Rozwój regionalny a inteligentne specjalizacje w obszarze turystyki

The aim of the article is to present the role of tourism as a smart specialization, and in particular health tourism in strengthening regional development processes on the example of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The first part of the article presents the ideas of smart specialization as a concept of stimulating innovative development with a particular focus on tourism in regional innovation strategies. The second part of the article focuses on the uniqueness of natural resources in the context of the spa tourism development potential in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The third part presents quantitative data characterizing tourism in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. While the fourth part presents the effects of cooperation between entrepreneurs and expert and university employees who, while creating innovations, solve the problems of entrepreneurs, thus contributing to the development of tourism and the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Finally, final conclusions and summary are presented.