The role and current position of the Palóc route in the rural tourism of Palócföld

Abstract

In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, based on living tradition, the term Palóc was increasingly applied to the environment of the landscape showing similarities with the dialect and culture of the narrower group considered to be Palócs. The people living in Palócföld were considered as Western, Central and Eastern Palócs. During our research, we were curious to what extent the Palóc route built from Eger to Felvidék was able to integrate the people living in the previously divided area from a tourist point of view. We formulated the following research question: Is there a difference between the tourism needs of demographically different groups? Have some attractions on the thematic route become authentic?

Regarding the popularity of Palóc út and its accommodations, we conducted a survey of 180 local residents in the northern part of Nógrád county.

The idyllic, authentic environment is clearly the most important feature of the rural accommodation used by tourists, nearly half of the respondents choose rural accommodation based on the environment. When choosing the rural accommodation, the price-value ratio, location and accessibility were in the top three places, but the external appearance was also considered important. It is difficult to clearly determine whether the majority of guests prefer the modern guest house or the authentic farmhouse. This is proven by the fact that there are a large number of rented guesthouses of both types of accommodation on the market. Despite the increased value of the safety factor during travel due to the coronavirus epidemic, safety was less important to more than a third of those who completed the questionnaire. In addition, a survey was conducted among those interviewed about the knowledge of Palóc gastronomy and folk customs and the classification of available services.