Joint Report - Providing safety of tourism and recreation in the mountains

Report ID: 299

In 2013 the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland (NIK) and the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic (NKU SR) conducted audits concerning the execution of duties by the entities responsible for the provision of safety conditions in the mountains. The audits were carried out due to an increased probability of accidents on mountain areas and ski slopes, resulting from a growing interest in mountain tourism and skiing on the Polish, as well as on the Slovak side. Therefore, securing safety of persons present in the mountains, including a proper marking of tourist routes, system of information about weather conditions, infrastructure and organising help or rescue of accident victims or persons who are prone to the danger of life or health loss, became of significant importance. Additionally, both SAIs published openly available surveys concerning the subject of safety of tourism and recreation in the mountains on their websites, which enabled to gather the opinions of tourists on the condition of mountain routes. NIK’s audit assessed the way in which safety is provided to persons present in the mountains in touristic and recreational purposes, including the functioning of mountain rescue system and its financing, whereas NKU conducted the audit in order to verify the compliance of the activities of audited entities with the generally applied legal regulations and internal norms, with particular focus on the international cooperation. Both audits resulted in the preparation of two separate reports published by the two SAIs, which were basis for this joint report that contains a comparison of the adopted solutions and joint conclusions and recommendations. Source: