The profile of the two main social tourism segments in Poland.

Introduction. In Poland, there do occur numerous groups of citizens experiencing tourism exclusion. Among the reasons responsible for such exclusion the following, among others, are listed: age, health condition, family and personal matters, professional issues, but most of all the reasons of economic background. In introduction the article Author tries to explain the notion of social tourism and to identity of its beneficiaries. The objective of the hereby paper is to identify preferences, in the area of tourist activities, expressed by two segments of social tourism, i.e. senior citizens (55+) and the disabled individuals. Material and methods. The main method of collecting data was survey conducted in two social tourism segments, i.e. among senior citizens (55+) and the disabled. The research was conducting in the first half of 2012. The research sample was relatively large (398 people). It has been formed spontaneously since it depended on the respondents' willingness to take part in the study. The research can be referred to as just a pilot study. The main method of analysis was the analysis of frequency distribution of the respondents answers. Result. Among the research sample most of the respondents represented senior citizens (64,8% ), and 35,2% the disabled. The both responding groups feature high tourist activity, in case of senior citizens reaching the level of 79,9% and in case of the disabled - 75%. Research shows that profiles (characteristics) of senior tourists and the disabled tourists are relatively similar. Differences concern only: the purpose of tourist trips (seniors are traveling mainly for cognitive purpose, and people with disabilities for resting), the mean of transport (senior citizens more often use the touring coach, and the disabled - private car), the annual average expenditure on tourism per person (senior tourists spend more money for tourist trips than the disabled people), and also much more seniors (43,7%) than the disabled (19,0%) making excursions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]