Influence of jasna gora sanctuary on the city of czestochowa

What economic impacts does Jasna Gora (the most important tourist attraction) tourism bring to the city of Czestochowa in the 21^st century

The study is linked to Option E: Leisure, Tourism, and Sport; especially to: Tourism and sport at the local and national scale. Its goal is to specify the importance of the main religious worship facility in the city of Czestochowa – Jasna Gora

Jasna Gora has a positive economic impact on the city of Czestochowa and affects its tourism firmly. It’s reasonable to say that the economy of Czestochowa will be driven, as a result of necessary expenses that are needed to be spent in a tourist city, which can be very profitable and can finance the further development of the city, reference to Figure 1. (page 6.) – Butler’s model.

Czestochowa is a tourism hotspot situated in the southern part of Poland in the Silesian Voivodeship (reference Figure 1. page 7.).

Czestochowa is known all over the world for one of the most important religious buildings - Jasna Gora. The location became a worship location due to the presence of (the image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa with claimed miraculous abilities), which is closely related to the presence of foreign tourists. The main attraction attracts on average 2.5 million of pilgrimages per year . In addition, Jasna Gora can attract tourists with other attractions such as the old town or the prominent mountain trails (Szlak Orlich Gniazd). The two most crowded districts, (known as 'the very center of the city') during the tourist season are marked on the map in Figure 1(page 7.). They are also the main area of research. The collected data will also be supported by articles from the Central Statistical Office.

The inhabitants of Czestochowa experience many difficulties during the tourist season, such as traffic difficulties caused by pilgrimages. Despite there is a widespread belief that tourism significantly contributes to the development of the city, which will be checked in research.

Interviews were carried out at specific locations marked with a pink X on the map (Figure 4. Page 9.), to assess Jasna Gora's effect on small businesses in Czestochowa.

Some data cannot be examined by any of the methods used below. Secondary data are intended to fill in missing information that may be relevant to the experience. These will be mostly statistical articles provided by Glowny Urzad Statystyczny (Central Statistical Office) to keep the information as up-to-date and reliable as possible.

Table 1. shows where 30 respondents, including 11 Jasna Góra employees and 19 employees of facilities outside of Jasna Gora, were interviewed on October 11th and 18th, 2022. Figure 5 displays the employee division.

JUSTIFICATION - 

The purpose of this survey was to determine the extent to which tourism affects people who own businesses, and also provide information that may be useful in investigating the problem. This method allowed getting answers from people from other backgrounds which makes the survey and results more diverse, detailed, and, above all, objective.

Commercial land use is converting land to be able to sell goods and services . Thoughtful land use is beneficial for society and the economy and may lead to an increase in the development of a location. This method makes it possible to examine how the city ensures that tourism brings as much profit as possible

Table 4. shows the breakdown of the city's components. For each of the areas, one table was made consisting of the same categories.

The survey conducted in area A clearly indicates that the tourist season begins in the summer.

Businesses thrive most in the summer season and most likely decline completely in the winter season, making it impossible to make a living from most tourist businesses for a full year. It is worth noting that businesses that depend only on tourism (gift shops, stalls) do not have enough profit to keep their owners. On the other hand, we see that universal services such as restaurants (they can be used by tourists, as well as residents) are less dependent on the tourist season. It can be therefore assumed that tourism is the main source of livelihood for tourist services located in area A.

The results indicate that tourists in area A often use the services and account for a large percentage of the owners' profits. The answer of the bar owner leads to an interesting conclusion - although tourists do not use the bar's services more often than residents, they leave a large profit. It can therefore be speculated that tourists are willing to leave more money in the city at one time than the average resident.

The results of question 6 combined with the results of question 4 lead to the conclusion that organized groups of pilgrims use the services more often, so the profits are greater. Observations not included in the surveys show that there are more parking spaces for coaches in Area A than for cars. As a result, tourists more often decide to go on a group trip than on an individual trip, which can also give profits to transport companies in Czestochowa.

Question 7 allows for determining the priorities of tourists. According to businessmen who run their services in area A, tourists focus mainly on visiting Jasna Gora.

