The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Transport Accessibility, and Accommodation Accessibility on the Energy Intensity of Public Tourist Transport

Abstract

The article concerns the recognition of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, transport accessibility, and accommodation availability on the energy intensity of domestic travel by tourists using public transport in spatial and dynamic relations. The article formulated five research questions: (1) Does the improvement of transport accessibility reduce the energy intensity of public tourist transport? (2) Does the improvement of accommodation availability affect the reduction of the energy intensity of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents? (3) Has COVID-19 significantly changed the energy intensity of public tourist transport? (4) Are there any spatial effects of energy intensity of domestic tourist trips of Polish inhabitants resulting from the flow of tourists between regions (voivodeships) of Poland? (5) What would be the path of energy intensity patterns of public tourist transport if fortuitous events did not occur? The study covered 16 Polish voivodeships in 2017–2021. A comprehensive approach was used, combining exploratory analysis of spatial data with regional econometrics, spatial statistics, and spatial econometrics (gravitational model of spatial convergence of energy intensity of public transport of tourists). It has been verified that the energy intensity of domestic tourist travel by public transport is the most sensitive to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the most flexible to changes in transport accessibility. It is less sensitive to changes in accommodation availability. The occurrence of spatial convergence, i.e., the blurring of differences in energy intensity patterns between the analyzed voivodeships, was also identified. An increase in energy intensity in voivodeships defined as neighboring voivodeships by 1% will result in an increase in energy intensity in the i-th voivodeship by 0.2688% on average, which results from the spatial effects of changes in mobility and tourist flows (tourism). Consumption patterns shaped in previous periods also have a significant impact on energy intensity.

1. Introduction

National economies operating in a system of production, consumption, trade, financial, technological, or institutional links, known as the global economy, have committed themselves to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, accepting the challenge of meeting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [1,2,3]. These goals were adopted by the member states of the United Nations (UN) in 2015. Countries of the Old Continent, incl. Poland, have additionally adopted the European Green Deal [4,5], which respects and expresses the basic assumptions of the sustainable development strategy. The adoption of the assumptions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the European Green Deal was to change the development trajectory of modern economies, including Poland. This trajectory was changed due to the new situation at the beginning of 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic [6,7,8]. This pandemic is a symbol of the multiplication of crises and the overlapping of economic and financial shocks, especially in the field of financing the implementation of sustainable development goals [1]. Building sustainable development of modern economies based on the pursuit of SDG goals is not possible without effective financing of these goals [9]. Goal 7: “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all” is one of the most crucial objectives since it impacts the other goals [3,10]. The situation after the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the emergence of the energy crisis and galloping inflation, made this goal a major challenge in the modern world. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed tourist patterns [11,12,13], which was particularly evident in passenger transport in all its modes [13,14]. The objectives of the European Green Deal should not be changed, and passenger transport is the foundation of tourist mobility and is a strategic priority in fighting the crisis by rationalizing the energy consumption of this type of transport [15]. The rationalization of transport energy intensity and the mobility of tourists are conditioned by transport accessibility [16,17]. Apart from mobility, transport accessibility is a basic dimension of sustainable transport [18]. In regions where tourism is a major driver of economic development, transport accessibility is also essential [19,20,21].

The article addresses the issue of the analysis of the impact of transport accessibility and accommodation availability on the energy consumption of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents by public transport from the point of view of spatial dependencies in the gravity model. The analysis of dynamic and spatial dependencies in regional terms is important in light of the challenges of sustainable development and the European Green Deal, the energy crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. A research hypothesis was formulated: patterns of energy intensity of public tourist transport depend on transport accessibility, accommodation accessibility, spatial interactions (e.g., flow of tourists in geographical space: their mobility, spatial distance, and neighborhood), developed patterns from the past, and “Black Swan” events (the so-called noise, e.g., COVID-19). The article aims to identify the relationships between the energy intensity of public tourist transport with spatial interactions and transport accessibility, accommodation accessibility, and accidental (random) events (e.g., COVID-19).

The article uses a spatial exploratory analysis, a spatial model of gravity and energy intensity of public tourist transport, panel techniques for examining the unit root process, and cartodiagram methods.

The authors filled the cognitive gap in identifying the impact of transport accessibility, accommodation accessibility, convergence processes, and unforeseen phenomena (the so-called Black Swans), e.g., COVID-19 and others, including migration crisis, energy crisis, etc. (so-called polycrises) on the energy intensity of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents by public transport in regional terms. The research carried out is innovative, especially in the era of recognizing the relationship between tourist traffic by public road transport and the challenges faced by public transport and modal shifts. On the one hand, it is necessary to meet the challenges of the European Green Deal; on the other hand, the energy crisis, galloping inflation, shortage of drivers, outflow of passengers from public transport, rising costs, and decreasing incomes raise the question of whether it will be possible to switch from mobility-based to accessibility-based. What role do tourist flows by public transport play in these processes?

The conducted research is original and up-to-date in the field of transport economics, transport policy, tourism economics, tourism policy, energy economics, spatial econometrics, and transport management. The results of the research indicate the factors of energy intensity of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents by public transport and the increase in the consumption of energy carriers, which, on the one hand, are the result of spatial convergence and, on the other—unpredictable phenomena (COVID-19 pandemic, energy crisis, etc.). The knowledge derived from research is crucial for formulating directions in the cohesion policy of Polish regions, transport and tourism policy, and the strategy of sustainable development. The presented approach indicates the need to implement the shift paradigm (shifts from individual transport to public transport) and decarbonization of transport (reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint).

The article consists of six parts. It starts with an introduction. In the second section, a brief literature review is carried out, which refers to the links between transport and tourism, transport and accommodation accessibility, choice of means of transport by tourists, and factors of public transport energy intensity. Section 3 is a description of empirical data and presents the author’s research methodology. Section 4 presents the results of the empirical research with their detailed discussion. In the fifth part, an extensive discussion was undertaken, including contemporary problems corresponding to the conducted research. The article ends with conclusions.

2. Brief Literature Review

2.1. Connections between Transport and Tourism

Transport is an integral part of the tourism product basket, in addition to accommodation and other activities: visits to parks and museums, festivals, seminars, and sports events or shopping [11,22]. From the point of view of causality, transport is treated as a supplement to services that shape the tourist experience, because transport satisfies the secondary need to move in connection with tourism. There are three types of transport services for tourists that shape mobility patterns and the tourist experience [22]: (1) transport from the place of origin to the tourist destination (and back); (2) transport within the tourist destination area; (3) transport between several tourist destinations (within the same trip). According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO) definition, tourism is traveling and staying outside the place of permanent residence for business or other purposes for more than 24 h but not longer than one year [22,23]. It is noted that the spatial movement patterns of tourists are fundamentally different from the spatial movement patterns of residents [24,25]. Tourists’ movement patterns are “no turning back” or circular or even nodal [25]. However, from the point of view of tourists, the following aspects play a key role [22]: (1) dissemination of a service that integrates transport and delivery services to transport hubs; (2) managing them to improve communication; (3) promotion of offers and packages for tourists to integrate tariffs within tourist destinations; (4) management of information and communication services.

