The possibilities of using river valley landscapes in ecotourism and nature-based tourism development based on selected examples

This paper concerns the problem of adapting river valley landscapes to tourism, especially to ecotourism. River valleys are closely connected with human civilization, despite being completely natural in their origin. The activity of watercourses can sometimes destroy cultural heritage sties, but they can also help transport goods over long distances. Consequently, by changing its neighborhood, a river also changes itself. The diversity and beauty of their landscapes make these areas very interesting for tourists. This fact, connected with the traditional ways of using rivers and theirs valleys, creates an increase in the danger of synanthropization. Therefore, we are facing the challenge of how to show the wide range of interesting ecosystems these areas consist of, without harming them. Nowadays, every tourist event and venue should consult the sustainable development assumptions. Ecotourism seems to be the most suitable way to solve this problem. Nevertheless, this kind of tourism is not for everyone. It contains several really important factors and, in fact, it is not always easy to create and participate in ecotourism. Some new possibilities, such as ecomuseums or an ecotourism river track, can become an opportunity to present river valley landscapes quite safely and on a satisfactory level of tourist organization.