Visiting national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic - an example of social adaptation of tourists in the perspective of creating social innovations

Social needs arising from the occurrence of global threats prompt researchers from various fields to look for innovative solutions that are friendly to society. The COVID-19 pandemic was a global experience so strong that it influenced many social processes, enabling natural experiments to be conducted that provided new knowledge about human behavior. One of the greatest impacts of lockdowns was observed in the case of tourist activity. National parks are highly desirable destinations for tourists and are able to attract large numbers of visitors. Tourism inside national parks has shown systematic growth, driven not only by the desire to be close to nature and to seek aesthetically pleasing experiences, but also by the need for relaxation and for participation in outdoor sports. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, visitor numbers to national parks did not decline, despite their temporary closure in 2020. The article presents the result of empirical research conducted in 2021 on tourists to selected national mountain parks. The research aimed to explore visitors’ motives for visiting the parks, as well as types of behaviour and the opinions of tourists regarding the restrictions placed on tourism in certain national parks. Analysis was also conducted of tourists’ attitudes towards restrictions on access to parks due to formal legal regulations, limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the potential to recompense for these needs by replacing them with alternatives behaviors in tourists’ place of residence in the form of open social innovations. It was found, based on the opinions of tourists, that they visited national parks during the pandemic mainly for recreational and health purposes. Motivation to explore and admire nature or local culture was ranked third. On the other hand, the most frequently mentioned substitute of limited access to the national park was visiting nearby forests, meadows and city parks. The research allowed to notice the need to develop innovative solutions conducive to the psychological comfort of a community deprived of the possibility of mutual contact.


Introduction
The social changes observed during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world were extremely intense, although -judging from the perspective of the probable end of the period of the threat of the deadly virus -they were also unstable. The prospect of assessing the impact of this event is additionally hampered by the impact of other humanitarian threats. Among them, the ongoing war in Ukraine should certainly be mentioned, which, especially from the perspective of neighboring countries, is perceived almost comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The area of social life that has probably experienced the greatest consequences of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is tourism activity. The negative effects of the pandemic on tourism are confirmed https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.joitmc.2023.100062 by numerous studies conducted in the last three years (Skare et al., 2021). At the same time, it was this area of the economy and social activity that experienced the most restrictions of various forms. It is worth noting, however, that these restrictions, although they were accepted by the majority of society as necessary, did not remain without reaction in social attitudes and the creation of alternative forms of social life. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had a significant impact on the motivations of the inhabitants of large cities to seek recreation in natural surroundings under safe sanitary conditions, especially in national parks. This is confirmed by analysis conducted among tourists visiting the Tatra national park (Borkowski et al., 2021) and other Polish national parks . Research by D. Lovin et al. (Lovin et al., 2023) confirm that the process of adaptation to a new cultural context takes place through the filter of behavior, experiences, and performance, under the influence of motivation. The adaptation of tourists to new conditions during the pandemic also seems to be based on motivation.
The aim of the article was to identify the motivation of tourists to visit national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic and their attitudes towards the imposed restrictions. The basis for drawing conclusions in this regard are studies carried out in four national parks located in the Polish Carpathians. The actual and potential ways of compensating for unmet tourism needs by taking advantage of the opportunities available in the place of residence of tourists were also made. This seems to be a particularly interesting phenomenon from the point of view of Polish society, where pandemic restrictions included a ban on entering forests, parks and other outdoor recreation spaces. The research was conducted in two phases -secondary and primary research. The analysis and interpretation of data related to number of visitors in protected areas obtained from Central Statistical Office and administrative bodies of national parks as well as the survey analysis based on a sample of 403 tourists visiting one of the respective national mountain parks. The conducted research is an attempt to fill the research gap in terms of tourists' tendency to adapt to new conditions caused by pandemic restrictions, and at the same time to identify possible alternative behaviors made available in the form of social innovations.

