Tourism and Socio-economic Transformation of Rural Areas: Perspectives from Central Europe

This book aims to fill a gap in the current literature by tracing the rural transformation process and the development of rural tourism functions in Poland over the last 30 years.

It examines the socioeconomic transformation between 1989 and 2019 that resulted in the formation and development of Polish rural tourism and the various practices associated with it. This timely topic is addressed in a central and eastern European context and sparks interest in further in-depth analysis due the diversity and magnitude of the transformation processes undertaken by the Polish rural areas. Since Polish rural areas constitute as much as 30% of the total rural areas in all new European Union member states, this book adds value through an in-depth statistical analysis of the pace of socioeconomic changes in Polish rural areas. It delves into the creation and consumption of tourism services locally, as well as the impact of global trends on the development of rural tourism in Poland.

This book will be of interest to economists, sociologists, political scientists and postgraduate students across eastern and central Europe who deal with rural tourism issues.

Joanna Kosmaczewska is an Associate Professor at the University of Life Sciences of Poznań, Poland. Her basic interests in research encompass tourism economics on rural areas and tourism behaviour. She is author of about 70 publications and a number of expert assessments and projects in the field of tourism.

Walenty Poczta is Full professor, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the Poznan University of Life Sciences. He is an author of over 400 publications, a member of numerous scientific councils and an expert of government institutions.