Tourism is also closely linked to regional transport infrastructure, spatial accessibility, and sustainable mobility [26,27,28]. Demand for tourism is significantly influenced by the expansion of accessibility and connection of regional transport [29].

Spatial accessibility reflects the evaluation of the rationality of facilities’ spatial planning and may also be used to study service efficiency and equitable spatial distribution [30]. The term “accessibility” is difficult to define. Many urban development policies can be significantly influenced by accessibility measurement [31]. Within a given urban spatial configuration (urban fabric structure), accessibility can refer to the ease with which a specific land use activity or important destination can be reached by a specific mode or combination of modes [32].

One of the most important elements of tourism development, an integral part of tourism, is accommodation. Services provided by entities included in the accommodation base are included in the basic tourist services enabling staying outside the place of permanent residence. On the one hand, the number of accommodation facilities is constantly increasing along with the development of international and domestic tourism [33], on the other hand, the structure and condition of the accommodation base are, apart from the diversity of tourist values, an important factor in the development of tourism [34].

The accommodation base consists of facilities and accommodation places located in a specific area, e.g., in a given province. According to the applicable legislation, the accommodation base in Poland consists of eight types of hotel facilities: hotels, motels, boarding houses, campsites, excursion houses, youth hostels, shelters, campsites, campsites, and so-called “other facilities providing accommodation services” [35].

Accessibility to accommodation, in the context of definitions, is very difficult to discuss, as is accessibility itself. This is due to the lack of scientific studies in this area and intuitive interpretation of this issue. For this study, accessibility to the accommodation base will be understood (defined) as the degree of ease with which a potential tourist can find accommodation in facilities belonging to the accommodation base.

2.2. Transport Accessibility

The enhancement of transport accessibility and access equity in many parts of the world is given top priority by planning and transport policies [36,37]. Transport accessibility is also considered a tool for effective transport and urban planning in achieving sustainable development goals, especially in terms of minimizing energy consumption in transport. A correlation was noticed between the improvement of transport accessibility and reduced energy consumption by transport [38]. Accessibility reflects the link between the supply of public transport and the demand for travel while revealing the unmet need for public transport (latent demand) [39].

Accessibility aids in the identification of disadvantaged regions and expresses transport variety. It is regarded as a social measure [36]. Accessibility and mobility are essential components of a sustainable transport system, as are dependability, equality, efficiency, and care of environmental resources [40]. One of the forms of decarbonized mobility is public transport [41,42]. Spatial factors such as location and proximity to public transport stations, workplaces, and other amenities, as well as income, are recognized as determinants of access to decarbonized mobility. Access to decarbonized mobility also affects the processes of economic and social gentrification in various areas (inclusive zoning) [41]. Transit accessibility is a subset of transport accessibility. Gravity metrics of accessibility produced from the multimodal transport network are used to operationalize transit accessibility at the regional level (suburban rail, metro, bus, or tram network). On the other side, the proximity of local metro and commuter train stations affects the accessibility of public transport. Tram and bus stations are not included in the municipal definition of transit accessibility [43].

Accessibility may be described as a feature that makes it easier for individuals to get to a location and carry out a task [40,44,45]. Under the definition, the degree of accessibility is influenced by the location of activities, the caliber and quantity of infrastructures, as well as the requirements of individuals and businesses [40,46]. Because a working transport infrastructure in conjunction with an efficient land-use system is necessary for economic growth, the amount of accessibility affects the economy [40]. Accessibility is a measure of prospective possibilities [47,48] or the ease of getting to locations of interest. The potential opportunities might be jobs or other facilities, such as markets and shopping malls, hospitals and medical centers, educational institutions, recreation centers, and so on [47,49,50]. Accessibility may be measured in four distinct ways [47,51]:

• The distance to the closest place of interest;
• The total opportunities with an access travel distance interval or time threshold;
• The gravity/entropy model denominator;
• The predicted maximum random utility-based measure.

An extension of the above measures is a set of six different approaches to measuring accessibility, indicated, among others, in the research conducted by Raza et al. [37,52]:

• Infrastructure approach that focuses on macro-scale location by such components as speed, travel time, road length, road network density, congestion level, and congestion measured by time lost [53,54,55,56];
• Activity approach: refers to the efficiency of the transport network and land use; this method is used to analyze the distribution of activities in terms of time and space between the starting point and the destination (cost and time function) [55,56];
• Individual’s personal preferences approach: refers to the preferences, behaviors, and characteristics of the individual. The metric takes into account socio-economic characteristics such as gender, marital status, education, age, car ownership, attitudes, and intentions of a given individual. In this approach, it is emphasized that individual accessibility is also influenced by spatial factors, such as the location of activities, the distance between given destinations, duration of travel, and communication speed [57,58,59,60];
• Social exclusion and geographical location approach: refers to the spatial aspect (geographical area); it captures both individualized aspects of accessibility and aggregated properties at the community level [42,55,61];
• Utility-based approach: a metric taking into account the benefits obtained by individuals from spatially dispersed (and not concentrated) activities and challenges, taking into account individual attributes, differentiation of means of transport, space and time barriers, time budgets, or daily activity schedules [56,58];
• Mixed-measures approach: adapts many different target factors of a complex nature, including location, travel costs (in terms of money, time, but also as risk and comfort), and other quantities expressed quantitatively (e.g., number of people, vehicle units, etc.) [54,62,63,64].

As noted, transport accessibility (understood broadly), apart from the availability of accommodations, is an important element of shaping tourism. Transport accessibility also shapes the choice of means of transport by tourists, which is closely related to the determination of energy consumption patterns in tourists’ transport.

2.3. Tourists’ Transport Modal Choice

Cities with efficient and well-developed public transport (PT) networks may be more appealing to tourists [65,66]. The determinants of the accessibility of tourist destinations and the efficiency of transport systems include seasonality and territorial concentration [26,67]. One of the main problems in tourist destinations is the dependence on cars [26,68]. Long distances from major destinations, lower local population density, and seasonality of tourism force the search for efficient and sustainable solutions to meet travel needs [26,69,70]. It is emphasized that tourists prefer to use private cars (or rental cars), which they use to travel to and within the tourist destination [26,71].

As pointed out by Domènech et al. [72], access to public transport boosts the competitiveness of some tourist locations while also improving visitor contentment [72,73,74]. Furthermore, public transport mitigates the externalities (bad consequences) of individual transport (particularly cars). They, with Rhoden and Lumsdon [72,75], underline that public transport is a tourist attraction that promotes sustainable mobility.

Significant results in the field of green mobility in tourist destinations were presented in their study by Zamparini et al. [76]. They pointed out the links between the choice of means of transport in tourist destinations from the point of view of sustainable mobility. They noticed that longer stays in the place where the accommodation is located increase green mobility by giving up means of transport that are more polluting for the environment (e.g., private cars). In other words, as the duration of stay increases, so does the propensity for green mobility options, i.e., public transport and walking.