Tourism in national parks
The role of national parks extends beyond the typical understanding of protecting nature to relate to protection of species, ecosystems and landscapes. These are of great social, cultural and economic significance, and have an influence on the development of the regions in which they are found. Many of them are considered to be charismatic parks (analogically to charismatic species) and are of importance not only to the region, but to society as a whole (Pichler-Koban and Jungmeie, 2017). National parks were created for a noble purpose to protect the areas of wild nature for the whole nation, not for privileged layers (Butler, 2018). The granting of national park status to a given area is generally seen to be raising its stature (Stasiak, 2007), and generates the desire to visit such a place. Paradoxically, the decision to grant protection carries with it a potential threat from tourism. Such threats are particularly evident in mountain areas, which are highly susceptible to anthropopressure (Balon, 2007), which was initially related to extensive herding and the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials, and today is above all due to tourism. Due to the features in the natural environment, national mountain parks can be used both for classic forms of mountain tourism (walking, skiing, climbing) and their specialist varieties, as well as new forms of activity (Jodłowski, 2020;Jodłowski et al., 2023).
One of the most important and difficult challenges for national park administrators is ensuring such functions are appropriately and sustainably combined with the protection of nature. On the one hand, this involves satisfying the needs of those visiting parks for various reasons, and on the other hand reducing (or suitably directing) the pressure on the environment due to such access. This problem is particularly relevant to national mountain parks in Europe, which have long economic and touristic traditions, and over one hundred years of complicated environmental protection.
Four groups stakeholders are usually identified in relation to sustainable tourism: the present visitors, future visitors, present host community, and future host community (Byrd, 2007). The latter could encompass administrative bodies of protected areas, environmental offices as well as local inhabitants. However, visitor management in national parks involves also other groups of stakeholders, such as various NGOs related to environmental protection, tourism and regional development, academic researchers and institutions as well as tourism enterprises (Spenceley et al., 2015;Jodłowski, 2020). Often, there is a clash between the conflicting interests of various social groups, which leads to conflicts related to providing access to parks for various activities. This problem is particularly relevant to national mountain parks in Europe, which have long economic and touristic traditions, and over one hundred years of complicated environmental protection (Pichler-Koban and Jungmeie, 2017;Jodłowski, 2020). It is not only the conflict between visitors and administrative bodies and ecological NGOs but also between various group of visitors. In European and American mountain national parks such conflicts were observed mostly between hikers and horse riders, bikers and skiers as well as from usage of ski-slopes (Watson et al., 1994;Moore, 1994;Pröbstl-Haider and Lampl, 2017;Jodłowski, 2020;Hibner et al., 2021).
The specific features of the natural environment and the size of tourist traffic, and the subsequent importance of national mountain parks, affect, on the one hand, the level of conflicts related to the provision of access (Jodłowski, 2016), and on the other, force park administrators to take appropriate action. These problems are considerably less visible in protected areas that either have a lower protection status, are less attractive to tourists, or are less well-known among the general public. Visitor management strategies, except from administrative measures and restrictions involve various forms of community participations, soft management measures and educational campaigns (Eagles et al., 2002;Hibszer, 2008;Jodłowski, 2020;Sisto et al., 2022, Oleśniewicz et al., 2020.
Both in Poland and in other countries around the world, national mountain parks are among the most frequently visited tourist attractions. The use of national parks for tourism is systematically growing, and there is an observable increase in the number of tourists, a higher frequency of visits to protected areas, and a rise in the amount of time spent on various forms of tourism.
According to a report on the effect of tourist traffic on protected areas published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS), every year over 8 billion people visit national parks and reserves, generating around 600 billion USD of income for the tourist industry (Balmford et al., 2015). At the same time, around 10 billion USD are spent annually on protection and preservation of these areas.
By far the greatest visitor numbers are seen in national parks in Europe and the USA. Among European parks, the leaders are British parks located close to large agglomerations, aimed principally at providing recreational activities for inhabitants. The most popular are the Lake District (10.5 million visitors) and the Peak District (10.1 million visitors). In 2021 in the USA, there were a total of 330 million visitors to all national parks included in the National Park Service. The highest visitors numbers were noted in the Smoky Mountain national park (14.6 million in 2021), the Zion national park -5.4 million, and Yellowstone -4.8 million (Annual Visitation Statistics by Year, 2022). During the COVID-19 pandemic, visitor numbers to national parks in the USA initially fell in 2020, but as early as 2021, numbers had exceeded those from before the pandemic (Kupfer et al., 2021), leading to overtourism in many parks (Pohle, 2021).
The motivations of people participating in mountain tourism are also undergoing changes. In addition to the desire for relaxation, seeking aesthetically pleasing experiences and nature experience, physical activity and the search for adventure and excitement are mentioned with increasing frequency, as is a lifestyle related to participating in outdoor sports (Wessely, 2000, Muhar et al., 2007, Spenceley, 2015, Borkowski et al., 2021. Answering these needs was of particular importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries introduced a variety of often stringent sanitary restrictions. In Europe, such restrictions involved above all temporary limitations on travelling between countries, which significantly decreased the number of international tourists, but also placed limitations on the functioning of accommodation providers and other firms connected to the tourist industry. Outdoor tourism seemed to offer greater possibilities for respecting the principles of hygiene safety, as it was much easier to observe social distancing in the open air. However, limitations on access to national parks in Central Europe went much further than in other European countries, and existing regulations (e.g. the ban on leaving marked trails) resulted in concentrating tourist traffic (Jodłowski, 2020). Separate research threads on access to and the functioning of protected areas relate to various paradigms of environmental protection (Haider, 2006;Symonides, 2008;Pawlaczyk, 2002).
It must be emphasised that visitors to national parks are in the majority the inhabitants of large cities, who were most affected by the lockdown -which is why national parks that are situated a short distance away from agglomerations and could be visited for short trips played a particular role during the pandemic (Lebrun et al., 2021). Determining the effect of the pandemic on the size of tourist traffic in national parks, but also understanding the motivation and behaviour of people visiting a protected area, are of key importance for effective management of vulnerable areas. This allows for the use of soft management with regard to providing access, including informational and educational campaigns, as well as possible modification to existing limitations on access (Taczanowska et al., 2019;Jodłowski, 2020).
The issue of motivation is one of the most important problems in the discussion on tourist activity (Dann, 1981;Iso-Ahola, 1982;Crompton, 1979;Pearce, 1982). According to Crompton (1979), the basis for the discussion on tourist motivation were the concepts of 'push' and 'pull'. The 'push' concept relates to what prompts a tourist to make a trip, that is their needs, e.g. relaxation after the working week, aspirations or interests. Meanwhile, 'pull' refers to external and environmental factors, e.g. the promotion of a destination, which has an influence on the selection of that place (Dann, 1981;Klenosky D, 2002). There are nine types of tourist motivation. These are: escape from a perceived mundane environment, exploration and evaluation of self, relaxation, prestige, regression, enhancement of kinship relationships, facilitation of social interaction, novelty and education (Crompton, 1979;Kim et al., 2003). Motivation for travelling has been the subject of numerous studies (Albayrak and Caber, 2018;Su et al., 2020). Various methods have been developed, including the qualitative approach and the ladder technique for exploring motivation (Reynolds and Gutman, 1988).