Prediction - Czestochowa may continue to heavily rely on tourism as a major source of economic activity in the future. However, in order to sustain this, the city will need to work towards developing more diversified and year-round tourism offerings that cater to both tourists and residents alike. This may involve investing in infrastructure, such as additional parking facilities. Additionally, businesses in the area will need to find ways to adapt to the seasonal nature of tourism, by perhaps offering more universal services that cater to both tourists and residents or finding ways to generate revenue during the off-season months. Ultimately, the success of the city's tourism industry will depend on its ability to balance the needs of tourists and residents and find a way to leverage tourism as a driver of economic growth while also preserving the city's cultural heritage and character.

The answers to question 3 illustrate the fact that, regardless of the location of shops, businesses based on tourism are not as prosperous as businesses that are also used by city residents.

The answers to question 4 prove that tourism does not have a major impact on the non-tourism zone, profits from tourists are significant only in tourist shops and do not affect the rest of the services that are used by residents. Organized groups constitute the majority of customers using given services, however, taking into account the answers to question 4, it can be assumed that these are groups of residents rather than tourists. Moreover, all businessmen running services in Area B stated that tourists do not want to visit the city (similar result as in question 7. in Table 5. page 13.).

Based on this survey, the division between the profit zone for the Monastery and for the city can be outlined. Interviews at the information point (not included in the table) made it clear that the church institution does not share profits with the city. Since the profits from the service in area A do not drive the economy of the city, then the only profit for the city from that area is the tax, which for area A is 9,71 zl/1m² . For comparison, taxes in area B amount to 28.78 zl/m² . 4 High taxes in area B result from the fact that all services are in residential buildings (tenement houses), which all the more indicates that the city is getting richer on services in area B.

Prediction: The city may need to undertake a comprehensive review of its tourism policies and strategies to attract more tourists to area B. This may involve investing in marketing, and promotion of the city's unique attractions other than Jasna Gora and heritage sites located in area B. By doing so, the city may be able to generate more revenue from the tourism industry and create employment opportunities for its residents.

Null hypothesis - There is no significant difference between land use in area A and area B

Alternate hypothesis - There is a significant difference between land use in area A and area B

Results are 99% certain that there is a significant difference between land usage in area A and area B. This means that the null hypothesis should be rejected. A noticeable anomaly is that even though area A is smaller than area B (Figure 5. Page 9.), it has all the services that could be of interest to potential tourists. Moreover, there are more recreational areas such as parks in area A than in area B. Comparing land use with surveys (Pages 13-16), one can come to the conclusion that it is not profitable for tourists to travel to further parts of the city of Czestochowa because all useful services are located in the vicinity of Jasna Gora. Prediction: Area A, which has a greater number of useful services and recreational areas, will likely attract more tourists than area B. As a result, uneven development is possible - area A can be very developed and area B less, which means that the already small number of tourists in area B will decrease due to the lack of attractions and services.

The city authorities take care of the appearance of tourist places to attract tourists. Continuous improvement of the city leads to the fact that cities do not become boring (Figure 22. Butler's Model, page 6). Table 12. shows the average scores of areas A and B in a given category. The results indicate the advantage of area A over area B in each category of city appearance. Figure 22. and 12. (page 24.) shows the location of the streets that were rated.

The city invests in tourist spots and focuses on the comfort and satisfaction of tourists, thus neglecting the inhabitants of the city. In 2021, the migration balance in Czestochowa was -10.30 per 1,000 people.

The inhabitants do not see prospects in the city, which is why mass depopulation is accelerating. The income from tourism is lower than the income from residents (analyzed in section 3.1) - Czestochowa is notoriously low in the rankings of tourist cities in Poland , and despite frequent changes in the city, tourism in Czestochowa is still not as popular as in other Polish cities.

Prediction: Taking into account the results of the surveys (section 3.1.), it can be said that tourists are interested only in Jasna Gora, that’s why city officials decide to upgrade sites in area A to prevent the hotspot from collapsing (a reference to Figure 22. Butler’s Model). However, this strategy may not be enough to prevent depopulation and keep residents satisfied with the development of the city. The low rankings of Czestochowa in the tourist cities in Poland suggest that there may be a need for a more comprehensive approach to promoting the city and its attractions. In the long term, the city may need to explore new avenues of economic development to attract and retain residents, as well as tourists.

