Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

The purpose of the research was to determine tourists' preferences regarding leisure in the Celestynów Forest District and to determine the amount of costs incurred by them. The survey was conducted in November 2017 on a group of 64 adult respondents, at the Forest Education Center and on educational paths. Respondents were asked about their preferences related to rest in terms of: motives of arrival, frequency of visits, length of stay, and costs associated with a visit to this area. The costs of stay were analyzed taking into account the costs of travel, meals, accommodation and other expenses, broken down into 1-day, 2-day and 3-day visits. The main motive of the respondents' arrival was the realization of interests (31%) and leisure (27%). Most respondents (69%) preferred a 1-day rest. Considering the overall cost of the visit, the largest group were tourists who spent less than PLN 50 (40%). Most often (35%) respondents declared that they incurred costs from PLN 20 to PLN 30, for accommodation from PLN 41 to PLN 80 (20%), for travel - less than PLN 50 (39%), and 49% of tourists indicated that they had incurred additional expenses, most often they concerned the purchase of souvenirs (36%). The research confirms the fact that forests are a popular place for rest of the population, and the tourist attractions occurring in the Celestynów Forest District constitute the basis for tourism development and could be the basis for new silvatourist products of this region.