Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series

Title:
Sunrise as a tourist attraction in the context of tourist motivation theory: a case study of the peak of Babia Góra (Western Carpathians)

Authors

Ewelina Mocior - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: ewelina.mocior@uj.edu.pl

Agnieszka Nowak - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: ag.nowak@uj.edu.pl

Marcin Rechciński - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: marcin.rechcinski@uj.edu.pl

Paweł Franczak - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: p.franczak@uj.edu.pl

Joanna Hibner - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: joanna.hibner@uj.edu.pl

Paweł Krąż - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: pawel.kraz@uj.edu.pl

Natalia Tokarczyk - Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland; phone: +48 512 514 474, e-mail: n.tokarczyk@uj.edu.pl

Keywords
landscape ephemera, pull factors, push factors, nature-based tourism, mountains

Abstract
Tourist ascents of mountain peaks before sunrise are increasingly popular. Babia Góra (Western Carpathians) is a peak on the Polish-Slovak border frequently visited by a great number of tourists at sunrise. The main objective of our research, based on the case study of Babia Gora, was to answer a more general question whether the sunrise can be considered a tourist attraction. The research included the observation and description of every sunrise at summer holiday weekends during 2012 from the peak of Babia Góra as well as the collection of data on the number of tourists and weather conditions. Survey interviews, using questionnaire, with randomly selected hikers present on the peak of Babia Góra at sunrise (269) were conducted. The investigation showed that during summer holiday sunrises there were a maximum of 130 people on the summit of Babia Góra at the same time. Most of the surveyed people (84%) agreed that the opportunity to observe the sunrise was one of the pull factors for them. This confirms the hypothesis that sunrise constitutes a tourist attraction.

Pages:
109-121

DOI:
10.1515/bog-2015-0038

BGSS No. 30 (2015)