Leisure time management in the contex of silver hair tourist development

English. In all European Union, it is easy to observe the continuous aging of the population caused mainly by large demographic problems. This leads to serious economic and social problems. the increasing number of people of retirement age, in all European countries belonging to the EU, poses silver economy challenges for them. An important issue for the economies of EU countries is its care for the health of its oldest citizens which can be ensured by spending free time in a proper way. Older people often have quite a large surplus of free time. That`s why it is good to offer them the proper, most active spending of their free time. The growing requirements of such people force the attractiveness and diversity of such offers, as well as a certain degree of professionalism of offers for seniors. One of the best options for spending free time by seniors is tourism, lasting even weekend for several days. An example of such tourism in the EU is the tourist concept “silver hair”. It assumes the orientation of profiled services for tourism over 50 years of age. Silver tourism is an example of a tourist with a clear differentiation of his needs, which is understandable also because 50+ people require different products and services. According to Zlesarnoczky (2016, p/ 556) “As a result of the growing demand, senior tourists are foreseen to become a powerful consumer group in the near future”. This is particularly true of Europe because older people`s tourism is developing very dynamically. The purpose of this article is to show that silver tourism concepts are currently very important from the point of view of the aging of the Polish population. To realize it, the needs of people from the oldest age groups connected with the ways of spending their leisure time were diagnosed. It should also be emphasized that the correct recognition and understanding of the needs of older people is extremely important for men involved in shaping relevant tourism offers. In addition, the ability to manage the leisure time of older people is very important. Unfortunately many older people in Poland don`t travel at all for various reasons. It is also crucial for the elderly that their requirements help to yco-create the tourist offer.

English. leisure time, silver economy, silver hair tourist, the aging process

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