Adrian P. Lubowiecki- Vikuk

Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland,

lubowiecki@ukw.edu.pl

TOURIST ACTIVITY OF LGBT IN EUROPEAN POST-COMMUNIST STATES: THE CASE OF POLAND

Jacek Borzyszkowski

Koszalin University of Technology, Koszalin, Poland,

 jacbo@wp.pl

Abstract.It is a common opinion that LGBT constitute a very active segment of the present-day tourist market. In the opinions of many scientists, their tourist activity is even higher than that of heterosexual people (considering both the numbers of trips and tourist expenditures). In this article, we present the tourist activity of the Polish LGBT society as an example of this segment from one of post-communist countries. In an anonymous poll, 442 people participated who represented 4 LGBT environments, i.e. gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals. We examined their tourist activity from the perspective of the destinations of their trips, expenditures etc. Thereby, the information obtained allowed us to define the tourist activity level of the Polish LGBT as compared with the whole of the Polish society and LGBT environments from other countries. The results obtained have implications for further research related to the tourist activity of LGBT.

Received: October, 2015

1st Revision: October, 2015

Accepted: December, 2015

DOI: 10.14254/2071- 789X.2016/9-1/13

JEL Classification: L83, Z32

Keywords: LGBT,   tourist   behavior,   LGBT   tourism,   socio-demographic factors, Poland.