Can tourism be a driving force for the development of Beskid Niski and Podkarpackie region? According to Marek Kuchciński, the project of Zagłębie Ambitnej Turystyki (Ambit Tourism Basin) could be the reason for such hope.
Some experts have been talking about Ambitious Tourism for a long time. Previously, the project was in the idea stage, but on December 14 in Dukla we could see that the idea is moving from the concept stage to more and more real actions.
- Indeed, the idea of creating, in an extremely economically and communicatively peripheral region of Poland and Podkarpackie voivodeship itself, a new educational industry is a great opportunity for the country. Especially that, in addition to the use of existing infrastructure, the project is also expected to lead to the creation of new facilities, routes, and thus also jobs. We expect that it will support evenly the whole Beskid Niski - explains Marek Kuchciński MP.
The idea itself is complex and quite complicated, but this is supposed to be its strength. It is unique on a global scale and entails the cooperation of many organizations, offices and economic initiatives.
"Ambitious Tourism" itself is supposed to be about moving by the power of one's own muscles and consciously working on oneself in an environment organized according to "sharing economy" principles. It is a concept that can be translated into Polish "sharing economy". Such an economic model is based on sharing unused or underused resources and services - for pay or for free.
This is what Beskid Niski is like now, constituting almost 1% of our country's area. It is a huge, beautiful and ready for development area, where there is already some tourist base, hiking and cycling trails, hostels, hotels, campsites, museums. Only that all these valuable places and facilities are not optimally used. Of course, there are conventional ways of development, but the concept of "Ambitious Tourism" points to a new way.
It is a combination of intensive classical recreation by bike, hybrid bike, horseback, stock, on foot, canoe, sailboat, downhill skiing, skis and cross-country skiing with modern forms of recreation and education based on contemporary technologies. This may sound standard, after all, and now everyone can realize it on their own. This time it is about something different.
In the area between the Zagórz-Komańcza voivodship road and the road from Grybów to Krynica there will be created Zagłębie Ambitnej Turystyki (ZAT). Today, the plan of investments and activities is spread over a part of this area, in the communes: Rymanów, Besko, Zarszyn, Bukowsko and Jaśliska - and overlaps with the Rymanów Forest Inspectorate. It is to be based not only on the existing infrastructure, but also on the creation of new infrastructure and thus new workplaces. According to the originator, Boguslaw Szweda, in the next 5 to 10 years it will be 1,000 employees - 10,000 tourists a day. This requires about PLN 100 million of investment by the state and local governments in infrastructure, development of the area, subsidies and guarantees, and at least as much private investment. The effect of extension of the area to the whole of Beskid Niski can be 5 times higher.
These investments will not only serve people coming for recreation. The concept of multifunctional tourist roads assumes that they will be at the same time roads for residents, farmers, foresters and tourists, or rather ambitious tourists. We are not dealing here with a centrally imposed project. Everything is to be based on the experience of communes, hosts. They can perform tasks better in their own sections, knowing the local realities: from designing, through execution, to maintenance. This is their advantage over external entities. The solution is supposed to be a kind of "cultural code", a network of roads on a honeycomb plan.
How to convince people to play "Ambitious Tourism"? Here comes another economic dimension based on family support and cost sharing. This kind of tourism is not expensive. In its basic version it is based mainly on travelling on one's own legs or by other means of transport moved by muscles and staying as close to nature as possible: on camping sites, camping fields, in hostels. This is an excellent concept for educating young people.
- The market for such services, in my opinion, is tens of thousands of students. We want to make the most of the two weeks of vacations by giving them the opportunity to participate in very professionally run camps with a very rich programme (including a ban on using telephones) of team activities and building lasting friendships and a way of perceiving the world through involvement," claims Szweda.
According to this concept, it is enough for the central budget to contribute, let's say, 200 PLN to each child, 100 PLN to the municipality, and 300 PLN to parents. This gives 600 PLN for a summer camp for each student. Such money is not only an injection into the education of young people, but also into the region. Podkarpacie is not a popular destination nowadays, so we give people a chance to get to know it and return on more commercial terms. Ambitious Tourism itself can be realized in various conditions: from simple camping sites to expensive hotels, which are the base for further adventures.
- The aim should be to obtain an adequate national program for 12 gminas of the Ambitious Tourism Basin: Besko, Bukowsko, Dębowiec, Dukla, Iwonicz-Zdrój, Jaśliska, Komańcza, Krempna, Nowy Żmigród, Osiek Jasielski, Rymanów and Zarszyn. I will also support the inclusion of ZAT in the Podkarpackie 2030 strategy', adds Marek Kuchciński, who is an active tourist himself and can be found backpacking on the Podkarpackie trails in the summer and skiing in the winter.
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