Study the text about the impacts of tourism on several places and communities in Poland, and do the exercises below.

Anna Faszcza Impacts of Tourism

For a few years before the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was a significant increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting Poland. Our journalists asked several people how it influenced particular areas of life. Here is what they told us.

A. The Deputy Director of one of the Polish national parks

Undoubtedly, Poland developed into an alluring destinationalluring destinationalluring destination for foreign globetrotters and this was also noticeable in our national park. The increasing number of visitors meant not only more income from entry ticketsincome from entry ticketsincome from entry tickets we sold but also more pollution in the park itself and the surrounding area. Littering, both intentional and unintentional, became a real problem. Every day we struggled with cigarette buttscigarette butts [cigarette butt]cigarette butts, food wrappers and plastic bottles left by tourists. It is a broader concern, as tons of rubbish are generated by national parks yearly. To make the place remainremainremain as unspoiltunspoiltunspoilt as possible, the management decided that heavy finesheavy fines [heavy fine]heavy fines would be leviedlevied (levy)levied on those who throw even a single piece of litter along the tourist trailstourist trails [tourist trail]tourist trails. Our park, one of the most iconic in this part of the country, used to be among the most affected. Now we are pleased, since the policypolicypolicy brought positive effects remarkably swiftly and people can still admire the splendid beauty of nature here.

B. The mayor of a small town

Last year the local councillocal councillocal council conductedconducted [conduct]conducted research in the field of tourismin the field of tourismin the field of tourism in our area. The results were rewarding, as the study showed that our town had attracted a vast number of foreign tourists in recent years. It would not have been attainableattainableattainable if we had not invested a lot of time and money in advertisements promoting the place abroad. Moreover, we had anticipatedanticipated [anticipate]anticipated that a growing number of tourists could have serious repercussions for the environmentserious repercussions for the environment [serious repercussion for the environment]serious repercussions for the environment, so we had prepared our infrastructure accordingly. We could see in neighbouring towns how an increased amount of waste, for example, undermined the quality of lifeundermined the quality of life [undermine the quality of life]undermined the quality of life. Another important thing was to ensure the sense of safetysense of safetysense of safety in public spaces. So, to make local people and tourists feel secure, we installed more CCTV cameras in the streets to prevent crime, such as break‑ins or muggings.  Noticing the growth in the number of jobs and the developing entertainment industryentertainment industry entertainment industry in our area, which in turnin turnturn corresponds to a higher quality of life for the locals and an increase in wealthincrease in wealthincrease in wealth in the region, we already know the whole endeavourendeavourendeavour was worth the trouble.

C. An environmentalist

Being aware of the long‑term environmental threatlong‑term environmental threatlong‑term environmental threat that the growing number of visitors poses, all the activists of our local organisation started working on introducing some methods to minimise the degradationdegradationdegradation of tourist trails in the area. We are convinced that the only way to avert any possible destructionavert any possible destructionavert any possible destruction is a different scope of restrictionsscope of restrictionsscope of restrictions introduced by the local authorities. For example, we maintain that the use of any plastic containers ought to be prohibited and that diesel cars should be banned from entering the area. They adversely affectadversely affectadversely affect the environment and contribute not only to noise but also to air pollution. Diesel cars might emit lower carbon dioxide but still emit more nitrogen dioxide than petrol engines. Furthermore, the number of tourists visiting our nature reservesnature reserves [nature reserve]nature reserves daily should be limited in order not to scare wild animals or destroy unique plant life, and spending on expanding tourist infrastructure should be restrainedshould be restrainedshould be restrained.

D. An inhabitant of a small town

First of all, I must say that I am content living here as there is not a lot of traffic although the majority of local people were bothered due to the influx of travellersinflux of travellersinflux of travellers into our town. I had always been convinced we would handle that aspect owing to the well‑developed public transportation in our area. Moreover, on account of the development of tourismdevelopment of tourismdevelopment of tourism here I made my dream come true and started to earn a livingearn a livingearn a living running my own restaurant. I am of Tatar descentdescentdescent and it makes me truly happy to hear our guests praise us forpraise us for [praise somebody for]praise us for our traditional cuisine.

1 Źródło: Anna Faszcza, dostępny w internecie: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zcmfb9q/articles/znspn9q [dostęp 19.03.2022], https://greentumble.com/positive-impacts-of-tourism-on-environment/ [dostęp 19.03.2022], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.