A tourist business in a state of sustained uncertainty. An exploratory study of barriers to ski resort development in Poland

The paper aims to examine the issue of ski resort development in Poland from the perspective of its limitations. In the study, we consider the uncertainty of snow and temperature conditions, along with governmental regulations, social and institutional conflicts, as well as the impact of other local and non-local factors on ski tourism businesses. The research was conducted in the form of a survey of 33 domestic tourist entities managing ski resorts. The following development barriers were identified and discussed: cost of new investments and modernization of existing facilities, cost of adaptation to changing climate conditions, time-consuming and complicated legal proceedings related to the investment process, unordered in law issues of land ownership used for ski tourism. Strongly endogenous in nature, the domestic ski-tourism market is still evolving and transforming. The model of ski resort development employed in Poland fosters multidimensional linkages in destination systems between the ski resort sector and other tourism services and local communities. Due to the fact that revenue streams cannot be predicted, operational stability and a solid competitive advantage will be gained in the long term by ski resorts and ski-related tourist destinations capable of offering a number of services complementary to skiing itself.