Cross-Border Tourism in Protected Areas: Potentials, Pitfalls and Perspectives (Geographies of Tourism and Global Change)

This book discusses how tourism between neighboring countries like Poland and Germany is hindered despite the Schengen Treaty. Taking protected areas in north-eastern Germany and north-western Poland as exemplary cases, it analyses the phenomenon of socio-economic and cultural barriers for cross-border tourism. It also presents the results of a representative online survey in both countries, and discusses socio-economic and geographical research on border areas, nature tourism in protected areas, national stereotypes and prejudices. As one of the very few source market studies on protected area tourism, it is relevant for scholars and practitioners (protected area managers, tourism professionals) alike providing them with insights into the implications for future research and tourism practice.

Prof. Dr. Marius Mayer is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Geography and Geology of Greifswald University, Germany, since 2013. He studied economic geography, business and social and economic history at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and holds a PhD in Geography from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. His research interests include the geography of tourism and recreation, protected areas, ecosystem services and their economic and sociocultural values as well as regional development. He has co-edited books on nature tourism as well as tourism and regional development in Bavaria.

Dr. Wojciech Zbaraszewski is an economist and Assistant Professor at the Department of System Analysis and Finance at the West Pomeranian University of Technology Szczecin, Poland. He has authored dozens of scientific articles in the field of public finances, environmental economics and sustainable development and has co-authored a number of projects related to the financing and the functioning of protected areas, including international character. He is long-term manager of a finance workshop and, in addition, he is a social worker and member of several nonprofit organizations.

Dr. hab. Dariusz Pieńkowski is the head of the Department of Social Sciences and Pedagogy at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Life Sciences in Poznań (Poland). He studied environmental biology and industrial psychology at the University of A. Mickiewicz in Poznań. He received his PhD in Economics from Kraków University of Economics (Poland) in 2002 and his postdoc qualification in economics from the University of Białystok in 2015. He was awarded a scholarship from the Swedish Institute (SI) in 2004, and he has worked in German and United Kingdom research organizations. His transdisciplinary research interests are related to ecological economics and socio-economic development issues. He is an author and co-editor of books on theconception of sustainable development and tourism in valuable natural areas.

Dr. Gabriel Gach is a human geographer and works as a marketing and tourism manager at the Kulturzentrum Abtei Brauweiler of the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR) in Pulheim near Cologne, Germany. He studied geography at Göttingen University as well as at Exeter University and holds a PhD in Geography from Greifswald University. His research interests encompass nature tourism, tourism and health, Polish-German tourism and cultural tourism.

Johanna Gernert, M.Sc. is a human geographer. She holds a Bachelor degree in geography with the main focus on leisure, tourism and environment at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany and a master in tourism and regional development from the University of Greifswald where she graduated by writing her thesis within the TAPA research project. Her research interests encompass the geography of tourism and recreation, protected areasand tourism in cross-border regions.