''Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze'', PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society) is a Polish non-governmental

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

organization with 312 branches across the country. The PTTK is one of the oldest tourist societies in Europe. Its origins stretch back to the foreign

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

. In August 1873 a group of tourism

enthusiast In modern usage, enthusiasm refers to intense enjoyment, interest, or approval expressed by a person. The term is related to playfulness, inventiveness, optimism and high energy. The word was originally used to refer to a person possessed by G ...

s including painter and photographer

Walery Eljasz Radzikowski Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski (September 13, 1841 – March 23, 1905) was a Polish painter, illustrator, teacher of fine arts and photographer active during the foreign Partitions of Poland.

from

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and physician

Tytus Chałubiński Tytus Chałubiński (Radom, 29 December 1820 – 4 November 1889, Zakopane) was a Polish physician and co-founder of the Polish Tatra Society. Chałubiński established tuberculosis sanatoria in Zakopane, in the Tatra Mountains. He was a profes ...

founded the Polish cultural Tatra Society (''Polskie Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie'', originally the "Galician" Tatra Society for the Austrian censorship). A parallel Polish Sightseeing Society (''Polskie Towarzystwo Krajoznawcze'') was founded by ethnographer

Zygmunt Gloger Zygmunt Gloger (3 November 1845 in Tybory-Kamianka – 16 August 1910 in Warsaw) was a Polish historian, archaeologist, geographer and ethnographer, bearer of the Wilczekosy coat of arms. Gloger founded the precursor of modern and widely popul ...

in 1906. The two organizations merged

after World War II The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (U ...

in 1950 to form the PTTK.

Current Operations

The Society aims to promote

qualified tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

and sightseeing. Its activities include designing and marking tourist trails as well as cycling, horse and river trails throughout Poland; maintaining a network of tourist accommodations, including museums and libraries; running several courses and workshops; training and certifying official travel guides, and publishing maps and guidebooks. The Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society has approximately 61,000 members, with over 260 branches throughout Poland. It brings together about 2,500 rings and nearly 200 clubs. It runs accommodation facilities of a varying standards with over 20 thousand beds; including, in 60

tourist home A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...

s, 77 mountain chalets, 35 hostels and water sports facilities, 5 inns, and 33 campgrounds; along with a network of 16 museums. The society is organised into several regional authorities each with its own staff. The membership fee and the PTTK membership card provide a discount on all accommodation and courses offered by PTTK. Each member of the Polish Tourist Association is a paying member awarded with one of a system of over a dozen badges, including Climbing, Hiking, Skiing, Cycling, Sailing and even a Diving Badge.Statute PTTK registered in Warsaw on February 23, 2006.
5 December 2008. The PTTK Society is a member of international tourist organizations such as the

Alliance Internationale de Tourisme Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) is an international federation of motoring organisations created to "represent the interests of national automobile associations and touring clubs". It was founded at the Casino Bourgeois in Luxembourg Cit ...

, the Naturfreunde Internationale, the Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe, and the

Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) is an international federation that represents underwater activities in underwater sport and underwater sciences, and oversees an international system of recreational snorkel and scuba ...

Notes and references

External links

English homepage
* {{Authority control Organizations established in 1950 Business organisations based in Poland Tourism in Poland 1950 establishments in Poland Tourism agencies