The Impact of Natural and Cultural Resources on the Development of Rural Tourism: A Case Study of Dobre Miasto Municipality in Poland

Anna Mazur and Krystyna Kurowska ()
Additional contact information
Anna Mazur: Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawochenskiego 17, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Krystyna Kurowska: Department of Land Management, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawochenskiego 15, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: The landscape of the Warmian municipality of Dobre Miasto has significant natural and cultural value. However, the municipality’s tourism potential remains untapped. The absence of comprehensive local zoning plans covering the entire municipality or most of its territory has disrupted the landscape, leading to the emergence of visually discordant elements. Due to rapid land-use changes in the Region of Warmia, the protection and preservation of its rich natural and cultural heritage are increasingly challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of natural and cultural resources, as well as tourism infrastructure, on the development potential of rural tourism in Dobre Miasto municipality in Poland’s historical region of Warmia. Attempts were made to identify spatial disparities in tourism attractiveness and to determine the ways in which the local environmental and the cultural landscape may support sustainable tourism planning. The results provide valuable insights for implementing appropriate land-use strategies and setting new directions for future development. Tourism infrastructure has to be modernized, expanded, and adapted to new projects, while ensuring that planning and tourism management align with the principles of sustainable development. The growth of tourism creates new opportunities for stimulating rural areas, but it requires careful planning and the implementation of policies that effectively regulate tourist flows while maintaining ecological and cultural integrity.

Keywords: rural areas; natural landscape; cultural landscape; rural tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5847/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5847/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5847-:d:1687128

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().