards active development and updating individual knowledge on a lifelong basis. Appreciation of the importance of the relationship between the training of tourism pro-fessionals in higher vocational schools and the needs of employers results from the impor-tance of education for economic development. Building a knowledge based economy and transforming society into a knowledge society are the priorities of the Lisbon Strategy. Reali-zation of the defined tasks creates the need for a definition of goals for education and a long-term coordination between the job market and education institutions to avoid training which could potentially lead to higher unemployment.

Nature tourism and ecotourism are still underappreciated in Poland although all over the world a demand for such kind of tourist events constantly rises. What is more, there are still problems with defining both phenomena. Also, due to a lack of well-educated staff, able to manage knowledge about natural resources and values – many local communities and real tourist attractions suffer from disorganization of the tourist offer and tourist pressure. A survey on tourists visiting three local landscape parks has been made by the Chair of the Human Ecology on Tourism and Recreation Faculty of the University School of Physical Education in Poznań. Respondents were asked about their needs connected with nature education, their attitudes to nature protection and their satisfaction from spending free time in protected areas. The results of this research are going to be published in this paper. Respondents admit that although they are still more interested in rest, they also tend to learn something about nature during free time and holidays. They feel attracted by natural values and resources but complain about the unattractive offers in this field. In conclusion a need of well prepared knowledge and environment management in natu-ral valuable areas is very actual and should been taken into consideration in a discussion about future tourist staff education.

This article attempts to prove that the concept of value co-creation with customers may be effectively used, not only to strengthen the competitive position of enterprises, but also to create social value. Ideas such as corporate social responsibility and creating shared value were created in response to a number of needs and social problems resulting from manage-ment focused solely around creating economic value. The article shows that the involvement of customers provides an opportunity for positive change. The phenomenon of value co-creation with customers emerged as a result of their growing awareness and engagement. With the increasing access to the Internet, consumers have gained the ability to easily obtain information about offers from all over the world and share their experiences with others. The growing power of consumers can be considered by organizations as a threat, but also used as a source of information about the needs and expectations of customers, and more often as a source of new ideas and solutions. The study draws the conclusion that companies need to take into account the experiences of customers, especially those that affect their purchasing decisions. Customers can easily communicate and thus they are able to protect their own interests and also act on important issues affecting large groups of consumers and communities.

This article's aim was to show the role and meaning of communication, based on the rules of pragmatism, the philosophical conception created against metaphysical insight of the world around us. Each epoch, accompanying mankind since the dawning of time, brings new concepts and solutions. Without regard for the period we're focusing on, there is one, main model, mutual element, which is the process of communication between human beings. He can, and he does exist in different forms, which are also natural elements of civilization's progress. The difficulties in showing the correlation between pragmatism and managing in modern organizations, which is the process organization, has been taken up in this article. Human experience, knowledge and not to mention intuition, determined by effective communication, are tools to create such solutions. It's good to keep in mind that all decisions made by people are the effects of choices, which also affect organizations. Managing modern organizations, based on pragmatism rules, needs to be constantly improved, but keeping in mind good and effective communication between people.

The question “What are negotiations?” is crucial for sciences on negotiations because the object of investigations determines their methods. This paper proposes an answer to this question in a way that combines different approaches in scientific literature. The phenome-non of negotiation is amorphous – it has an identity, which can be “nature” or “essence”. The text analyzes the essence of negotiations and its specificity in the field of management. The article indicates some sources of ambiguity on the concepts of negotiation in manage-ment and outlines methods of adapting definitions to particular managerial contexts. The above tasks have been accomplished by analytical and phenomenological methods.

The article pertains to the subject of organizatonal change in the Interwar Polish state administration. The description of the contemporary perspectives in research on organiza-tional change was kind of a starting point here. The conception of B. Latour's translation, the research of Scandinavian authors (N.Brunsson) making use of his theory and A. Giddens's theory of structuration together with R. Boudon's remarks on unintentional effects of social activities were characterized here. The state of consciousness of the actors making changes, their system of values, the categories depicting organizational reality, the conditions in which they acted, undertaken actions and the assumed criteria of their assessment were also presented in this paper. Much attention has been paid to the conditions of creating state administration. The necessity to create it almost from scratch, alongside the evolution of state institutions and the increasing number of tasks it had to face. It led to the situation where it was necessary to implement organizational changes, introduced by clerks with a background in legal education. The de-scribed process of change enables us to show the introduction of organizational rules with the use of language and tools used by lawyers. At the same time it shows the process of the translation of criteria and rules developed in one organizational environment and then passed on to another. The process of organizational change in the interwar Polish state administration portrays the process of the gradual formation of the ability of clerks to recognize administrative issues in a waypertinent to management.

The increasing complexity of processes in the area of public management, and especially the implementation of EU projects by public organizations has created new challenges for management. The article, therefore, covers the current issue of the management of programs and projects in public organizations, with the example of the activities of the municipal social aid center. The purpose of this study is to understand the specific course of this process, and to diagnose conditions associated with efficient implementation of public goals using tools such as programs and projects. According to the author, this will focus on the key issues, thereby improving the decision-making process. In this context, it becomes essential to identify the problem and indicate the conditions which are supposed to be accomplished in order to provide or at least significantly increase the probability of the effectiveness of the actions. The article poses the thesis that the management of programs and projects is an effective tool for achieving public goals and that the relevant conditions during the programming and the implementation of those instruments are met.
In the first two parts of the article, based on the literature of the subject, characteristics of programs and projects from the perspective of public management instruments are presented as well as the theoretical aspects of the management of such instruments. The rest of the article is based on empirical research. Using analytical methods in the form of interviews and desk research it was possible to present the results of the research carried out in the Municipal Social Aid Centre in Nowy Targ. From this it was possible to recognize information relating to the conditions for the preparation of programs and projects and the ways of their implementation could be observed, thus giving the reasons for the choice of methodology.