Alternative behaviors of tourists and open social innovations
Research into the motivations of tourists visiting Spanish national parks found eight factors, that is: self-development, interpersonal relations, escape, building of personal relationships, eco-protection, nature, reward and fun (Carrascosa-López et al., 2021). Research in the Fulufjället national park (Sweden) indicated four basic dimensions of motivation -self-evaluation, experiencing places, the search for solitude and setting oneself challenges (Raadik et al., 2010). A study conducted in the Tatra national park distinguished a group of tourists visiting the park for other reasons than contact with nature, that is accessing the park via cable car to admire the views, and physical activity (Taczanowska et al., 2019). In the Alps, meanwhile, tourists were identified who motivated their activity as the 'last chance' to visit retreating glaciers (Salim et al., 2022).
There are papers dealing with the impact of COVID-19 on human behavior in protected areas. McGinlay et al., 2020 identified the most important challenges for tourism in national parks during the COVID-19 period, such as overtourism, new visitor profiles, problematic behavior and conflicts between various stakeholders. In order to meet these challenges, information campaigns are conducted, traffic management is introduced by, for example, creating one-way systems on some tourist routes. In protected areas in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic, excessive tourist traffic, problematic behavior, parking and social distancing problems, conflicts of various stakeholders, cancellation of educational and cultural activities were noted (McGinlay et al., 2020). Changes in the behavior of visitors to national parks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were written by, among others, Rose and Parks (2021) in Parks Victoria's Charter in Australia, Farias-Torbidoni et al. (2021) in Serra de Collserola Natural Park in Spain, Gunter de Queiroz and Magro Lindenkamp (2021) in Brazilian national parks, Global Geological Park (Xiao et al., 2021) and in the Stołowe Mountains National Park (Rogowski, 2022). There are views that there is an urgent need not to return to normal once the pandemic crisis passes, that this is an opportunity to consider transforming the global tourism system adapted to the sustainable development goals (Gössling, 2020).
Alternatives are worth considering forms of activity carried out by the respondents near their place of residence, in city parks, forests, and recreation centers. They can be treated as substitutes for visiting national parks affected by overtourism. This problem has not been addressed by researchers so far, therefore the research results described in the article contribute to the recognition of opinions on the acceptance of these substitutes and the use of this knowledge in the implementation of innovative forms of tourism management in protected areas. Due to their structure, these solutions should adopt a social dimension, and at the same time be open to their universal access (Szromek et al., 2022. Therefore, at this point it is worth introducing the concept of Open Social Innovation (OSI), which in this regard is becoming a key perspective of the observed social changes. Chesbrough et al. (2014) define open social innovation as "the application of either inbound or outbound open innovation strategies, along with innovations in the associated business model of the organization, to social challenges". Also West, Lakhani (2008) review the definition of community construction and at the same time show the role of community in creating, shaping and disseminating innovation.
Although von Jacobi and Chiappero-Martinetti (2017) note that this is still a very unexplored area of research, there are many references to this issue (Gegenhuber et al., 2023;Diasio, 2022;Soda, 2023;Rana et al., 2014). Also S. Cangiano et al. (2017) note that open digital innovation may also apply to meeting social needs, and L. Tuckerman et al. (2022) using OSI as a means to achieve social change. In turn, K. Joon-ho et al. (2022) analyze the impact of open innovation on the business results of 409 companies from around the world. Among other things, they reveal that corporate cluster collaboration has had a positive impact on the development of open innovation, and cross-cluster collaboration and big data can accelerate open innovation. Cunha and Benneworth (2020) emphasize that the subject of social innovations in scientific research is growing dynamically, therefore they require the development of a conceptual framework, as they depend on conditions and context. A. Gupta et al. (2017) describe the market and social forces that drive social innovation. In turn, M. Moeenian et al. (2022) identify OSI factors by analyzing the relationship between government and NGOs. The authors also note that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that current governmental and social structures are not effective enough to respond quickly to emerging global challenges. At the same time, they indicate that social innovations are the solution to this problem.
In turn, M.-L. Moore et al. (2012) recognize that social innovation processes are successful when intermediaries have their own in-house resources and the initiative focuses on transforming elements of macroscale innovation. N. von Jacobi et al. (2017) point out that successful social innovations capable of countering social marginalization depend on the involvement of marginalized people in a process that addresses the social structure of their disadvantage. They show this feature of social innovations by referring to the activities of the European Union in this field.
It is worth noting that Cunha and Benneworth (2020) consider how to measure the impact of social innovation and conclude that it can be seen as a set of outcomes, at different spatial scales, taking into account the experience value of all parties involved in the process, and therefore, instead of imposing specific set of indicators, a measurement process procedure should be adopted to assess the impact of social innovation. A similar topic was taken up by A. Unceta et al. (2020), who also joined the debate on indicators in social innovation, examining three types of governance (social, inter-organizational and sustainable) by examining four types of entities: profit and non-profit organizations, universities and technology centers. Beck et al. (2022) present the application of open innovation in scientific research of various disciplines. Also Pavani and Plonski (2020) describe a case study of an open innovation initiative at Public Health Research Institutes, but they use an interesting approach to catalyze innovation processes. They see an important feature of this process and emphasize that it should be continuous. Whereas Gegenhuber et al. (2023) draw attention to the role of stakeholders in open social innovation. Leckel et al. (2022) published research on a local approach to open innovation, where the spatial distance between companies looking for solutions and suppliers providing solutions was intentionally reduced. It turns out that spatial proximity supports the implementation of open innovation, overcoming the challenges of initiating organizational change towards openness, establishing trust-based relationships to exchange knowledge and effectively applying external knowledge.
Ambitious research is also conducted by Unceta et al. (2020). Through the study of social innovation ecosystems, the authors reveal that there is a link between the strength of welfare systems and social innovation ecosystems at a time when social policy and welfare states are in crisis. They describe this relationship through the concept of a system of social innovations, and at the same time propose a research framework for identifying socio-structural factors that reveal weaknesses that can develop into social problems. Bogers and Sproedt (2012) present interesting research on playful learning and the social dynamics of open innovation. They show how playing board games can be used to teach intangible social interactions. Whereas D. Song et al. (2015) bases his article on the principle of 'positive deviance', leading to the identification of design processes and tools that have improved communication in the QuYang community, which is an example of creative communities.
All these studies show how important the social dimension is in implemented innovations, which should take the form of open access.

Aims
The aim of the research was to explore the motivation for visiting national parks and the ways in which visitors fulfil their need to be in contact with nature. The cognitive aim of the research was also to identify tourists' attitudes towards limitations on mountain tourism in the four national mountain parks located in the Polish Carpathians. Analysis was also conducted of tourists' opinion of the limitations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the actual and potential means of compensating for these needs through substitutive (alternative) behaviour using facilities available in tourists' place of residence. The study was conducted on a sample of 403 tourists visiting one of the four mountain parks in the Polish Tatras (the Tatra, Babiogóra, Bieszczady and Pieniny parks). Analysis was also carried out of changes in the amount and density of tourist traffic in these parks in 2019, that is before the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the years 2020 and 2021, that is during the pandemic.
In the course of the conducted analyses, three research hypotheses were formulated, which are in mutual relation to each other. These are: H1: Restrictions and restrictions introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic did not limit tourist traffic in national parks.