Bergantino et al. [26] developed a gravitational model of tourist accessibility based on the multimodal transport service, focusing on coastal destinations. They pointed out that integrated transport allows people to move around using different means of transport. They conducted the study based on 67 Italian coastal cities as destinations. They mapped the supply of public transport services and estimated the average time by different means of transport (train, bus, car, and bicycle). Point elements of transport infrastructure, i.e., airports, ports, and railway stations, were taken as the starting point. They assessed the potential development of multimodal accessibility while estimating the CO₂ emissions from these services.

However, recent research shows that there has been a strong shift of users from public to private transport as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift was necessary from the point of view of safety and has shaped new patterns of mobility, also among tourists [13,77]. Because public transport is perceived as more at risk than private vehicles from the point of view of the spread of COVID-19 [78]. Due to the decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) to end the global COVID-19 emergency on 5 May 2023 [79], a change in this direction can be seen. In Poland, this state of affairs came a bit later (1 July 2023) [80]. Along with rising fuel prices (the aftermath of inflation, but also the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine), public transport is an interesting alternative from a cost point of view.

2.4. Energy Intensity of Public Transport

Public transport plays an important role in the global transport system, realizing a convenient and accessible way of getting around for millions of people around the world [81,82]. The need to meet the growing demand for passenger transport is associated with high energy consumption, which has a negative impact on the environment and poses a challenge to sustainability [83,84]. Therefore, in transport policy, the shift paradigm is emphasized, according to which it is recommended to shift from the use of passenger cars to collective transport [85]. The reasons for adopting the shift paradigm in the transport policy of the European Union are as follows [86]:

• The need to stop the dominance of road transport in servicing the transport needs of people due to the high harmfulness of the environment (energy intensity, emissivity, energy intensity, congestion, etc.);
• Occurrence of high substitutability of transport services;
• High complementarity of means of transport and modes of transport.

Energy intensity is an important indicator to assess the transport systems from the point of view of energy inputs and to identify areas where improvements could be made to reduce energy consumption [87,88,89].

The energy intensity of public transport is referred to the energy consumption of public transport per unit of passengers transported by this type of transport or per unit of transport performance of this type of transport (MJ/pkm) [90,91]. It can be used to compare the energy efficiency of different public transport systems or to monitor progress toward sustainable transport [82,92,93,94,95]. As an aside, the primary energy of public transport is the sum of primary energy (e.g., fuel, electricity) consumed by vehicles used in public transport. It can include energy consumption during driving, stopping, starting, and other transport operations [96,97,98]. Apart from them, it is worth taking a broader look at the factors shaping the energy intensity of vehicles used in public transport.

Table 1. Factors in scientific research on energy use in public land transport.

Modes	Factors	Spatial Scope	Source
buses, trams, trolleybuses	• at the general level of data granulation: ○ GDP per capita ○ urban rate • on a detailed level of data granulation: ○ the average energy efficiency of each mode ○ the average annual mileage of each mode ○ the number of rolling stock of each mode ○ the population	16 provinces of Poland	[99]
buses, trolleybuses, rail	distance traveled by a passenger population average FEC (final energy consumption) norms	Lithuania	[100]
buses	the modal split in the city travel activity (behavior) the energy efficiency of modes (by the type of energy carrier)	3 Indian cities (Delphi, Pune, Patna)	[101]
buses	the intensity of the travel demand of each city the energy intensity of travel mode for each fuel the conversion coefficient of energy consumption for fuel the population of the city the population proportion of travel in the city number of daily travel in the city the proportion of people traveling in the city for each mode the average daily travel distance the average carrying factor	284 prefecture-level cities in mainland China	[102]
buses	traffic congestion driving skills road conditions seat-kilometer traveled the energy efficiency of modes	Nigeria	[103]

Source: own elaboration based on the last column of the table.

presents a differentiated approach to the analysis of energy consumption by public land transport, which is a point of reference for estimating the energy intensity of this type of transport.

The review of the literature allowed us to identify and verify the research gap, as well as to identify factors of energy intensity of public tourist transport for the authors’ research.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Materials

The analysis used secondary data obtained from the databases presented in Table 2. The spatial scope of the data applies to 16 Polish voivodeships (NUTS2), i.e., Greater Poland, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Lesser Poland, Lodz, Lower Silesia, Lublin, Lubuskie, Masovian, Opole, Podlaskie, Pomeranian, Silesian, Subcarpathian, Swietokrzyskie, Warmian-Masurian, West Pomeranian and time range: 2017–2021. The administrative division of voivodeships is shown in Figure 1. The data have been organized into panel data.

Table 2. Panel data used in the research for 16 voivodeships of Poland in 2017–2021.

Variable	Unit	Abbreviation	Type	Databases
Length of roads	km	L	The component used to calculate the transport or accommodation accessibility for tourists	[104]
Territory area	km2	S	The component used to calculate the transport or accommodation accessibility for tourists	[104]
Tourist population size	pers.	H	The component used to calculate the transport accessibility for tourists	[105,106,107,108,109]
Number of accommodations	[number]	N	The component used to calculate the accommodation accessibility for tourists	[105,106,107,108,109]
Transport accessibility for tourists	[index]	TA or C(E)	Regressor	Own calculations based on [104,105,106,107,108,109]
Accommodation accessibility for tourists	[index]	AA or C(G)	Regressor	Own calculations based on [104,105,106,107,108,109]
Domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents	thous. pers. (thous. passengers = thous. tourists)	DTV	The component used to calculate the domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents by buses and coaches	[105,106,107,108,109]
Structure of tourist trips of Polish residents by means of transport used	%	ST	The component used to calculate the domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents by buses and coaches	[105,106,107,108,109]
Domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents by buses and coaches	passenger	DTVB	The component used to calculate the energy intensity of public tourist transport	Own calculations based on [105,106,107,108,109]
Indicator of energy carrier consumption by buses and coaches in passenger transport (excluding public transport buses)	MJ/thous. km	EF	The component used to calculate the energy intensity of public tourist transport	[110]
Energy intensity of public tourist transport	MJ/pkm	EI	Dependent variable	Own calculations based on [105,106,107,108,109,110]
COVID-19	- [value: 0 or 1]	COVID	Dichotomous variable [Regressor]	[111]

Note: The abbreviations TA and AA are used throughout the research analysis; they are the same as C(E) and C(G) according to the Engel formula and Goltz formula, respectively (in the subsection relating to the methods). Tourist trips of Polish residents are trips of household members (one trip for a family of 3 is counted as 3 trips). The tourist traffic can be expressed in the number of trips or converted into the equivalent of people (1 trip = 1 person). Source: own elaboration.

Table 2. Panel data used in the research for 16 voivodeships of Poland in 2017–2021.

