: The literature very rarely touches upon the issue related to the influence of benchmarking in shaping a culture of innovation in companies. Culture is understood as the tendency to pro-innovative activities and promoting favourable entrepreneurial and creative attitudes. The effect of building a culture of innovation includes the constant sharing of knowledge and the ability to see and then use the company's market opportunities. Therefore, this article attempts to identify those activities and behaviours which would be a testimony of a broad culture of innovation and, at the same time, the result of the application of benchmarking in the hotels researched.

As a result of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism, as one of the branches of many national economies, has suffered heavy losses both nationally and regionally. The pandemic as a global phenomenon is bound to change tourism, at least for some time to come. Therefore, questions arise about the nature of these changes and how deep they will be. The aim of the article is to show that for Podkarpackie Province in Poland, the COVID-19 pandemic, apart from the obvious negative consequences for the tourism industry, has also brought new development opportunities. The analyses presented here are based on a survey conducted among 948 adult respondents in 10 different locations within three districts between 15 and 30 August 2020. The analysis showed that during the pandemic, nature-related travel and active tourism, as well as trips aimed at health recovery were in high demand. Ensuring health and safety on holidays became a priority. Therefore, a concentration of tourism was observed in selected domestic destinations, usually in areas not associated with tourism (e.g. rural areas). In the future, this may create opportunities for a revival of local tourism. In contrast, the tourism industry suffered its greatest losses in cities; business and event tourism lost out, and there was a significant drop in revenue from both domestic and foreign tourists. These results indicate the negative effects of the pandemic, but also show new development opportunities. No one knows how long COVID-19 will continue, so the conclusions may be useful both for entrepreneurs preparing their tourist offers in the coming years, and institutions responsible for regional tourism policy.

The attractiveness to tourists of Podkarpackie Province is related to its natural diversity and rich cultural heritage. The communes located in the southern, Carpathian part of the province are the most attractive tourist destinations. However, the volume of tourist traffic in Podkarpackie Province differs from many other regions in Poland. It is visited by far fewer tourists than might be expected. In order to conduct a more effective tourist policy, it was necessary to acquire knowledge on the structure of tourism in the region and its image. The aim of this article is to present the proprietary methodology of cyclical research of the tourist image of Podkarpackie Province and the key results of the research conducted in 2021. The proposed set of methods and techniques includes: (1) an analysis of strategic documents in terms of the assumed tourist image (Atlas.ti), (2) a verification of search trends for keywords related to the identified associations (Google Trends), and (3) a search of widely available internet resources for spontaneously generated content (Google Search). The obtained results indicate that potential tourists find online information about tourist assets deviating from the planned tourist image presented in the strategic document. First of all, they look for opinions and tips on specific tourist attractions. In the perceptions of average, potential tourists, some sub-regions such as the Low Beskids and the Southern Roztocze are practically unnoticeable. They clearly ‘lose’ with the Bieszczady, which are most associated with the region. Ultimately, the comprehensive image research consists of qualitative and quantitative modules. Only the combination of both will allow for a holistic view of the image of the region.

Research on tourist traffic is a major methodological challenge because a potential respondent is on the move and difficult to capture. There is a need to identify both tourists and one-day visitors. It is important to know motives for their arrival, forms of their stay, assessments of individual components of the tourist offer or consumer loyalty. In 2020, the Podkarpackie Province resumed the idea of regional research on tourist traffic. The aim of this article is to present the methodology of cyclical research of tourist traffic in the Podkarpackie Province. It uses the experience gained during the pilot studies conducted in 2020. The methodology and measurement tool contribute to the standardisation of tourism research in Poland at the provincial level. The proposed solutions activate and integrate various environments into the development of tourism in the region. They allow observation of changes in the structure of tourist traffic and evolution of tourists’ opinions and expectations. On the other hand, they are flexible in order to respond to changes in tourism. The solutions suggested in the methodology are to provide comprehensive and unique data which will facilitate an effective tourism policy at the regional level and can be used by businesses in the tourist industry

Introduction. There are many factors which determine the attractiveness of a region for tourists. However, such assessments are, relatively rarely, a result of the analysis of the presence and condition of regional tourist brands and their perception among visitors. The analysis and assessment of the condition of a brand can be carried out using the BAV (Brand Asset Valuator). This is an extremely interesting and useful tool which explains the dynamics of behaviour of brands on the market and diagnoses their “health”, supporting the process of their long-term management.Materials and methods. On the basis of the results of a pilot study, an attempt is made to measure the tourist attractiveness of the Podkarpackie region through the assessment of regional tourist brands and their features which are important from the point of view of the inhabitants of the region. The BAV model was used to analyse 32 tourist products. The applied research methods include the Mann-Whitney test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and the chi-square independence test.Results. The mapped data analysis based on the BAV model showed that 16 out of 32 products assessed were located in the leadership quadrant. The majority of the remaining products were in the development or decline phases.Conclusions. The presence of branded tourist products and their number have an impact on the tourist attractiveness of the region. The following aspects of the region were considered the most attractive: nature (natural surroundings, natural values, and ecological aspects), heritage (historical heritage and monuments and presentation of important past events), and tourism (tourism and recreation offerings).