Soundscapes and tourism - towards sustainable tourism

The paper deals with the relationship between soundscapes and tourism. Its goal is to analyse the impact of tourism on soundscapes and to indicate the opportunities offered by soundscapes for the development of sustainable tourism. A new form of tourism - sound tourism - is based on travelling to places with unique acoustic characteristics or unique soundscapes. The paper demonstrates that sound tourism conforms to the idea of sustainable development. It also highlights the fact that tranquil areas should be protected, given the opportunities they offer for tourism, recreation and sustainable development.