Variable	Unit	Abbreviation	Type	Databases
Length of roads	km	L	The component used to calculate the transport or accommodation accessibility for tourists	[104]
Territory area	km2	S	The component used to calculate the transport or accommodation accessibility for tourists	[104]
Tourist population size	pers.	H	The component used to calculate the transport accessibility for tourists	[105,106,107,108,109]
Number of accommodations	[number]	N	The component used to calculate the accommodation accessibility for tourists	[105,106,107,108,109]
Transport accessibility for tourists	[index]	TA or C(E)	Regressor	Own calculations based on [104,105,106,107,108,109]
Accommodation accessibility for tourists	[index]	AA or C(G)	Regressor	Own calculations based on [104,105,106,107,108,109]
Domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents	thous. pers. (thous. passengers = thous. tourists)	DTV	The component used to calculate the domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents by buses and coaches	[105,106,107,108,109]
Structure of tourist trips of Polish residents by means of transport used	%	ST	The component used to calculate the domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents by buses and coaches	[105,106,107,108,109]
Domestic tourist traffic volume of Polish residents by buses and coaches	passenger	DTVB	The component used to calculate the energy intensity of public tourist transport	Own calculations based on [105,106,107,108,109]
Indicator of energy carrier consumption by buses and coaches in passenger transport (excluding public transport buses)	MJ/thous. km	EF	The component used to calculate the energy intensity of public tourist transport	[110]
Energy intensity of public tourist transport	MJ/pkm	EI	Dependent variable	Own calculations based on [105,106,107,108,109,110]
COVID-19	- [value: 0 or 1]	COVID	Dichotomous variable [Regressor]	[111]

Note: The abbreviations TA and AA are used throughout the research analysis; they are the same as C(E) and C(G) according to the Engel formula and Goltz formula, respectively (in the subsection relating to the methods). Tourist trips of Polish residents are trips of household members (one trip for a family of 3 is counted as 3 trips). The tourist traffic can be expressed in the number of trips or converted into the equivalent of people (1 trip = 1 person). Source: own elaboration.

Figure 1. Administrative map of Poland—division into voivodeships (NUTS2). Source: own elaboration based on Statistics Poland [112].

Figure 1. Administrative map of Poland—division into voivodeships (NUTS2). Source: own elaboration based on Statistics Poland [112].

Poland is a country that belongs to the European Union. It is located in the central-eastern part of Europe. From the north, it has access to the Baltic Sea. The area of this country was 312,705 km² in 2021 and was divided into 16 voivodeships (Figure 1). The area is covered by a number of road networks—429,815.6 km of public roads. Poland was inhabited by 37,907,704 people in 2021 [104]. The tourist population was 22,198,972 (a decrease of 30.6% compared to 2017). The number of tourist trips by bus and coach (regular and tourist) amounted to 3,575,509 (a decrease of 45.7% compared to 2017), and a total of 46.3 million (in the case of crossing the borders of several voivodeships, a tourist was counted several times during the trip—similarly as is the case with passengers). The number of accommodations in Poland in 2021 amounted to 62,837,520 (a decrease of 25.1% compared to 2017) [105,106,107,108,109].

Analyzing the structure of domestic trips of Polish residents in 2021 (Figure 2), it can be concluded that the main goals were: visiting family or friends (47%) and leisure, recreation, and holiday (45%). The main destinations of Polish tourists during domestic long-term and short-term travel in 2021 were cities. In the case of long-term trips, coastal and rural areas were also very popular, and in the case of short-term trips outside cities, rural areas (Figure 3).

Figure 4 shows the interest in means of transport in domestic tourist trips of Polish residents in 2017 and 2021.

Domestic tourist trips of the inhabitants of Poland were mainly dominated by road transport passenger cars and two-wheelers (private and rented motor vehicles), and also buses and coaches. However, the majority of transport for tourist purposes was carried out using passenger cars. Shifts in tourist transport in the structure of servicing the transport needs of this group of people are noticeable. In 2021, the share of passenger cars increased by 8.3 percentage points compared to 2017, and the share of buses and coaches in tourist traffic (regular and tourist) decreased by 6.2 percentage points. The interest in traveling by air and other transport (railway, water, or bicycle) also decreased, which could have been as a result of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the avoidance of collective means of transport. At the same time, expenditure on transport of this group of people increased by 0.6% in the structure of expenditure on domestic travel (from 25.6% to 26.2%). In nominal terms, from PLN 1999.3 million to PLN 2453.1 million. In dynamic terms (without links to the structure of expenses), there was an increase in transport expenses in 2021 compared to 2017 by PLN 453.8 million, i.e., 22.7% [105,109].

In this analysis, public tourist transport is equated with domestic tourist trips of Polish residents (excluding foreign tourists) by buses and coaches (regular and tourist).

3.2. Methods

Five research questions were used to frame the problem for the study:

• Does the improvement of transport accessibility reduce the energy intensity of public tourist transport?
• Does the improvement of accommodation availability affect the reduction of the energy intensity of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents?
• Has COVID-19 significantly changed the energy intensity of public tourist transport?
• Are there any spatial effects of energy intensity of domestic tourist trips of Polish inhabitants resulting from the flow of tourists between regions (voivodeships) of Poland?
• What would be the path of energy-intensity patterns of public tourist transport if fortuitous events (so-called noise or “Black Swan” by Nasim Taleb [113]) did not occur?

A research hypothesis was put forward: patterns of energy intensity of public tourist transport depend on transport accessibility, accommodation accessibility, spatial interactions (e.g., the flow of tourists in geographical space: their mobility, spatial distance, neighborhood), developed patterns from the past and “Black Swan” events (the so-called noise, e.g., COVID-19).

The article aims to identify the relationships between the energy intensity of public tourist transport with spatial interactions and transport accessibility, accommodation accessibility, and accidental (random) events (e.g., COVID-19).

Transport accessibility in the indicator approach can be expressed (mixed approach) using an adapted Engel formula [62]:

$$C\left(E\right)=\frac{L}{\sqrt{S\times H}}$$

(1)

where:

C(E)	-	Engel coefficient
L	-	length of roads in territory (km)
S	-	territory area (km2)
H	-	population size (thous. people) in original; in our case: tourists population size (thous. people)

On the other hand, hotel (in our case accommodation) accessibility can be represented using the Goltz formula representation [62]:

$$C\left(G\right)=\frac{L}{\sqrt{S\times N}}$$

(2)

where:

C(G)	-	Goltz coefficient
L	-	length of roads in territory (km)
S	-	territory area (km2)
N	-	number of settlements in original; in our case: number of accommodations

Information on the coefficients of energy carrier consumption by certain vehicles separately for passenger and freight transport, in this example, the coefficient for buses and coaches [MJ/thous. km], was required to assess the energy intensity of public tourist transport. Then, an important issue was to determine the number of passengers who are domestic tourists and who travel in this type of vehicle. The structure of travel in terms of means of vehicles and the domestic tourist traffic of Polish residents were used for this purpose. The resultant of these values, together with taking into account geographical directions, made it possible to estimate the energy consumption of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents by buses and coaches (regular and tourist) [MJ/pkm].

