The myth of agritourism as a development opportunity for Polish countryside

Od początków okresu transformacji ustrojowej w Polsce rozpowszechniła się koncepcja rozwoju agroturystyki. Agroturystyka traktowana jest przez różne środowiska jako szansa rozwojowa dla wielu obszarów wiejskich. Przedmiotem opracowania jest przegląd i ocena, pod kątem zapisów dotyczących agroturystyki, wybranych dokumentów strategicznych i planistycznych przygotowywanych przez samorządy, a także przegląd wybranych przejawów zainteresowania agroturystyką środowiska naukowego. Podjęto próbę poszukiwania uwarunkowań wysokiego zainteresowania agroturystyką środowisk samorządowych i naukowych. Na tym tle ukazano współczesny stan rozwoju i miejsce agroturystyki w polskiej turystyce. Badania wskazują, że istnieje wyraźny rozdźwięk pomiędzy relatywnie niewielkimi rozmiarami zjawiska agroturystyki w Polsce a niezwykle częstą obecnością tego tematu w badaniach naukowych, polityce regionalnej i lokalnej. Zdecydowanie przeceniane jest jej potencjalne znaczenie. Koncepcja agroturystyki jako szansy rozwojowej polskiej wsi posiada cechy mitu, a więc pewnej fałszywej iluzji, czy zbiorowego wyobrażenia, obecnego w środowiskach samorządowych, naukowych itd.

The idea of agritourism development has become very popular since the beginning of political-economic transformation period in Poland. Agritourism is perceived by different actors (self-governments, scientists, and media) as an opportunity to develop many rural areas. The selected forms and aspects of the excessive interest in agritourism by scholars and self-governments are presented in the paper, as well as an attempt to find the reasons of such situation. Against this background the actual situation in agritourism in Poland is presented. Plans of spatial organization and programs (strategies, audits) of tourism development of all Polish voivodeships were analyzed from the point of view of agritourism. The analysis shows that regional authorities are highly interested in the development of agritourism in their voivodeships, but they overestimate its potential significance for rural economies. There is insufficient analysis of internal social, cultural and economic conditions of agritourism development, insufficient regard to external conditions (e.g. competitiveness of other regions, demand for such services). A similar approach to agritourism is presented in local (commune) strategies and development plans. Agritourism is also a very popular topic of research conducted in different academies. Overvaluing of agritourism development possibilities is common in many contributions, especially those published in conference papers. The phenomenon of popularity of agritourism concept is related to the fact that Poland is very closely attached to rural culture. Rurality and all values related to countryside have a specific position in national culture. Rural myth exists in Poland. Popularity of agritourism concept is the current manifestation of this myth. There were about 8800 agritourism farms in Poland in 2007, which were located in 55% of Polish communes. 8800 agritourism farms constitute only 0.55 % of Polish farms over 1 ha (0.38 % of all farms). There were only 6 communes in Poland, where the share of agritourism farms in all farms was higher than 10%. Simultaneously, the number of communes with more than 30 agritourism facilities was 47. Agritourism is a phenomenon of marginal significance for improvement the economic situation of agricultural areas. Agritourism farms are not very popular in Poland as accommodation facilities. The share of agritourism services in all accommodation services is around 1–5 % and is stable. Why agritourism does not constitute an attractive tourist product? Contact with farming is still very common in Polish society. The research conducted in the 1980s showed that only about 15% of Polish families does not have rural roots. The recent research, representative for the Polish society, shows that 86% of respondents have relatives in the countryside or were brought up in the countryside. Rurality is still easy accessible and well-known experience for Polish people, but not an attractive tourist product to purchase. At the end of 20 years of transformation, agritourism is still in marginal position against a background of the whole tourism in Poland, despite the ambitious plans of its intensive development. The concept of agritourism as a development opportunity for Polish rural areas has features of a myth – a kind of illusion existing in selfgovernmental, academic and other circles.