Does EU Funding Support the Development of Tourism? Case Study of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship

Abstract

The aim of the presented article is to answer the question of whether EU funding supports the development of tourism. In order to realize this aim, the article analyses in-kind and financial support of the EU cohesion policy for the development of tourism in a selected region of Poland, accounting for the two programming periods in the years 2007–2013. The paper is divided into two basic stages. The first part contains a review of literature on the topic of EU funds for tourism available in the second programming period. The second part is based on presenting the intensiveness of the EU cohesion policy’s financial support for tourism in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The studies carried out reveal a relationship between investment activity and an increase in tourism traffic, measured by the number of overnight stays in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship.

Keywords

• cohesion policy
• EU fundings
• development of tourism
• tourism infrastructure