The Connection Between Free Time And Near-The-City Tourism (E.G. Plovdiv)

In the present paper the economic and social significance of tourism are described in brief. It is also dealt with the social needs of the people regarding tourism– what causes them and how tourism assists in their satisfying. For the purposes of this presentation (and my future work, too) a pilot research has been conducted, representing an inquiry of arbitrary interlocutors and collecting oral information through informal conversations (without preliminary set questions). The main purpose of the research has been to find out which the most preferred places for recreation are, what the recreation in itself is, what type of tourism is most often practiced; what the expenses are; and whether people are ready to visit, being provided with the appropriate conditions, the pointed region in the Rodopi municipality, the village of Parvenets, the village of Hrabrino, the village of Boykovo, the village of Sitovo and the village of Lilkovo. The inquiry contents has been directed to those particular villages, and it has been conducted in those places, as well as in Plovdiv. Besides, there has been inquiries and observations on the Bulgarian seaside (mainly in Nesebar, Ravda, Aytos). Such conversations have been also lead in the Rodopi municipality. There follows a brief presentation of the obtained information and its short analysis. Here are the results in general: 1. Most of the inquired know the region, and part of them have visited it. The majority of the visitors own there villas or country houses. 2. The different age groups spend their leisure time engaged in different activities, and the greater variety of activities is observed within the group between the 36 and 50 years of age. 3. The weekend tourism is getting more and more preferred because of shortage of time and funds. 4. In a large part of the trips own transport is used. Depending on the place and conditions of recreation, the preferences regarding accommodation and meal differ. In the pointed region the private property sites (home – like) are preferred, and on the seaside – the hotels and restaurants, but to some extent here also it observed a certain withdrawal from hotel because of the too high prices. 5. The main obstacle for the growth of the rural and near-the-city tourism in the region is the infrastructure, and its improvement now is in process.