The social tourism programmes in Spain.

Abstract

This chapter describes the social tourism programmes organized by the Imserso in Spain. Both the tourism and the thermalism programmes are based on trips made by retired seniors and companions. This chapter analyses the sustainability of Imserso trips from the social and economic point of view, as well as in terms of their effects for reducing seasonality and increasing employment in destinations where they take place. The Imserso trips are sustainable in the long term for several reasons: (1) from the financial point of view their economic and fiscal effects allow public administration to return the investment required to finance, (2) the infrastructures and human resources of the tourism sector in Spain have sufficient capacity to accommodate, in the low season, a greater volume of travellers, and (3) the population over 65 years old will double in the next 40 years and will represent more than 30 per cent.