The study provides the opportunity to decide, whether the hypothesis, that Jasna Gora has a positive economic impact on the city of Czestochowa and affects its tourism firmly, should be accepted or rejected. It also allows answering the fieldwork question: What economic impacts does Jasna Gora (the most important tourist attraction) tourism bring to the city of Czestochowa in the 21^st century?

It turned out that the results of the study do not cover 100% of the assumed hypothesis, but it still should be accepted. Based on surveys in area A and area B, it can be concluded that the impact of the monastery of Jasna Gora on Czestochowa isn’t significant, yet still positive to some degree. The analysis shows that the city decides to invest in tourism, the profits of which do not go to the treasury of the commune of Czestochowa which enriches the institution of the church, not the city itself. Services not strictly related to tourism (restaurants, bars, cafes) are not so dependent on tourists coming to Jasna Gora, because they receive sufficient profits from the inhabitants. Services in area A may be closed/restricted in the off-season (lack of sufficient funds to maintain the business) leading to tax not being paid. However, on the other hand, Jasna Gora has created new job opportunities and businesses and provided a boost to the city's tax base. Despite the fact that they are mainly in area A, the inhabitants of the city can still earn money creating their businesses.

In the event that Czestochowa and Jasna Gora would share the profits, the city would be able to further improve the area of Jasna Gora (area A) and at the same time be able to provide goods and improvements to residents who mainly use other attractions of the city (area B).

Butler Model of tourist resort development. (n.d.)ACCESSED January 8, 2023, from: https://geographyfieldwork.com/ButlerModel.htm

Chi Squared Table | BioNinja. (n.d.). ACCESSED: March 5, 2023, from https://ib.bioninja.com.au/higher-level/topic-10-genetics-and-evolu/102-inheritance/chi-squaredtable.html

GUS: Statystyczne Vademecum Samorządowca. (n.d.). ACCESSED March 5, 2023, from https://svs.stat.gov.pl/

Land Use. (n.d.). StudySmarter UK. ACCESSED : January 8, 2023, from https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/human-geography/introduction-to-humangeography/land-use

RADY MIASTA CZĘSTOCHOWY. (2022, October 27). Projekt uchwały na druku BR.6.LXVIII.22 w sprawie określenia wysokości stawek podatku od nieruchomości w 2023 roku. [Draft resolution on form NR.6.XLVIII.22 on determining the real estate tax rates in 2023.] ACCESSED: March 5, 2023, from https://bip.czestochowa.pl/artykul/33031/1175458/projekt-uchwaly-na-druku-br-6-lxviii-22- w-sprawie-okreslenia-wysokosci-stawek-podatku-od-nieruchomosci-w-2023-roku

Romanek, B. (2022, April 13). Częstochowa ma już mniej niż 200 tysięcy mieszkańców. Miasto ma pomysł jak powstrzymać wyludnianie? [Czestochowa already has less than 200,000 inhabitants. The city has an idea how to stop depopulation?] CzÄ™Stochowa Nasze Miasto. ACCESSED : December , 2022, from https://czestochowa.naszemiasto.pl/czestochowa-ma-juz-mniej-niz-200-tysiecymieszkancow-miasto/ar/c1-8770829

Województwo Śląskie. (2017, March 16). Program Rozwoju Turystyki w Województwie Śląskim 2020+ [Tourism Development Program in the Silesian Voivodeship 2020+] . slaskie.pl. ACCESSED: March 19, 2023, from https://www.slaskie.pl/

This division allowed checking which parts of the city are well- kept. Using this division, it can be determined whether the city aims at improving places visited by tourists, or evenly cares about the development of places that are more often used by residents.

This division allowed checking which parts of the city are well- kept. Using this division, it can be determined whether the city aims at improving places visited by tourists, or evenly cares about the development of places that are more often used by residents.