TOURISM, AN OPTION OF OCCUPATION IN THE OLD AGE.

Human being is by nature an occupational individual, and seeks during lifetime the harmony between his activity and the surrounding environment. The elderly is no stranger to this feeling, so it is suggested that people who are active, will have a better aging, will be satisfied with their lives and will be better adapted to their social environment. The objective of this research was to establish the importance of leisure time in old age, and the regulation about the subject, which identifies Tourism as an option for occupation. Different concepts of Leisure Time, Old age and Tourism are also marked, besides the implications of tourism for active aging person. This research is documentary, and its development is a review of the past 20 years on the theoretical, conceptual and normative references. This information was aimed to analyze the relationship between tourism and the elderly under the Occupation - Person Context model (Baum, Bass- Haugen and Christiansen 2005). The results show a wide regulation that supports tourism, it can be conceived as an occupation and analyzed from an own model for Occupational Therapy. Therefore, tourism is understood as an alternative activity of leisure time for the elderly.