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Dr Ewa Markiewicz
ORCID: 0000-0001-7600-054X

Employee of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Chair of Tourism and Recreation. Graduate of the Poznań University of Economics and Business (specialization: politics and economics of tourism), PhD in economics. Assistant professor at the Department of Tourism and Recreation of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. The author's research interests: consumer behaviour on the tourism market in the era of globalization, sustainable tourism, sharing economy, psychology of place.

 
DOI: 10.33226/1231-7853.2024.2.1
JEL: Q01, Z13, Z33

The purpose of the article is to study the influence of the sense of local identity among young generation of Poles on their attitudes towards tourists, which shapes the product in the context of sustainable tourism. The authors try to solve the research problem of whether the local identity of the young generation of Poles influences their attitudes towards tourists, and whether attitudes influence the tourism product, taking into account differences in the size of the place of residence. The original approach is to study the local identity of Generation Z by residents of large cities, small towns and villages. A qualitative empirical study was conducted using the focus group interview method (focus survey) with the place attachment scale modified for the article. The research resulted in demonstration of positive impact of a strong sense of local identity on the formation of a tourism product. The research yielded new information indicating that young people have a sense of local identity and are attached to their place of residence, without any relation to the type (or size) of residence. It was observed that in smaller centres (towns and villages) young people have positive attitude towards tourists. In cities, the attitude of local population can be described as indifferent, from which the conclusion follows that the phenomenon of overtourism has not been noticed. The relationship between local identity and the sustainable tourism product demonstrated in the article indicates the need to take into account the characteristics of the local population that are not related to tourism, but affect the attractiveness of the tourism product. The role of the local community and its attitude toward tourists in shaping a sustainable tourism product is confirmed.

Keywords: local identity; tourism product; generation Z; sustainable tourism