The description of the data began with the analysis of selected descriptive statistics for 16 Polish voivodeships. Then, a combination of the cartogram method of energy consumption with the cartodiagram of transport accessibility and accommodation availability was used. The results obtained in the pre-analysis allowed for the selection of an appropriate form of the gravitational model of energy intensity of public tourist transport (Equation (3)):

$$\ln \left({EI}_{it}\right)={\alpha }_0+{\alpha }_1\ln \left({EI}_{i(t-1)}\right)+{\theta }_1\ln \left({TA}_{it}\right)+{\theta }_2\ln \left({AA}_{it}\right)+{\theta }_3{COVID}_{it}+\rho \mathrm{l}\mathrm{n}\left({WE}_{it}\right)+{\epsilon }_{it}$$

(3)

where:

• ${EI}_{it}$—energy intensity of public tourist transport in the voivodeship i in year t
• ${EI}_{i(t-1)}$—lagged energy intensity of public tourist transport in the voivodeship i in year t
• ${TA}_{it}$—transport accessibility in the voivodeship i in year t
• ${AA}_{it}$—accommodation accessibility in the voivodeship i in year t
• ${COVID}_{it}$— occurrence of COVID-19 in the voivodeship i in year t
• ${WE}_{it}$—spatially lagged energy intensity of public tourist transport in the voivodeship i in year t
• ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{i}}$—structural parameters for endogenous variables
• ${\theta }_{\mathrm{i}}$—structural parameters for exogenous variables
• $\rho$—spatial autoregressive parameter
• $\epsilon$—random component

Mahalanobis distance was employed in the development of the spatial weight matrix W to gauge the economic distance between the voivodeships under study [114,115]. Arellano–Bond tests (AR(1), AR(2)) used to determine first- and second-order autocorrelation and Sargan tests used to determine if over-identifying criteria were correctly applied were used to validate the model [116]. Additionally, the normality of the residual distribution was tested, and the Wald test was used to determine the significance of the coefficients [117].

The length of half of the spatial (club) convergence period may be calculated through the use of the formula [99]:

$$T_{\raisebox{1ex}{$1$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$2$}\right.}=\frac{ln2}{\rho }$$

(4)

The stationarity testing technique may be used to analyze convergence as well [99,118,119]. This study will include panel unit root testing, among other methods: Levin, Lin and Chu (LLC, common root) [120], ADF-Fisher Chi-square, and PP-Fisher Chi-square (individual root) [121].

Figure 5 presents the framework of the authors’ research procedure (methodology).

4. Results

Table 3. Selected descriptive statistics for Polish voivodeships in 2017–2021.

Voivodeships	Energy Intensity of Public Tourist Transport		Accommodation Accessibility		Transport Accessibility
	Average (MJ/Capita)	Coefficient of Variation (%)	Average (Index)	Coefficient of Variation (%)	Average (Index)	Coefficient of Variation (%)
Greater Poland	0.0497	42.84	0.1905	72.13	0.1901	18.84
Kuyavian-Pomeranian	0.0419	42.32	0.2075	113.20	0.1986	14.32
Lesser Poland	0.1422	48.16	0.1113	77.30	0.1288	18.89
Lodz	0.0335	41.95	0.1813	64.35	0.1942	20.78
Lower Silesia	0.0773	47.20	0.0946	80.76	0.1021	16.53
Lublin	0.0478	42.65	0.3217	109.51	0.2536	14.92
Lubuskie	0.0198	44.90	0.1610	65.70	0.1778	15.74
Masovian	0.1188	43.34	0.1455	65.79	0.1502	23.16
Opole	0.0125	43.21	0.1893	79.48	0.1896	18.39
Podlaskie	0.0272	42.16	0.2917	90.34	0.2592	14.95
Pomeranian	0.1482	49.69	0.0903	87.20	0.1041	11.33
Silesian	0.0573	42.63	0.1527	84.34	0.1549	18.61
Subcarpathian	0.0597	46.30	0.1754	109.54	0.1593	15.96
Swietokrzyskie	0.0236	41.71	0.2491	111.65	0.2281	14.47
Warmian-Masurian	0.0596	47.75	0.1480	100.13	0.1349	10.48
West Pomeranian	0.1218	48.82	0.0462	56.68	0.0799	9.51

Note: green means the lowest values and red means the highest values. Source: own elaboration-based data from databases listed in Table 2.

presents selected descriptive statistics of the analyzed variables of energy intensity of public tourist transport (buses and coaches—regular and tourist), accommodation availability, and transport accessibility for all 16 Polish voivodeships.

The highest average energy intensity of public tourist transport in 2017–2021 was in the Pomeranian, Lesser Poland, West Pomeranian, and Masovian voivodeships. It is worth mentioning that the West Pomeranian and Pomeranian voivodeships are located near the Baltic Sea basin, so tourists could choose these voivodeships for seaside destinations (leisure tourism) or desire to visit cities such as Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia or Szczecin (sightseeing tourism). On the other hand, the Lesser Poland voivodeship is most associated with Krakow, but also with the vicinity of other beautiful tourist cities and the proximity of mountainous areas (mountain trails for family one-day hikes, e.g., to Babica, the blue trail to Mogielica, the yellow trail to Kamionna, etc.). The Masovian voivodeship, on the other hand, is the region where the capital is located, which results in tourist traffic related to business travel (business tourism). The coefficient of variation, indicating a large differentiation of this variable in the analyzed years, was also the highest in the same voivodeships compared to the others. It can be seen that in the case of this variable, the coefficient of variation was at a similar level (which may indicate convergence). The lowest energy intensity values of this type of transport were recorded in the Opole and Lubuskie voivodeships. When analyzing the average accommodation availability in the years 2017–2021, it is noted that it was the highest in Lublin and Podlaskie voivodeships and the lowest in West Pomeranian. However, the coefficient of variation, informing about the fluctuation of accommodation availability, indicates that the Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Swietokrzyskie, Subcarpathian, Lublin, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships had significant problems with this availability by more than 100% in the analyzed period (the standard deviation was more than 100% of the average value in the analyzed period). The lowest coefficient of variation for accommodation availability (although relatively high) was found in the West Pomeranian voivodeship. For transport accessibility, the coefficient of variation was much lower than for the other two variables. It fluctuated between 9.51 (for the West Pomeranian and 23.16 for the Masovian). This variability results from the increase in road infrastructure. On the other hand, fluctuations related to accommodation were the result of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the migration crisis at the Belarusian border, and the financial capacity of enterprises providing accommodation. The average transport accessibility for tourists in 2017–2021 indicates that it was the highest in the Podlaskie and Lubelskie voivodeships and the lowest in the West Pomeranian voivodeship, which means that the size of the road infrastructure in this voivodeship to serve tourists is much lower than in other voivodeships. In the analyzed period, there was also no increase in road infrastructure at a pace similar to the increase in tourist traffic.

Figure 6 and Figure 7 are a combination of the cartogram of public tourist transport energy intensity with the map of transport and accommodation accessibility (equal intervals).

