Kierunki i bariery modernizacji ośrodków sportów zimowych w czeskim regionie turystycznym "Beskidy"

• Authors: Jan Havrlant
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

The article presents contemporary problems of the development of winter tourism and modernization of ski resorts in the Czech Beskids. Based on survey findings, tourists' opinions are presented regarding the condition of ski infrastructure, the services offered and actions necessary to be taken in order to improve the quality of recreation. Certain conflict situations have also been presented, which are encountered at the stage of planning and undertaking specific actions aiming at development in the sector of ski tourism. The region of the Czech Beskids is functionally tightly connected with the agglomeration of Ostrava, as it constitutes traditional recreational infrastructure for its inhabitants. There are 45 ski resorts located in this region. The highest-ranking resorts, which are of national significance, are the following: Bila, Kohútka and Pustevny. For a number of years, a dynamic development of regional resorts, Velké Karlovice-Soláň and Mosty u Jablunkova, has also been observed. The Bila and Pustevny resorts are located in the central area of the Moravian-Silesian Beskids; Kohútka and Velké Karlovice-Soláň are located in the Javorníky; and Mosty u Jablunkova - in the Silesian Beskids. The resort offering the best skiing infrastructure is the Ski Areál Bila resort. It comprises two ski areas, Bila and Mezivodí, which offer 9 ski lifts, whose total carrying capacity amounts to approximately 6750 persons per hour, and 8 downhill skiing routes, whose total length amounts to 6.2 kilometres. Moreover, there are nearly 60 kilometres of cross-country skiing routes in the area of Bila. Another ski resort found to offer good ski infrastructure is the Ski Areál Kohútka, thoroughly modernized in the 2009/2010 season. This resort is equipped with 6 ski lifts, whose total capacity is 5150 persons per hour, and 9 skiing routes whose total length is 6.6 kilometres. The Pustevny resort offers 9 ski lifts of total capacity of 5100 persons per hour, 3.6 kilometres of downhill skiing routes as well as 46 kilometres of well-maintained cross-country skiing routes. Tourists find the ski resorts in the Czech Beskids attractive and stress their potential to develop under the condition that these resorts are better-equipped with infrastructural facilities. Contemporary tourists seldom express only one reason, such as skiing, for their stay; instead, they expect a wider complementary offer, including relaxation, spa treatments, entertainment, etc. More attention ought to be paid not only to modernization of the basic skiing infrastructure and maintenance of skiing routes, but also to the extension of tourist infrastructure. The most serious social conflicts regarding the development of skiing in the Czech Beskids emerge from the creation of the natural conservation area - the CHKO Beskidy in a part of the region. There are also certain problems related to the ownership status of the land and the safety of utilization of the skiing areas. The Beskids are likely to become a region of international significance. Currently, the rate of foreign tourists coming for long-term recreational stays is relatively low; in the last decade foreign tourists have accounted for as little as a one fifth of hotel guests. Nevertheless, due to the improvement of the quality of skiing infrastructure and the undertaken marketing activities, the Beskid region may gain a more prominent position in the field of international tourism. The key tasks for the Czech Beskids are to revive relations with Poland and Slovakia regarding the modernization and coordination of tourist infrastructure and to cooperate more closely in the development of transborder information system. A condition necessary for proper development is the improvement of the quality of transport infrastructure and accessibility of Beskid recreation resorts. Undoubtedly, the area would benefit from the development of international "borderless" tourist ski resorts which would be located in the Czech-Slovak-Polish border mountain range and connect the resorts in neighbouring countries by ski lifts, e.g. Ustroń (Czantoria), Nydek, Wisła (Soszów, Stożek) and Jablunkov.

Keywords

PL

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Prace Geograficzne
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 125

Dates

published

2011

online

2011-09-18

Contributors

author

Jan Havrlant