Creating a New Tourist Image as a Manifestation of Entrepreneurship of Self-Governments of Coastal Communes (Poland)

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the activity and entrepreneurship of Polish self-governments of coastal communes in the scope of diversifying the tourist offer and implementing visual identity as elements with the greatest potential to create the desired tourist image of the area. The material for research consists of basic planning documents and promotional materials of 32 communes that have direct contact with the Baltic Sea coastline. It is stated that the position of the tourism sector as a crucial segment of the local economy is exposed in the strategic studies of all analysed communes. At the same time, only a few self-governments present the proper ingenuity, engaging more advanced marketing instruments to the practice of managing their own tourist offer and building a coherent visual identity system. Most coastal cities and communes still underestimate the characteristic features of the space they occupy, based on a typical leisure offer and universal sensory symbols related to the seaside location. Recognising the obvious qualities and originality of the solutions proposed by the leaders, it should be emphasised that in the vast majority of cases appropriate actions are only at the initiation stage, and their more noticeable effects should be expected in the future.