H2:
The main motive for tourists' visits to the surveyed national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic was recreation and relaxation as a way to get away from pandemic threats.

H3:
Limitations on access to national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted tourists to look for substitutes in the vicinity of their place of residence.

Study area
The four parks selected for the research are located in the Polish Carpathian mountains, one in the Outer Western Carpathians, two in the Inner Western Carpathians, and one (Bieszczady National Park) in the Outer Eastern Carpathians (Richling et al., 2021). The Babiogóra national park is the only area in the Beskid mountains with a welldefined stratified natural environment; in addition to forested areas, protection is also extended to thickets of mountain pines and unforested alpine areas, as well as terrain sculpted by landslides and periglacial factors (Jodłowski, 2007). The Bieszczady national park was created in order to protect the natural ecosystems of the Carpathian wilderness, with its numerous populations of herbivorous and predatory mammals and birds of prey, as well as mountain pastures with semi-natural ranges of high mountain meadows with eastern Carpathian species. The Pieniny national park was created in 1932 in order to preserve the low limestone mountain landscape, unique in Poland and Europe, with the characteristic Dunajec ravine and semi-natural ranges of meadows and rock vegetation -one of the most important centres of biodiversity in Poland (1100 species of vascular plants). The Tatra national park covers the Polish part of the Tatras, and includes the best example of high mountain landscapes in the whole of the Carpathians (Troll, 1972), a stratified natural environment, glacial sculpture with post-glacial lakes, and karst formations with numerous cave systems. Many species of plant and animal are endemic to the western Carpathians, e.g. the Tatra chamois and the Tatra marmot, which are also flagship species (Jodłowski, 2007;Jodłowski, 2020). Three parks -Babiogóra, Bieszczady and Tatra -are on the UNESCO MaB list of biosphere reserves, and in 2021 the beech forests of the Bieszczady park were entered into the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Fig. 1).
The natural environment in the national parks analysed boast a rich and varied fauna and flora. In terms of area, the Bieszczady and Tatra national parks are the largest, while the Babiogóra and Pieniny parks are considerably smaller. A sizeable area (around 70%) of the Tatra and Bieszczady national parks are under strict protection, which distinguishes them among all Polish national parks. In the Pieniny national park, 43.4% of the park is strictly protected. Here, the most valuable ecosystems include mountain relict pine forests, sycamores, thermophilic beech forests, as well as alpine and xerothermic grasslands, mountain meadows and peat bogs. In the Bieszczady national park, under protection are mountain pastures, mountain pines and parts of lower montane forests with Carpathian beeches. In the Babiogóra national park, 40.1% of the area is under strict protection, and the park is entered into the UNESCO list of biosphere reserves. The Tatra national park has the highest proportion of protected areas with 70.7% of the total under strict protection, and is the only park in Poland that includes high mountain landscapes.
Access to national parks is provided for various forms of touristic, recreational and sports activity. The well-developed network of tourist trails for varying forms of activity, as well as the well-maintained tourist infrastructure, raise the attractiveness of the parks for tourists, which has an effect on the number of tourists visiting the parks. In 2020, the parks analysed were visited by 5.15 million tourists. The most frequently visited were the Tatra national park and the Pieniny national park (Table 1 and Fig. 2). Due to regulations, tourist traffic in national parks is limited to marked trails. The greatest density of tourist traffic is noted on trails in the Pieniny and Bieszczady national parks, with the lowest in the Babiogóra national park. However, the highest number of tourists per 1 km 2 is in the Pieniny national park (over 34,000) and Tatra national park (16,500).

Data
The research material came from two sources. These were primary and secondary data. First, data from the Central Statistical Office (Environment, 2021) were analyzed. These related to tourist traffic in national parks and their development of tourism. Information received from park administrative bodies enabled estimates to be made regarding tourist traffic in 2002(Statistical Offices, 2021. A further source was a report on visitor numbers to Polish tourist attractions in the years 2019 and 2020 (Kruczek, 2021).
In turn, primary research was conducted using a research questionnaire on a non-probability sample of 403 tourists visiting one of the national mountain parks in July and August 2021. Due to the difficulties and research limitations, a convenient selection was used. Online survey was conducted via the ProfiTest platform. The questionnaire was available to tourists present on the trail by providing them with the link or the QR to the questionnaire that could be accessed in a mobile phone. Information about the survey was also posted in social media and was sent by email to students of the Faculty of Tourism and Recreation at the University of Physical Education in Krakow. The research questionnaire used in the research was used to examine the motives of tourists visiting national parks, as well as the behavior of tourists, their opinions on restrictions on access to parks during a pandemic and the search for alternative ways to contact nature. The second part of the questionnaire included questions on other research topics (i.e. tourists' knowledge of the law and rules for using national parks). This part of the research results will be published in another paper by the authors.
The study consisted in making the questionnaire available to tourists present on the trail. However, the initial analysis of the research material showed a significant number of questionnaires not completed to the end (31%). However, the substantive analysis showed that it is possible to include also partially completed questionnaires.

