Several national social tourism projects are being developed in Europe nowadays, all of them with social, economic and employment renowned success, among which Spain, Portugal, Italy and France stand out. The Spanish Social Tourism Programme has demonstrated that the government investment it’s not only desirable but also economically profitable (1 invested Euro gives back 1,8 Euro), as well as an important tool for active policies against the seasonal employment. There are as well incipient traveller exchange programmes among several European regions and countries, which are qualitatively but not quantitatively outstanding in view of a reality of a potential enormous market of transnational travels inside Europe, specifically in offseason periods. On the other hand, the European Union and its institutions have declared their willing to promote a Social Tourism Project, although they face important budget restrictions impeding the project financing. The Balearic Island government, promoting the project within others institutions, social agents and employers, intend to run a pilot experience leaded to senior citizens from all the European countries. The programme is based on the exchange of citizens from several countries. The government and the tourist receiving country would subsidize part of the travel spends (30% approx.) of those travelling citizens. The project has meaningful advantages and benefits for all participating agents: tourists -who would widen their possibilities of visiting different European countries-; involved business companies; labour market in off-peak season; and in building a Citizens’s Europe. The project, already designed, is now being tested among all the national agents, and at a European level among its institutions and countries; and a financial commitment is being searched among the participating governments and regions.

Access to document:  B23_Javier_Bustamante.pdf

Understanding the benefits of Social tourism: health, wellbeing and quality of life.
Scott McCabe, Christel DeHaan Tourism and Travel Research Institute (Nottingham, United Kingdom)

There are many potential benefits deriving from supporting people to participate in tourism. The ‘tourism for all’ agenda and various evidence from around the world stand as a testament to the impacts of a holiday on people’s circumstances. The evidence base is however, ad hoc, and whilst indicators and measures of mental and physical health, happiness and quality of life have evolved over recent years, the extent to which such measures have been applied to the outcomes of social tourism is limited. Similarly, whilst it is clear that the work of BITS and other organisations is vital in pushing forward the policy agenda, there are many practical applications and projects which have been undertaken at a local level, the outcomes of which are not widely known. This paper calls for greater capacity building and coordination of activities within the domains of research measures and practical actions in relation to health, wellbeing and quality of life issues in social tourism, and for a systemmatic approach to measurement and data collection which would enhance comparability of outcomes. The presentation reviews a range of appropriate measures which could be applied as well as highlights a range of practices as examples in which the relationships between health and wellbeing and social tourism can be applied more strongly to national health and social care policies.

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Employment in the European ocial ourism sector: a research in progress
Anya Diekmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Brussels, Belgique)

The social tourism sector constitutes an important segment within the tourism industry. The employment in ‘social tourism’ can be considered as a positive example. Firstly, the geographical dispersion of the social tourism facilities, which are often established in areas where the season can be staggered for a longer period and reducing thus the negative impact of seasonality. The direct consequence is a greater stability in terms of employment. Also workers’ status is more regulated than in other types of tourism, for it is based on collective agreements regulating working conditions and offering training programs to help to professionalize and improve service quality of social tourism assets. It is however difficult to estimate the exact market share of the sector, for in most countries no particular attention is given to ‘social tourism’ as such within national statistics. While in few countries the social tourism sector is government backed and strongly developed with public information available, others have almost no information on hand. Academic research has not really focused either on this type of tourism. Only few articles have been published in international scientific tourism journals. Reasons might be diverse but one explanation lies in the lack of a clear definition of social tourism. For these reasons, EFFAT and BITS have decided to launch a study on the employment in the social tourism sector on a European basis with the aim to obtain comparable figures throughout the European community. The core objective of the study is to identify the importance, the type and the conditions of employment in the social tourism sector as well as the professional qualifications required for these jobs. Two different approaches have been used for the analysis of the employment in the social tourism sector. Firstly, a quantitative survey addressing social tourism organism and accommodations has been launched in June 2008 including factual questions about figures relating to employment within their organizations. Secondly, qualitative in depthinterviews aiming to get a deeper understanding of the conditions and issues of the employment within the sector have been led with key actors in some European countries.

Access to document: D23_Anya_Deikmann.pdf