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presentationofcasestudies,wheretheauthorsdescribethedevelopment
oftourisminselectedpost-socialisturbancentres.Inthefinalpartofthe
booktheeditorsdrawconclusions.
1.2.
Basicterminology
Tourismisamultifacetedphenomenon,whichgainedtremendous
significanceafterWorldWarII,duetothecivilizationaldevelopment.
Currently,tourismperformsmultiplesocial,economicandspatialfunctions,
andbeingsuchanimportantphenomenonitisanobjectofstudyinmany
sciences,suchaseconomy,sociology,historyorgeography.Asaresultof
suchacomprehensiveapproachtotourismstudies,itisoftenanalyzed
differentlyanditsindividualphenomenaaredefinedinvariousways.
Therefore,itisessentialtodefinethemostimportantterms,soastospecify
theexploratoryapproachtotourism.Therearemanydefinitionsoftourism,
quotedbyboth,internationalinstitutionsdealingwiththisphenomenonand
individualresearchers.Someofthemarerecognizedglobally,othersare
specificforcertainareasornationse.g.thePolishschooloftourism
geographyisbasedondefinitionsoftourism,thetourist,touristtraffic,
assets,andtouristinfrastructureformulatedbyLiszewski,Gaworecki,
Bachvarov,Kowalczyk,Dziegiećatal.Theauthorsofthisbookdecidedto
usedefinitionswhichcorrespondbesttoitstopic.
Itshouldbestressedthatalthoughtourismisrelatedtothephenomena
ofrestandrecreation,theyarenotsynonymousterms.Restisthephysical
andmentalregenerationofthehumanorganism,whichmaytakeplace
duringatouristtrip,butnotnecessarily,becauseitispossibletorestat
home.Recreationmeansspendingone3sfreetimeinanactiveway(going
forwalks,running,exercising,etc.),andinvolvesphysicalactivity,often
outdoors.Wecanhavearestandtakepartinrecreationduringatouristtrip,
butalsoattheplacewherewelive,thelatternotbeingatourism
phenomenon.
AccordingtotheUnitedNationsWorldTourismOrganisation
(WTO),tourismistheactivityofpeoplewhotraveltoandstayinplaces
outsidetheirusualenvironmentfornotmorethanoneconsecutiveyear,for
leisure,businessandotherpurposes(Szwichtenberg,2000,p.12).Asregards
thedefinitionsquotedinspecialistliterature,oneofthemoreconciseones
wasgivenbyChrisRyan.Accordingtohim(2003,p.26),tourismis:„the
demandfor,andsupplyofaccommodationandsupportiveservicesforthose
stayingawayfromhome,andtheresultantpatternsof(1)expenditure,
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