Methodology
The research questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first included questions related to tourists' knowledge on the subject of protection of national parks, legal restrictions and tourists' obligations. The second part of the questionnaire included questions that identified the structure of tourists' behaviour with regard to the limitations related to legal regulations governing national parks, as well as the opinions of respondents on the importance of natural resources for society as a whole in times of crisis, for example the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these issues are not the subject of this publication and will not be included in the discussion of the research results. The last part of the study meanwhile related to basic data about the respondents (gender, age, education and place of residence). Respondents were also asked to indicate which national park they had visited.
The statistical analysis included the use of many methods and statistical techniques. First of all, descriptive measures (mean, standard deviation, median) and structure index (%) were used, as well as the  test of significance of differences between fractions (t-Student and Chisquare for p < 0.05). Spearman's and Yule's rank coefficients were used in the correlation analysis of qualitative features. The structure index was used most often to define the percentage of respondents for individual features.
The results for some issues were analysed on a three-point scale (agree/don't know/disagree) and are discussed using the ∆ index as the difference in the percentage of 'agree ' and 'disagree' answers, or 'yes' and 'no'. Meanwhile, for questions where the frequency of answers was determined on a four-point scale (never, several times a year, several times a month, several times a week), the wF index was used based on a weighting for each answer of between 1 and 4 (increasing by 1 for every subsequent response).

Tourist traffic in national parks -the results of secondary research
Both in Poland and around the world, the most frequented natural attractions are national parks. According to a report on the effect of tourist traffic on protected areas published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS), every year over 8 billion people visit national parks and reserves, generating around 600 billion USD of income for the tourist industry (Balmford et al., 2015). At the same time, around 10 billion USD are spent annually on protection and preservation of these areas.
By far the greatest visitor numbers are seen in national parks in Europe and the USA. Among European parks, the leaders are British parks located close to large agglomerations, aimed principally at providing recreational activities for inhabitants. The most popular are the Lake District ( During the COVID-19 pandemic, visitor numbers to national parks in the USA initially fell in 2020, but as early as 2021, numbers had exceeded those from before the pandemic (Kupfer et al., 2021), leading to overtourism in many parks (Pohle, 2021).
Polish national parks are visited annually by almost 15 million tourists (Kruczek, 2021). The amount of tourist traffic to national parks in 2019 reached 14.14 million visitors, with 13.41 million in 2020, a slight decline in visitor numbers of 5.2%. in the majority of Polish national parks, tourist traffic is seasonal. An exception to this are mountain parks -the Karkonosze and Góry Stołowe, Tatra, Babiogóra, Pieniny and Bieszczady parks -where winter tourism is also popular. The greatest numbers in 2021 were noted in the Tatra national park, which was visited by 4.6 million tourists, followed by the Karkonosze park -over 2 million tourists, and 1.2 million in the Góry Stołowe park. Together, these three parks account for 50% of all visitors. The attractiveness of the national parks and their popularity are the result of the possibilities they provide for relaxation and specialist activities, as well as their landscapes and their geographical location in relation to the source of tourist traffic (large urban agglomerations).
Despite temporary closure of the parks to tourist traffic during the pandemic, in the four national mountain parks analysed there was an increase in visitor numbers compared to 2019 (the highest in BPN 21.5%, BdPN 17.3%, TPN 11.6% and PPN 10.7%). Limitations on travel abroad caused by the pandemic certainly contributed to an increase in the popularity of destinations within Poland. Among these, national parks were able to provide contact with nature, as well as opportunities for recreation. The 4 national parks analysed broke all records for popularity during the pandemic, with the number of visitors to the Tatra national park reaching 4.6 million, making the park one of the most overburdened parks in Europe (Fig. 3). Z. Kruczek, A.R. Szromek, M. Jodłowski et al. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market,and Complexity 9 (2023) 100062 The remaining parks analysed were popular choices for tourists, seen in the case of the Pieniny and Bieszczady parks in the phenomenon of overtourism, with a considerable worsening of the quality of visits due to congested trails and overloaded infrastructure (car parks, shelters, gastronomy providers).

Results of own research (primary)
Among all respondents taking part in own study, women were in the majority (65.6%), as were residents of large cities (49.3%). On the whole, these were people aged 18-29 (48.4%). Minors were a decidedly small minority (2.9%). More than half of the respondents had a higher education (56.7%). People with the lowest education (primary and vocational) made up only 4.8% of respondents.
On the basis of the questionnaires collected, analysis was conducted of the structure of visits to national parks by respondents participating in the study. Four parks in the Polish Carpathians were chosen for the research. Respondents declared which of these four parks they had visited in recent years. The Tatra national park was the most popular, with over 60% of respondents visiting the park, with almost half visiting the Pieniny and Bieszczady national parks. The Tatra national park also takes first place in terms of the total number of visitors -with more than one in four responses referring to the park (28.9%) ( Table 2).

Identification of reasons for visiting national parks
Respondents were asked the question what their reasons were for visiting national parks. It turned out that over half (54.6%) visited for recreational and relaxation purposes, while 43.4% had reasons related to health (recharge my batteries, achieve psychological and physical balance, to boost my oxygen levels and regenerate my body, improve my fitness). 40.7% of respondents stated that their reasons were to explore the area and discover the local fauna and flora, as well as to admire the local culture, while every third respondent (32%) had reasons relating to sport, improving their physical fitness and physical condition. 6% of respondents also had spiritual reasons, taking part in prayer or meditation. Only 1.7% of respondents had no reasons for visiting national parks (Table 3).
The dominant share of motives related to recreation and health declared by the respondents is related to conducting research during the covid-19 pandemic. Tourist activity in national parks, keeping a distance, in the open air guaranteed medical safety. Similar results were obtained in other national parks, e.g. in the lowland Wielkopolski National Park .

Ways of satisfying the need for contact with nature during the covid-19 pandemic
The pandemic restrictions, especially in 2020, increased people's general awareness of their need for contact with the natural surroundings in their place of residence. Respondents were asked in what way they satisfy their need for contact with nature in their place of residence (Table 4). The frequency of employing each way was also determined, as well as the index of the dominance of responses for individual ways of ensuring this contact (the w F index).
The need to have contact with nature was most often fulfilled by visiting nearby forests, meadows, hills and urban parks. These were indicated by respondents with the highest frequency. Almost one third of respondents (29.3%) made use of such contact several times a week, and almost half (47.2%) several times a month. The lowest number of respondents did not indicate this form of contact with nature -only 3.1% of respondents chose this response.
An almost equally frequent method used for ensuring contact with nature was participating in sport in order to stay fit between tourist trips. One in three respondents declared that they participate in sport several times a week (34.9%), and almost the same number (30.1%) several times a month. Another popular way was maintaining an allotment or garden, which respondents used for relaxation. One in three (33%) used their garden several times a week, and one in five (20.7%) several times a month. A somewhat smaller group of people had the idea of watching nature and travel programmes on TV and the internet. One in three respondents (33.7%) declared that they fulfil their need for contact with nature in this way several times a month, and a similar group of respondents (29.8%) several times a year.
Analysis of respondents' answers also show that the least frequent way of maintaining contact with nature was through work. Only one in four (23.6%) uses this possibility in any way at all. Half of respondents from time to time used salt grottos, saline pools, graduation towers, pam houses etc. (44.6%), or had large collections of house plants or kept animals and insects (53.3%).

