Tourism And Recreation Of Children And Youth As The Opportunity To Increase Tourism Activity In Regions

The objective of the present article was an attempt to individuate factors which determine the extent of children and adolescents participation in various forms of tourism organized by PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) and departments and clubs, which seems to have a vital meaning from the perspective of increasing tourism activity in the regions. A significant objective was to examine whether the functioning of Sightseeing and Tourist School Clubs PTTK (Szkolne Koła Krajoznawczo-Turystyczne PTTK) in home regions influences the growth of tourism activity. In order to obtain information on the part that tourism plays in increasing tourism activity of a region, the surveys were carried out among the group of students engaged in SKKT PTTK tourism. The objective of the study was to evaluate the tourism activity condition among children and adolescents - SKKT PTTK members. The motives that encouraged children and adolescents to engage in tourism and sightseeing activity were: willingness to play, opportunity to relax after studying and the possibility to acquire new skills and knowledge, and tourism techniques as well. The study revealed that children and school children most frequently devote between 2 and 10 hours weekly on tourism activity, especially at the weekends. The participation of children and adolescents in tourism is influenced by the fact that the activities are interesting. Taking part in tours is dominant among the forms of tourism organized by the Sightseeing and Tourism School Clubs PTTK. Most common among the forms of tourism offered by the SKKT PTTK clubs is: hiking tourism: lowland and mountain. Orientation events were also very popular.