Cross-border shopping tourism – case study to compare two regions of the north-eastern Slovakia

Anotace: Shopping tourism is a rapidly developing form of tourism. Cross-border shopping tourism has a particular character since it is associated with crossing national borders. The inhabitants living in border regions in particular use this possibility to shop at favourable prices in the nearby foreign country. The aim of this paper is to assess the preferences and shopping behaviour within cross-border shopping tourism in the North-Eastern Slovakia on an example of the comparison of its two regions, more concretely the selected economically under-developed border region of the Prešov Region and the Prešov District that is economically more advanced and is not directly adjacent to the national border. The results contained in the paper are based on an online research (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) in the preferences and perception of the inhabitants of both selected regions. The results highlight cross-border shopping tourism practised mainly in the Polish border regions mostly with family members using a motor vehicle while the increased frequency of shopping is associated with some special calendar events. As for the range of goods, the respondents preferred shopping clothes, food and sweets due to lower prices or their unavailability in their place of residence. It was confirmed as statistically significant that one of the motives for cross-border shopping was a favourable EURO exchange rate. Apart from motivation, we also monitored satisfaction, safety and negative attitudes associated with cross-border shopping tourism.