Attitudes of tourists towards pandemic restrictions
Respondents were also asked for their opinion on individual situations regarding temporary limitations related to the COVID-19 pandemic (Table 5). 42.6% of respondents stated that using national parks and places for daily relaxation during the COVID-19 pandemic fully compensated for the limited opportunities for travelling abroad. One in five respondents (21%) were of the opposite opinion, while the rest were unable to provide an assessment of the issue. Almost 60% of respondents also stated that due to the dangers related to the pandemic they were able to accept limitations on tourism, e.g. the principle of limits and one-way systems on tourist trails. One in four respondents were of the opposite opinion (25.2%).  Source: Own elaboration.
Z. Kruczek, A.R. Szromek, M. Jodłowski et al. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market,and Complexity 9 (2023) 100062 Altogether, almost 70% of respondents noticed the problem of overcrowding and congestion on trails in the national parks they visited, and 82.3% of respondents noticed the need to create publicly available parks and gardens or places for contact with nature near to where they lived. This opinion is the one which attracted the fewest opponents.
39.1% of respondents were of the opinion that organised forms of contact with nature in the form of paid tourist trails for recreation, health and exploration could be a good way of spending free time on the outskirts of the city. Women more often agreed with such a solution than men (p = 0.044). At the same time, this idea attracted the most opponents, with one in four of the opposite opinion (25.7%).
The results justify the need to create areas for contact with nature in the vicinity of places inhabited by large communities in order to make it easier for people to maintain contact with nature in times of danger.
The results of research on responses to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were modelled. Due to the adopted scale of the variable (0 -no, 1 -yes), it was possible to obtain models of logistic regression and odds ratio. Four statistically significant logistic models were obtained (Table 6).
In the case of the first opinion 'Due to the dangers related to the pandemic I am able to accept limitations on tourism, e.g. the principle of limits and one-way systems on tourist trails', it was noted that while in the case of gender, place of residence and age, the parameters of the models are negative, while in the case of the level of education the opposite is true (1). This model was statistically significant (p = 0.0019). (1) where: Sex -gender trait with variants 0 -male, 1 -female, Loc -location feature, accepting feature variants: 1 -village, 2small town, 3 -large town, Age -age feature in the following categories: 1 -under 18 years old, 2-18-29 years old, 3-30-55 years old, 4 -over 55 years old, Edu -education level feature, with the following variants: 1 -primary, 2 -vocational, 3 -secondary, 4 -higher education.
It is worth noting that if the respondent was a woman, the chance of approval of this opinion decreased by 69%. Similarly, if the respondent was a resident of a large city and in a higher age category. With each subsequent age category, the chance of agreeing with the opinion decreased by 53%, but in the case of the level of education, with each subsequent level of education it increased by 49%.
In the case of the second opinion -'Organised forms of contact with nature in the form of paid tourist trails for recreation. health and exploration could be a good way of spending free time on the outskirts of the city' a significant influence of gender, age and education is noticed. Place of residence has a marginal impact in this case. This model (2) is also statistically significant (p = 0.0048). (2) In this case, a higher agreement with this opinion is observed among women. If the respondent was a woman, the chance of agreeing with such an opinion increased by 46%, but with each age category and level of education, the chance of agreeing decreased by about 40%.
As for the third opinion, i.e. "Using national parks and places for daily relaxation during the COVID-19 pandemic fully compensated for the limited opportunities for traveling abroad", a statistically significant model was also obtained (p = 0.0338) (3). It should be noted, however, that only one variable turned out to be significant in explaining this phenomenon. It was an age category. The regression model shows that the chance of agreeing with the given opinion decreases by 38% with each subsequent age category.
The last model concerns opinions on 'I have noticed the problem of overcrowding and congestion on trails in the national parks I have visited'. Again, as before, this model is a simple model in which the only significant variable was gender (p = 0.0505) (4).
3.18 1.14 3.18 1.14 (4) If the respondent was a woman, the chance of agreeing with the proposed opinion increased by 212% compared to the situation when the respondent was a man.It is worth noting that differences between women and men are also noticeable in terms of the frequency of using specific ways of contact with nature in the place of residence (Table 7). Statistically significant differences can be seen in the case of the frequency of participating in sport (p = 0.004), the use of television and the internet (p = 0.038), as well as nature books (p = 0.004). It can be seen that women more often use sport to maintain their level of fitness between tourist trips, while men more often used television programmes and the internet. Books and articles on the subject of nature were more often used by men.
A statistically significant difference can also be seen between the attitudes of women and men towards the restrictions related to the use of national parks (r = −0.125 p = 0.039). Men more often considered the restrictions to be fully justified, whereas women more often considered that the majority of the restrictions are not justified by the need to protect the environment, and that they should be relaxed.
Significant differences (r = −0.121 p = 0.044) also exist in respondents' attitudes towards organised forms of contact with nature through paid tourist trails for purposes of recreation, health and exploration. Women more often agree (44.75%) that such trails would be a good way of spending free time on the outskirts of the city than men (30.53%). Source: Own elaboration Z. Kruczek, A.R. Szromek, M. Jodłowski et al. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market,and Complexity 9 (2023) 100062 6.6. Substitute means of contact with nature in the opinion of tourists Many other non-parametrical dependencies can also be seen. There is a statistically significant dependency (r = −0.38 p < 0.001) between respondents' place of residence and the owning of a large collection of house plants or animals and insects. Such solutions were more often used by city residents (45.59%) than those living in small towns (25.0%) and in villages (13.16%).
Furthermore, a positive dependency (r = 0.33 p < 0.001) was found between the age of respondents and their use of books and articles on subjects related to nature as a way of satisfying their need to have contact with nature. The older the respondent, the more often they made use of this substitute for remaining in contact with nature. Age was also discerning feature in terms of noticing the problem of overcrowding and congestion on trails in national parks (r = 0.20 p < 0.001). The older the respondent, the more often they noted the problem of overcrowding and congestion on trails. Similar conclusions can be drawn in the case of respondents' level of education (r = 0.21 p < 0.001) -the better a respondent was educated, the more often they noted congestion on tourist trails. The structure of responses for individual issues are presented in Table 8.
Changes in trends in the alternatives chosen are also shown in the chart below (Fig. 4).

