Impact of the geographical environment on agritourism development illustrated by the example of the Swietokrzyskie Province

Management transformations which started at the turn of the eighties and nineties of the 20th century in Poland have thoroughly changed socio-economic conditions of the development of the country and its regions. The transformation of state-controlled management system required adjustment of various socioeconomic and spatial structures to the new rules of market economy. This process, being based on transformation of the previous structures created in the centrallysteered management system and on the development of new structures, is being observed in many places in Poland, also in rural areas in the Świętokrzyskie Province. One of the most popular forms of development of rural areas is agritourism at present. The study attempts to assess the influence of geographical environment on agritourism development potential in the Świętokrzyskie Province. The analysis of elements of natural environment and tourist amenities makes it possible to evaluate how attractive rural areas are from the standpoint of agritourism development. The study gives numerical attractiveness indicators to show how rural areas are diversified in their likelihood of success for agritourism business