Aktywność turystyczna słuchaczy Uniwersytetu Trzeciego Wieku, na przykładzie wybranych placówek w Wielkopolsce

Abstract

The Polish, with an average age of 39, are still one of the youngest societies in Europe. However, the fast aging processes of the population, in 20120 will result in a situation where every fifth citizen of the country will be in the senior age group. The retirement period may last for decades, mostly due to the advancements in living conditions, medical progress as well as societal hygiene awareness. Therefore it has become vital to effective promote healthy and active ageing, since long life in good health means better quality of life, bigger independence and longer retention of mobility. An important role in this process may be played by Universities of the Third Age, which promote every aspect of an active lifestyle – both physical and intellectual (geragogics). The aim of this paper is to asses the tourist activity of the University of the Third Age's students. The research was conducted in five UTA facilities in the voivodeship of Greater Poland (Poznań, Leszno, Kalisz, Konin, Śrem). The authors noted that students of UTA display greater than average tourist activity. This could have been caused by the activistation initiatives of UTA but the reason may also lay with prior (before retirement) highly developed social and active lifestyle. It is by following the example of such persons, that other seniors might join the UTA movement.

Keywords

• seniorzy
• populacja 60+
• aktywność turystyczna
• Uniwersytet Trzeciego Wieku