Verification of hypotheses and discussion
The study conducted among tourists and the statistical data obtained provided confirmation of the assumed hypotheses. The first hypothesis related to the use of parks by tourists during the pandemic (H1: Restrictions and restrictions introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic did not limit tourist traffic in national parks). This hypothesis was positively verified. Despite temporary closure, particularly in 2020, all national parks in Poland became the most popular place for relaxation, compensating for the limited opportunities for travelling abroad to similar place (Rogowski, 2022;Lebrun et al., 2021). In the 4 mountain parks analysed, there was even a considerable increase in tourist traffic. For example, the Tatra national park saw 700,000 more tourists in 2021 than in 2019, an 11% increase. The highest increase, of around 20%, was noted in the Babiogóra and Bieszczady national parks. The concentration of tourist traffic at weekends and at the height of the tourist season leads to the negative phenomenon known as overtourism (Kruczek, 2019). This not only lowers tourists' level of comfort in their contact with nature due to crowded trails, but also generates logistical problems with accessing the parks, car parking and using accommodation and gastronomy services. Excessive tourist numbers also causes a great deal of damage to the precious natural environment due to the illegal dispersion of tourist traffic and the trampling of trails, soil erosion, scaring off animals, and the anthropomorphization of flora (Witkowski et al., 2010). Combatting the negative phenomena related to excessive tourist traffic is one of the most important challenges for the administrators of national parks. This issue has been the subject of many articles (Kruczek and Kisielewska-Przybyło, 2019).
The motivations for visiting national parks vary greatly. The research succeeded in determining the most important reasons for visiting national parks. It turns out that over half of the respondents (54.6%) pay visits for recreational and relaxation purposes. This result also confirms the truth of the second hypothesis (H2: The main motive for tourists' visits to the surveyed national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic was recreation and relaxation as a way to get away from pandemic threats). This motivation made a strong showing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did the second most popular reason for visiting parks -for health purposes (I recharge my batteries, achieve psychological and physical balance, boost my oxygen levels and regenerate my body, improve my fitness). As many as 43.4% of respondents indicated this Table 5 Structure of respondents' answers expressing opinions.

0.80
Organised forms of contact with nature in the form of paid tourist trails for recreation, health and exploration could be a good way of spending free time on the outskirts of the city.

0.13
Source: Own elaboration. motivation in our research. Exploration followed up in third place, although 40.7% of respondents declared that one of their purposes was exploration, including discovering the local fauna and flora, and admiring aspects of local culture. One in three respondents (32%) came to participate in sport to improve their fitness and physical condition, while 6% also visited for spiritual reasons, participating in prayer or meditation. The results are in line with the conclusions of research conducted in the Tatra national park in 2018 (Taczanowska et al., 2019), in which a considerable proportion of park visitors came to take part in physical activity, as well as to admire the park's views as passengers on the cable car. The most common reason for visiting other mountain national parks -the Karkonosze and the Table Mountains was recreation -similar to the period before COVID-19 (Rogowski, 2022). Similar distribution of motivations for visiting national parks was obtained in Spain (Carrascosa-López et al., 2021), as research showed above all an emphasis on escape, the building of personal relations, the function of eco-protection, nature, rewards, self-development, interpersonal relations and fun. Meanwhile, research conducted in the Tatra national park showed that in 2020, the dominating motivation among the inhabitants of large cities was that of 'escape' to the open, unspoilt environment of the Tatra trails (Borkowski et al., 2021). The results of our research confirm these reports.
In the context of other studies conducted in national parks, it is noted that they are the domain of men, not women (Little and Wilson, 2013). Meanwhile, in the authors' research, the main group of respondents are women (65.6%). An attempt to explain this difference is only a conjecture, but it seems that the main reason for the differences between the conducted studies is the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a credible explanation due to the need to avoid pandemic threats in the current place of residence by both men and women, who are more numerous than men in Poland (women -52%, men -48%) (Ambroch et al., 2021). An additional argument justifying such a change is the fact that in the initial period of the covid-19 pandemic there was a ban on moving outside the place of residence, and then a ban on entering forests, parks and gardens. These conditions may explain the differences in the structure of visitors due to their gender.
Restrictions on access to national parks during the pandemic resulted in the search for alternative forms of contact with the natural surroundings in tourists' place of residence. The most commonly cited substitute was visiting nearby forests, meadows and city parks. An almost equally common means of maintaining contact with nature was participating in sport in order to remain physically fit between tourist trips. Another popular form was maintaining an allotment or garden, in which respondents relaxed. The lowest number of respondents chose watching nature and travel programmes on TV and on the internet as a substitute to visiting national parks. The popularity of various forms of alternative ways of spending isolation time in natural surroundings Table 6 Parameters of logistic regression models explaining tourists' opinions about pandemic restrictions. Y 1 : Due to the dangers related to the pandemic I am able to accept limitations on tourism, e.g. the principle of limits and one-way systems on tourist trails.  Table 7 Differences between women and men in the means of maintaining contact with nature.  . The consistency of the obtained results of the verification of hypotheses is also noticed. Their mutual relationship results from the process of motivating tourists to undertake tourist activity in national parks to achieve the goals of recreation and relaxation, despite the introduction of pandemic restrictions. The implementation of this type of goals of tourist activity may result from the desire to achieve higherorder motivations, which in this case consist in finding a way of rest and recreation in contact with nature. In turn, the consequence of the choice of national parks by tourists as places of recreation affects the maintenance of high attendance in the surveyed parks (Fig. 5).  Z. Kruczek, A.R. Szromek, M. Jodłowski et al. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market,and Complexity 9 (2023) 100062 Referring to the process of creating open social innovations, it is worth referring to the previously quoted overview of definitions. Social innovation is defined as the practical application of knowledge to deliver new or improved processes, methods and products through mechanisms of social participation and inter-organizational cooperation undertaken to solve social problems (cf. Unceta et al., 2017)). It is also succinctly and clearly explained by A. Gupta et al. (2017). To them it is a creative and compassionate solution for an unmet need of a disadvantaged social segment so far excluded from the benefits of development. According to Unceta et al. (2017), the implementation of social innovation at the organizational level is conditioned by three competencies. The first concerns the interpretation of a social problem (formulation of the question). The second is to convert the interpretation into an answer, and the third is to use the results obtained.
The undertaken research fulfills the first two conditions by formulating questions and answering them in the form of verification of hypotheses. The third element, responsible for the implementation of results in the form of direct social actions, requires action by state or local administration units, as well as crisis management centres. Solutions in the field of tourist activity conducted during periods of travel restrictions should include a set of organizational innovations of a social nature, aimed at the use of local recreational opportunities. The dimension of interpretation activities concerns the reasons why tourists, despite the ban on entering the forests, did not change their behavior in terms of physical recreation in national parks during the pandemic. The use of the second competence (integration) gives an answer to the formulated issue in the form of an analysis of the motives for undertaking the observed behaviors and the preferred methods of alternative forms of recreation. The obtained research results should become an indicator of the proposed solutions within the implementation competence. Gupta et al. (2017) note that a social innovation initiative does not have to come directly from institutions or companies. Sometimes it is a bottom-up initiative, as is the case in our research. The activities of tourists in a situation of constraints are an example of social innovation from grassroots. However, in further stages, the process of introducing social innovations requires actions aimed at creating open innovations on the part of the private or public sector. In the discussed case, it will be almost exclusively the public sector, due to the entities administering the national parks. Thus, the purpose of implementing innovative solutions should be the added value of public benefit, serving citizens (especially local), universities and government organizations, and indirectly also the private sector (as suggested by Pavani and Plonski, 2020).

