Tourism, leisure and zoos - an outline of the problem on the example of Poland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34767/GAT.2021.09.09Keywords:
tourist attractions, zoological gardens, zoo in PolandAbstract
Despite often polarized opinions, zoological gardens are among the most frequently visited tourist attractions in the world and there is no indication that they will cease to exist in the coming years. This article presents the zoological gardens from the point of view of tourismand leisure in the light of opinions expressed by visitors in Poland. The aim of this study is to examine what role zoological gardens play in tourism and how they are perceived by visitors to these places in Poland. There are 25 zoological gardens in the country, and they are visited by a total of around 4 million people every year. Attendance in the largest of them reaches over 1.6 million visitors. In the research proceedingsthe opinionsof visitors to Polish zooswere analysed. For that purpose data from the online services Tripadvisor and Google Maps have been gathered. The results show that visitors generally judge the visited places well, and in their opinions they refer mainly to organizational issues, prices and service, rarely paying attention to animal welfare and only occasionally to issues concerning the realization of the educational or conservation function.
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