In the diagram method (Figure 6 and Figure 7), two extreme years of the time range of the analysis, 2017 and 2021 (starting and ending years), were selected. Over time, the Pomeranian, Lesser Poland, West Pomeranian, and Masovian voivodeships invariably had the highest energy intensity of public tourist transport compared to other voivodeships. The voivodeships with the lowest energy intensity of this transport could be assessed similarly, with the Silesian voivodeship having a decrease in energy intensity in 2021 compared to 2017. It should be emphasized, however, that the energy intensity (without decomposition into a trend and a random component) of this transport increased. Over the period under review, it can also be seen that the availability of transport and accommodation in all surveyed voivodeships has also increased. This proves the improvement of accommodation and transport accessibility for tourists. However, these indicators are not too high, so there is an area for improvement in the provision of the road network. Equipping the region with a network of road transport and accommodation has the potential to develop domestic tourism.

The model presented in

Table 4. Convergence gravitational model of energy intensity of public tourist transport.

Items	Coefficient	Standard Error	z	p-Value
α0	−8.6694	0.9121	−9.504	<0.0001	***
$\ln \left({EI}_{i(t-1)}\right)$	−0.4053	0.1623	−2.498	0.0125	**
$\ln \left({TA}_{it}\right)$	−1.7522	0.2345	−7.473	<0.0001	***
$\ln \left({AA}_{it}\right)$	−0.2429	0.0487	−4.989	<0.0001	***
${COVID}_{it}$	1.3951	0.1421	9.816	<0.0001	***
$\mathrm{l}\mathrm{n}\left({WE}_{it}\right)$	0.2688	0.0769	3.495	0.0005	***

Note: *** means statistical significance at the level of p-value < 1%, and ** means statistical significance at the level of p-value < 5%. Technique: 2-step dynamic panel, including 16 cross-sectional units; H-matrix as per Ox/DPD; asymptotic standard errors. Wald (joint) test: Chi-square(5) = 5520.44 [0.0000] means that variables are significant in all modeled systems. Test for normality of residual—null hypothesis: error is normally distributed; test statistic: Chi-square(2) = 5.5738 with p-value = 0.0616 means that the null hypothesis of a normal distribution cannot be rejected. Test for AR(1) errors: z = −3.1948 [0.0014]; test for AR(2) errors: z = 0.4213 [0.6735]; Sargan over-identification test: Chi-square(44) = 13.3294 [0.1010]. Source: own calculations.

shows that the variables were statistically significant (p-value for coefficients) in the individual system and the whole system (Wald’s test). The Arellano–Bond test allows us to conclude that there is no second-order autocorrelation, while there may be first-order autocorrelation. For unequivocal confirmation, the result of the Sargan test was used, which confirms the correctness of the super-indicated conditions. At the same time, it can be indicated that the model has the appropriate properties.

The analysis of coefficients results in the following relationships:

• An increase in transport accessibility by 1% will result in a decrease in the energy intensity of public transport for domestic tourists by 1.7522% ceteris paribus. The energy intensity of this type of transport is flexible to changes in transport accessibility (the percentage change in energy intensity of this type of transport is greater than the percentage change in transport accessibility). Improving transport accessibility may mean improving infrastructural conditions, better occupancy of buses and coaches, and reducing congestion on infrastructure and means of transport, which ultimately translates into improved energy intensity of buses and coaches.
• An increase in accommodation availability by 1% will result in a decrease in the energy intensity of domestic travel by Polish residents by buses and coaches (regular and tourist) by 0.2429% ceteris paribus. The elasticity of energy intensity of public tourist transport is 0.2429. In other words, the energy intensity of this transport is inflexible under the influence of changes in accommodation availability. The improvement of accommodation availability has a low impact on the change in the energy intensity of transport of domestic tourists. Better accommodation availability may affect the directions of domestic travel, greater interest of tourists in general in specific destinations, and orientation to the use of collective transport (buses and coaches) in specific directions at the expense of individual transport. Higher occupancy of public transport means improved energy consumption of buses and coaches.
• The COVID-19 pandemic increases energy intensity by 1.3951% ceteris paribus. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed tourist travel patterns. There has been a shift from collective transport (places of potential virus infection) to individual transport. Occupancy of public transport (including buses and coaches) has decreased, which translates into increased energy intensity of public tourist transport.
• The 1% increase in energy consumption of domestic residents of Poland using public transport in voivodeships defined as neighboring voivodeships results in an increase in energy consumption in the i-th voivodeship by 0.2688% on average. Tourists cross the borders of several provinces before reaching a specific tourist destination and thus contribute to the increase in the energy intensity of public transport in other voivodeships. Tourist traffic has primarily a spatial dimension and causes spatial effects in the neighboring voivodeships, which are naturally located on the route of domestic travel. Tourist movements take place in different directions, but tourists travel in the direction of visiting cities, the seaside, rural areas, and the mountains (Figure 3), moving through several voivodeships. There is a statistically significant club convergence of energy intensity of public tourist transport. The club (spatial) convergence informs that transport accessibility, accommodation availability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increases in energy consumption in geographically neighboring locations similarly shape the dynamics of energy intensity of domestic tourist trips by Polish residents by buses and coaches. The occurrence of spatial effects, the flow of tourists, diversification of transport, and accommodation accessibility are sources of the diversification of long-term equilibrium points. The convergence rate is 0.2688. The period after which this convergence is halfway between the initial state and the long-term equilibrium point is approximately 2 years and 7 months (half-life).
• The 1% increase in the energy intensity of domestic travel by Polish residents by buses and coaches in the year results in a decrease in energy intensity in the current year by 0.4053% ceteris paribus. However, reference should be made here to the first-order autoregressive (AR) process, in which the value of energy intensity in a given time depends on the value in the previous year and noise. It can be seen that there is a random walk in this process, but the values in subsequent years may differ due to the presence of a stochastic element—the so-called noise. The trajectory of the random walk process was significantly disturbed by the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a strong impact on tourist travel, choice of means of transport (change in consumption behavior in passenger transport for tourists), and availability of accommodation. This allows for quite an interesting observation in terms of energy intensity patterns in a given period compared to the previous period—the desire to reduce its level. At the same time, thanks to the asymptotic representation of the noise, it is possible to decompose this variable and understand the impact of random accompanying phenomena (and their consequences) on the energy intensity of tourist transport.

To confirm the occurrence of spatial (club) convergence, a robustness test was carried out using stationarity analysis with two types of tests: common unit root process and individual unit root process (

Table 5. Convergence study conducted using panel stationarity analysis.

Method	Statistic	p-Value
Common unit root process
Levin, Lin & Chu	−7.8717	<0.0001	***
Individual unit root process
ADF-Fisher Chi-square	87.8174	<0.0001	***
PP-Fisher Chi-square	87.8174	<0.0001	***

Note: *** means statistical significance at the level of p-value < 1%. Source: own calculations.

).

