Tourism habits and preferences – comparative analysis in selected European countries

Tourism is an important sector of the economy, which is responsible for the development of many regions, which generates millions of jobs and allows to operate several businesses. However, it must be remembered that the motives of the trips are strongly differentiated, which translates into the existence of many types of tourism and diversification of tourism products. As a consequence, it becomes necessary to conduct permanent monitoring of attitudes, motives and consumers behaviors in order to adapt the offer to their preferences. In the article, the author, presenting the specificity of tourism shows the results of the study dedicated to selected tourist behaviors of Polish, Ukrainian and Austrian students. Even, if the limitations of the study will be accepted, it provides evidence for positive verification of the hypothesis that the significant differences between these groups exist.