Conclusion
The results of the conducted research show the unique human ability in the form of social adaptation to difficult conditions. Thus, the research confirms the existence of a strong need for the creation of places and innovative ways of recreation and improvement of mental comfort, which could act as substitutes. Innovative solutions of the nature of social innovations should be open due to the nature of global threats. Potential social innovation solutions will also have a preventive dimension, as they will contribute to the application of restrictions, preventing their circumvention, as was the case with tourists visiting closed national parks in Poland.
The research results allow the following conclusions to be formulated: • Despite the growing ecological awareness of the society, rest is still a hedonistic experience for many tourists visiting the National Park, far from responsibility (Canavan, 2017). Tourists mainly visit national parks for recreation and relaxation, as well as health purposes. This motivation for visits to parks was also connected to limitations on holidays trips abroad. The motivation of exploration and admiring nature or local culture came in third place on the list of motivations for visiting national parks.
• National mountain parks in Poland are relatively small in area compared to other European parks and tourist traffic is considerably higher than in the majority of national parks in Europe resulting in overcrowding and congestion on tourist trails. It is not only confirmed by the statistical data but also by survey analysis. The older and more educated respondents are, the more often they notice this problem.
• An alternative solution is to implement soft management tools, including in particular appropriately directed educational and information campaigns, but also actions in the area of demarketing of destinations (Koniorczyk and Wiechoczek, 2014), that is encouraging tourists to visit less popular places within or outside national parks, thus limiting the size of tourist traffic in the most frequently visited places (Kern, 2006, Wearing et al., 2007. An additional solution could be creating publicly available parks and gardens or places for having contact with nature, as well as suitable adaptation of already existing green spaces in the vicinity of tourists' place of residence. This is also confirmed by other studies (Niezgoda and Markiewicz, 2022).
A socially acceptable solution is providing contact with nature through paid tourist trails for recreational, health and exploration purposes, as well as creating attractions in the form of tree-top trails in the tree canopy, viewing towers and nature trails. These can be a good way to spend free time on the outskirts of the city.
It is also worth noting the aspect of social adaptation as a social mechanism that allows for adaptation to the new conditions of the organization of social life (Tosun, 2006). Sustainable development requires the inclusion and involvement of all stakeholders, including above all hosts and guests (Byrd, 2007, Sisto et al., 2022. It is also important to create conditions for the accessibility of natural areas for people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups (Sisto et al., 2022). In this case, restrictions imposed by state authorities and local administration resulted in the directing of tourist activity towards local leisure destinations. At the same time, it is a clear indication for state authorities responsible for reacting in situations of humanitarian threat to implement not only restrictions (in this case, social isolation), but also to seek alternative ways to maintain social activity. Otherwise, society will adopt an attitude of re-adaptation to new conditions, but in an uncontrollable manner. These solutions should certainly be of a social nature, and at the same time open to their availability to anyone who submits to mandatory humanitarian restrictions.

Research limitations and avenues for further studies
The research limitations are mainly methodological and geographical. The questionnaire chosen as the research tool is useful for finding out opinions, but not actual behaviour. The research was also limited to national mountain parks. It would be worthwhile conducting similar research in national parks and other protected areas located in the direct vicinity of large cities, in which the recreational motivation among visitors would certainly be much more strongly emphasised.

Funding
The publication of the article has been supported by statutory research BK-274ROZ12023 (13010BK_230072) at the Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Organization and Management.