Based on the Levin, Lin and Chu tests (for the occurrence of a common unit root process) and ADF-Fisher Chi-square and PP-Fischer Chi-square (for the occurrence of an individual unit root process), in the analyzed panel, there is a (club) convergence of energy intensity of domestic travel by Polish residents by buses and coaches (public tourist transport) in the 16 analyzed voivodeships of Poland. This means the blurring of differences in the levels of energy intensity of this transport between voivodeships. Paying attention to the granularity of the data, this convergence can also be considered within-country convergence. This may have its source in cohesion policy. The cohesion policy aimed to increase transport accessibility and transport efficiency for all participants (including domestic tourists) by creating a coherent and sustainable transport system in the regional, national, European, and global dimensions. The transport network in Poland is extremely important for the pan-European transport corridor of the European Union TEN-T. Therefore, activities in the field of improving transport accessibility were at the center of interest. In many regions, there was an infrastructural backwardness, on the one hand, in terms of transport infrastructure, and on the other hand, accommodation facilities. Nevertheless, the actions resulting from the adopted cohesion policy (in the national and EU dimensions) were to create a pro-development basis in this area. This also had an impact on spatial effects and energy intensity patterns in the studied destinations in Poland.

5. Discussion

In the discussion of research results, it should be emphasized that diverse transport needs reflect socio-economic development and result from several fundamental issues [122]:

• Development of globalization processes;
• Market integration;
• Knowledge development;
• Increase in spatial mobility;
• Growing needs for spending free time.

The growing importance of the regions is the result of the weakening role of the state—an entity too large to manage problems on a regional scale [123]. One of the objectives of the European Economic Community was sustainable development and equalizing disproportions between its various regions [123,124]. This was also the basis for the introduction of a common structural policy. Reducing economic and social disparities between regions has become the goal of the European Union’s socio-economic cohesion. One of the conditions for leveling disproportions in regional development was the transport accessibility of regions as the basic factor of regional development [123]. Transport accessibility depends on many factors, e.g., transport infrastructure, transport costs, frequency of connections, complementarity and modes substitution, user preferences or the quality of transport services itself, or the adjustment of the supply of services to the needs of society [123,125]. Transport accessibility ensures timely and effective transport of passengers, which determines the attractiveness of a given location and its competitiveness. In the case of attractiveness, the improvement of transport accessibility affects [123]:

• Reduction of transport costs;
• Improving the reliability of the transport process;
• Improving the quality of transport services;
• Quality of life of residents;
• Mobility of people;
• Access to education, work, culture, health centers;
• Trends in tourism (tourism attractiveness depends on transport accessibility);
• Reduction of energy intensity and emissivity of transport.

As a side note, it is worth mentioning that passenger road transport represents the supply side of the transport services market in such segments as [126]:

• Urban, suburban, regional, and intercity transport as part of regular transport;
• International, interregional, and intercity transport—irregular or low-frequency transport with a tendency to regularize;
• Tourist and recreational transport—domination of incidental transport, mainly tourist offices have their own coach or bus fleet of other companies.

These three segments of passenger road transport are extremely important from the point of view of implementing the shift paradigm in passenger transport. This paradigm expresses shifts from the use of passenger cars to collective (public) transport (apart from means of road transport, rail transport plays an important role). At the same time, the shift paradigm indicates a change in the approach to transport policy directions: from mobility-based to accessibility-based [86].

The European Commission treats public transport as the basis for the mobility of the population (this group also includes domestic tourists), which additionally significantly contributes to energy savings in the entire transport sector. However, fulfilling the role of public transport in stimulating mobility and reducing the energy intensity of the entire sector requires meeting the conditions of accessibility and affordability for each participant of socio-economic life [15].

The current energy crisis, together with galloping inflation, is having a catastrophic impact on the regional public transport segment, changing the patterns of mobility and energy intensity of transport, which are essential in the fight against climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused multiplying problems in the form of falling passengers, rising costs, lower revenues, staff shortages, and maintaining the offer at the current level and quality. In Europe, the effects of the pandemic have sparked a discussion on tariff systems as rising energy prices affect sector-wide capacity and modal shifts. At the same time, Europe faces challenges contained in the European Green Deal goals [4], which must be achieved despite the energy crisis. Investments in public transport infrastructure are needed [15].

On the one hand, the variability in transport accessibility in our study can be attributed to the development of road infrastructure, which does not keep up with the increase in tourist traffic. This is due to the financial feature of the infrastructure, which is the long period of investment implementation [127]. It should also be noted that there is also great potential in point regional transport infrastructure facilities, such as local transfer centers. They are key elements of transport systems that have a significant impact on the transport accessibility of a given area. Their impact on transport accessibility will be expressed by enabling:

• Integration of different modes of transport: These can be places where buses, trains, trams, subways, or other public transport connect. Passenger transport needs can easily shift from one mode of transport to another without having to make long and inefficient transfers, which makes traveling faster and easier.
• Improve mobility: Increase access to different places without the need for private cars. Thanks to this, even people who do not have their means of transport can travel freely, which increases their mobility and access not only to work, school, and healthcare but also to tourist attractions and accommodation.
• Reducing congestion: By concentrating on different modes of transport in one place, local hubs help to reduce congestion in other parts of the city. This, in turn, can reduce road congestion and shorten travel time, which has a positive impact on the quality of life of residents as well as tourist attractiveness and travel comfort.
• Improvement of time efficiency: Passengers can choose the most optimal connections and means of public transport for their journey. It is common to use a transfer in the center to save time compared to direct travel, especially if a direct connection is not available.
• Supporting urban development: Local interchange centers can act as catalyzers for urban development. Around these centers, new jobs, trade, recreation, and other services often develop, attracting investments and residents, creating functional and attractive places to live and tourist destinations.
• Environmental protection: The promotion of local transport hubs contributes to reducing exhaust emissions and pollutants into the atmosphere, which positively affects the quality of air in cities, and also contributes to reducing the negative impact of transport on the environment, which contributes to the implementation of sustainable transport goals.

The introduction of local transfer centers is therefore crucial for improving transport accessibility in a given area, as well as for better functioning of cities and the quality of life of residents, as well as increasing tourist attractiveness. Integrating different modes of transport and ensuring convenient transfers are important steps toward more sustainable and efficient transport systems. Sustainable transport is also sometimes referred to as the idea of efficient communication, economically beneficial, and minimizing the harmful impact of vehicles on the environment. It focuses on both the control of harmful exhaust emissions and the promotion of means of transport using renewable energy. Sustainable transport also assumes limiting the destruction of urban space due to the dominance of individual car transport—large parking lots or cars occupying sidewalks and other pedestrian spaces [128].

On the other hand, the availability of accommodation in a given voivodeship, defined as the degree of ease in which a potential tourist can find accommodation in facilities belonging to the accommodation base, the factors that affect this degree should be emphasized very strongly. The first is the number of available accommodation facilities (including bed places), and the second is the level of demand for services provided by accommodation facilities. Thus, it means that cities and towns considered attractive for tourists, despite having a large number of accommodation places, may be characterized by low availability of accommodation due to the high demand for these accommodation places.

