Ports in development of maritime tourism – problems and challenges. The case of the Pomeranian Region

Abstract

The paper investigates the question - provocative in some way – can Polish ports in the Pomeranian Region, especially Gdynia and Gdańsk, become centers of maritime tourism in the region? This question is worth to be asked, despite distinct disparency - arousing pessimism - between expectations and the real state. The significance of that question is grounded in ports’ role in development of passengers transportation – particularly tourist one, and the impact of ports services on regions’ economy in Europe. These problems are exposed at the beginning of the paper. Further parts of the paper – taking advantage of descriptive and statistical comparative analysis of the ports operation - successively present: (1) general condition of the Pomeranian ports regarding their tourist function. It particularly has been related to the location and transport accessibility requirements as well as to ports suprastructure and infrastructure requirements. The presented conditions are compared with standards effective worldwide; (2) passenger traffic in the Pomeranian ports – especially tourist traffic. General assessment of development conditions, present situation and position of the Pomeranian ports, which have been made on the grounds of the above analysis, lead to the conclusion that these ports, including the main ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia, are far behind a status of important maritime tourism centers. The last part of the paper – in connection to the former assessment – defines challenges facing the above ports and presents actions to be taken for strengthening their position. In search of ways enabling achievement of an advisable goal, the position of government administration and local authorities have been stressed, as well as the effects of Polish membership in the EU.