WHERE CAN PENSIONERS GO ON HOLIDAY?

The summer has come to an end, but nature is still being generous with its warmth and sunshine, so that everything favours those who did not manage to get a holiday during the summer. The time has come for those whose vital needs are often unfairly pushed aside, for old people, to be taken into consideration. It is no accident that this topic is being raised precisely at this time, when the passion for resorts has subsided, when all the tours "are over and done with", the parents who escaped abroad have collected their offspring from the grandparents, and the golden autumn calm begins. It would appear that this is the very time for pensioners to be able to think about themselves. But here one insurmountable and inexorable obstacle crops up like autumn rain, namely that not every pensioner can afford to go on holiday "cheaply and getting value for money".

Old people's holidays

The developed countries are an extremely vivid example of the fact that life does not end when you retire. When people become pensioners, they quite rightly think that life is just starting and now they finally have the opportunity to live for themselves. Pension savings allow elderly people to travel round the world, thanks to the low-cost airlines which can be found all over the world. In Azerbaijan at the present time, the specific nature of life is such that it is rare that any pensioner can afford a holiday at a local resort, let alone a holiday abroad. Unfortunately, the most low-cost and accessible type of holiday that all adults can afford is an evening stroll in the local park, where they can chat about the latest news or episodes of serials or become involved in a fierce battle on the chessboard or in a game of dominoes.

The long-established tradition of going to a country cottagefor a holiday is still widely practised and very popular; you feel good when you are in your own home, as they say. Therefore a holiday "weeding the flowerbeds" is quite acceptable, breathing the fresh sea air, working on your own vegetable patch, enjoying a delicious meal of the fruit and vegetables grown with your own hand, not only makes you feel healthier but more cheery in spirit. Naturally, there is still the main problem, namely that only a small part of the population has their own country cottage unfortunately.

An activity holiday

Fortunately, there are a few active, elderly people who do sport and lead a healthy way of life, albeit not too many. For them an activity holiday has become a norm in life, and frequently they "do better than they did" when they were young, on walking holidays or climbing mountains.Sixty-eight-year-old Nadejda Vasilyevna recounts: "At my age I am no longer a young girl, but I don't want to be an old woman either. There was a time when I was constantly depressed like some old person, complaining about my blood pressure or twinges of backache… But a friend advised me to join her "Pensioners' Club". We lead an active way of life; when the weather's warm we hire a bus and constantly go out into the countryside; we organise picnics; many of us go to aerobics or ballroom dancing classes. We believe, that although this way of life requires some effort and may cause some discomfort, it does make you tear yourself away from your sofa at least, but also helps you to feel full of energy and needed for something."

Moreover, when it comes to "traditional" holidays away, many travel agencies do not forget about pensioners. For example, the major travel agencies organise special tours for elderly people. Naturally, compared with ordinary tours, a number of criteria are observed here to allow customers of advanced age to feel at ease throughout the journey. These tours take into account convenient dates when the weather at resorts is optimal. There are a minimum number of changes of transport; accommodation is in quiet hotels; the excursion programme is not too strenuous and entertainment is low-key. The holiday is often selected out of season, so there are not too many tourists and you can enjoy a completely relaxing rest. So, you can visit world-famous resorts at reasonable prices, complete with medical insurance and health-giving procedures. Some agencies also offer a convenient system of paying by instalments. It should be taken into account that banks to do not give credit to pensioners after the age of 65.

As faras holidays at home are concerned, special family boarding houses exist in a number of areas with beautiful countryside. These boarding houses provide a suitable environment for the elderly with full board and are surrounded by splendid countryside where they can relax and forget the burdens of life for a while.

What needs to be done?

Those pensioners who continue to work in state enterprises are lucky and can acquire a place on a trade union holiday. This type of incentive for employees, which was common during the Soviet period, still exists, and at many enterprises you can still get a place in a holiday group with a considerable discount. For example, at one of the sanatorium-type boarding houses on the Abseron peninsula, where, besides fresh air, there is an optimal range of everyday services and a special diet, visitors can also enjoy practically the whole range of health procedures, including a check-up and a consultation from a doctor. Some state organisations, and also institutions of higher education offer trade union packages of a different sort such as camps in well-known holiday areas. Depending on the institution, this may range from simple wooden cabins without any particular conveniences, where you have to live in Spartan conditions, to quite decently equipped little cottages, where you can get full board for a reasonable amount. True, it is commonly thought that it is extremely difficult to obtain places in sanatoria and you have to go through a number of bureaucratic procedures.But at the Trade Unions Confederation of Azerbaijan they assert that this is not the case for trade union members who wish to obtain places on holidays. "Holidays for the staff are organised by distributing the places at sanatoria among them. Material assistance for the needy may also be provided, as well as assisted preventive treatment, mass cultural events are organised and so forth. The decisions regarding these facilities are taken at the trade union itself," they note at the organisation.

In addition, we note that the trade union has the right to grant a holiday to parents, their children and vice versa. In that case, they spend the holiday at the "Abseron", "Bilga", "Naftalan" and "Qaranqus" sanatoria, which are well known to the older generation and have, as one might say, been inherited from the Soviet times. In previous times, they hospitably welcomed teachers, engineers, builders and representatives of other professions.

Last year, in preparation for the 2014 summer season in Azerbaijan, 99 per cent of the sanatoria on the books of the Confederation of Trades Unions were refurbished. New holiday complexes were built. By way of example, we can name the 228-bed holiday complex for education staff at Nabran, which was built in 2013. Modern boarding houses have also been built for railwaymen, communications workers and civil servants. The healthcare workers' trade union has privatised the former central hospitalin Qusar and is busy turning it into a holiday complex. Besides this, five new boarding houses have been built at the expense of the trades unions, and this process is ongoing. In 2013, more than 50,000 citizens of Azerbaijan arranged their holidays with the help of the trades unions, 18,000 children were sent on holiday, of whom 3,200 went to children's summer camps and the rest to family sanatoria.

That is undoubtedly something to be happy about, but, according to the existing legislation, pensioners are not eligible for trades-union-sponsored holidays. Only pensioners whose children are trade union members have access to these holidays.

Everything points to the fact that the concept of actively going on holiday, as well as concessions and special opportunities for the elderly are not developed and common in our country, so some initiative on the part of the state regarding these issues would be very welcome and would form part of the overall programme of social development.