Voivodeships characterized by the highest energy intensity are regions that Polish tourists associate with tourism, but the purpose of this tourism is different. While the Pomeranian and West Pomeranian voivodeships are chosen by tourists mainly for leisure tourism, in the case of the Masovian voivodeship, it is business tourism, and the Lesser Poland voivodeship—is leisure and cognitive tourism.

Noteworthy is the low energy intensity of regions located in eastern Poland—both in 2017 and 2021. The result obtained in 2021 may be related to the migration crisis on the border with Belarus. Given the deteriorating security situation on the Polish and EU border with Belarus, characterized by an increasing number of forceful attempts to cross it, the gathering of a group of thousands of citizens from Iraq in Minsk, the deployment of additional Russian army units near the border with Belarus, and the upcoming military maneuvers of Russia and Belarus, on 2 September 2021, the President of the Republic of Poland issued an ordinance on the introduction of a state of emergency [129].

The state of emergency covered 183 towns and cities in the Podlaskie and Lubelskie voivodeships [130], among which some cities were very popular with tourists regardless of the season. As part of the regulation, it was forbidden to organize various types of events (mass, artistic, and entertainment), which are very often tourist destinations. The introduction of a state of emergency in this part of Poland meant that the functioning of accommodation facilities, or most attractions, was also suspended for this time [131]. In practice, tourists could not enter the towns that were covered by the state of emergency, and thus, the availability of accommodation in these areas increased and energy intensity decreased. The state of emergency in these regions was in force until 30 June 2022.

Certainly, the availability of accommodation in Poland in 2020–2022 was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and precisely by the regulations introduced. As of 5 September 2022, nearly 100 regulations of the Council of Ministers were passed, which concerned “restrictions, orders and bans” and 6 regulations of the Minister of Health—starting from the introduction of a state of pandemic in the territory of the Republic of Poland on 20 March 2022, and ending with its cancellation on 16 May 2022 [132]. Some of the regulations introduced directly concerned the hotel industry and translated into the situation of individual accommodation entities. Restrictions in particular periods of the pandemic in Poland mainly concerned such areas relating to the of operation of hotel facilities due to the possibility of receiving guests, the possibility of accepting a specific group of guests, or the possibility of providing catering and additional services (e.g., the possibility for guests to use swimming pools and gyms located on the premises of accommodation facilities) [12].

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the preferences of tourists in terms of demand for accommodation, and thus also the analyzed accommodation availability. Accommodation facilities with a large number of beds (e.g., hotels), which were willingly chosen until the start of the pandemic, lost their importance, and small and intimate facilities that guaranteed social distance (e.g., private flats and apartments) gained importance. About the research carried out and the results regarding the availability of accommodation, this may be important, because the data analyzed in the article did not contain information on the so-called accommodation offered by Airbnb, an online platform for short-term rental of accommodation from private individuals. It is an alternative to professional accommodation facilities, including those with a large number of beds.

6. Conclusions

The research carried out allowed for the identification, assessment, and verification of the link between the energy intensity of public tourist transport and transport accessibility, accommodation availability, COVID-19, spatial interactions related to the flow of domestic tourists, and the patterns formed in the past. The presence of a lagged club convergence process in the spatial gravitational model was verified. Differences in the level of energy intensity between Polish voivodeships and domestic tourist trips of Polish residents are disappearing. Improvement of transport accessibility allows for a reduction in the energy intensity of public tourist transport, as well as the availability of accommodation to reduce this energy intensity in the case of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents. There was also a significant and strong sensitivity of the energy intensity of domestic bus and coach travel to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of noise (other unpredictable phenomena, i.e., lockdown, migration crisis—air pollution zones, energy crisis, etc.) on changing trends in shaping energy consumption patterns by public transport. These conclusions are important from the point of view of creating the cohesion policy of Polish regions and regions of the European Union and shaping the transport offer and pricing (tariff modeling). On the one hand, galloping inflation and rising costs with a shortage of drivers, and on the other hand, the need to meet the requirements of the European Green Deal [4], confront and change the model of public transport in the transport of domestic tourists. Despite these difficulties, the citizens of the European Union are in favor of the development of green solutions and the construction and modernization of infrastructure for public transport [15]. It can be concluded from the research that the introduction of innovation along with the improvement of transport and accommodation accessibility helps in achieving greater reductions in the energy intensity of public transport, which also results from the European Transport Policy (European Green Deal). The European Union proposes a new 3 x I paradigm based on three development pillars [86]:

• Infrastructure. Use and development of resources.
• Innovation. Energy-saving mobility.
• Integration is a form of improving transport processes and a tool for achieving sustainable transport development.

The first pillar is synonymous with [86]:

• Reliable infrastructure;
• Green infrastructure (reducing adverse environmental consequences and reducing the consumption of natural resources);
• Safe and intelligent infrastructure (minimizing congestion by optimizing the traffic flow);
• Human infrastructure (expresses multidimensional functions for the development of civilization).

The second pillar means innovations such as [86]:

• Energy-saving means of transport;
• Alternative fuels (hydrogen fuels, cells, biofuels, etc.);
• Intelligent transport systems implemented in infrastructure and rolling stock;
• New services (Mobility as a Service—MaaS; mobility plans, etc.).

The third pillar means, among others, the implementation of the integration of transport services by MaaS [133,134,135], but also hubs play an important role in it.

In the course of the study, the hypothesis was positively verified, and the goal was achieved. Conclusions from the empirical research allowed us to obtain full answers to the research studies. The results of the research can be deepened by an analysis of the structure of tourist traffic, taking into account also point elements of infrastructure and extending it to other types of transport, e.g., individual transport, rail transport, etc. The limitations of this study are mainly due to the assumptions made and the use of data. The transport decisions of tourists were undoubtedly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced the intensity and flows of tourists; the occupancy of vehicles and the choice of tourist destinations also changed. The study of energy intensity could also be influenced by other factors that were not included in the model, e.g., prices (including inflation), tourist attractiveness, behavioral factors, available alternatives, and factors related to tourist vouchers (financial support for families due to a difficult as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) [136]. They were not included in the study due to the need to meet the assumptions of the methods used and the properties of the variables.

In future research, however, it is worth expanding the research perspective with a comparative analysis of different types and means of transport (including integrated transport). A valuable contribution would be the development of a model taking into account multidimensional factors supplemented with an in-depth interview for a representative group of tourists.

The conducted research is innovative and fills the research gap. There were no studies on the energy consumption of domestic tourist trips of Polish residents using public transport at a similar level, taking into account the multiplication of shocks. The research is interdisciplinary and fits into the issues of such research areas as transport economics, transport policy, tourism economics, tourism policy, energy economics, spatial econometrics, and transport management. Research results can be useful at many levels of management, including economic management, regional management, transport management, and tourist attractiveness management. The results are also interesting in terms of the programming of cohesion policy and transport policy.