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Country Profiles

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Germany (2005)

[...] Everywhere in post war Germany it was seen as an excellent road to peace to visit neighbouring countries, learn about their way of life, meet the people, and establish a personal friendship. This kind of educational group travel led to the founding of most social tourism structures. And the history of these structures makes it very hard for them to see themselves as a part of today's differentiated tourism industry [...]

Argentina (2006)

Currently in the Republic of Argentina, the Federal Strategic Plan for Sustainable Tourism specifies as one of its main objectives, that tourism be recognized as a key social and economic activity for the development of the country but also that its practice be considered as a social right for the personal development of the people throughout the benefit of leisure time and travel in the country.

Belgium (2004)

Even if the administrative regionalization of tourism allows today separate and diverging policies depending on the area, those remain generally attached to social tourism and that of young people in particular. And there is a permanent dialogue between the authorities in charge of tourism and associations.

Brazil (2004)

There are already countless isolated initiatives; however they take place every day, all around Brazil, showing that, even empirically, the essence of tourism for all is present in us. Once more we see the enterprising and creative facet of Brazilians that start a process most desirously irreversible: the creation of a new way to do tourism in Brazil, giving the opportunity to our people to live what Guimarães Rosa's original view of art teaches us: "I met. I fulfilled my history".

Chili (2017)

Tourist seasonality is a problem in Chile because of the climate, the country's geography, holidays and school holidays, but also because of the well-established consumption habits of the country. As a result, the effects of this seasonality are felt on several levels: underutilization of tourism infrastructure, weak development of domestic tourism, low income for industry, seasonal employment.

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Spain (2009)

The different Governments have always prioritized social policies and diverse initiatives have arisen from the combination of social policy and tourist activity. The most well-known and of enormous success is the IMSERSO Holiday Program for seniors, but there exist also various initiatives for the young and disabled, not only those supported by the central government but also the ones coming from the autonomous regions.

India (2015)

It is generally accepted that ‘Social Tourism’ aims to guarantee the right to holidays and access to tourism for all social classes, particularly those who have limited resources. Various programs are devised by the public, private  and civil society organizations to  facilitate social tourism. However, in the Asian context, ...

Italy (2010)

It is important to underline that social tourism has existed in Italy since the dawn of tourism and that it has a long and significant history involving numerous agencies [...]

Mali (2007)

"It is better to see once than hear about it a hundred times". This translation of a Malian saying conveys that the entire population has a taste for trips and discoveries within & beyond their country. Holidays are a time for recreation, relaxation and learning. Each individual goes on holiday with their own resources.

Morocco (2013)

The concept of social tourism has been completely ignored in Morocco's tourism strategy. Even though they did adopt several social-related programmes, successive governments did not show any interest in this form of tourism, that remains totally unknown by the general public.

Poland (2014)

The development of social tourism in Poland is conditioned by a few factors. These consist, e.g. in the growth of real average income of Polish citizens, but also their structure in the income groups. An important factor for the development of various forms of social tourism is also the change of Polish society’s behaviour in the time off. A constant growth of one day, often a few hour trips (e.g. to the shopping malls, eateries, etc.) at the expense of lowering the number of weekend trips is observed. Among the latter, the interest (especially of young people) in trips to "second homes" is growing.

Québec, Canada (2005)

Similar achievements to those in Quebec are aimed at the accessibility of tourism but they are not always classified as social tourism.

Russia (2007)

While considering social tourism as the community demand arising during the period of definite state system maturity, formation of trade unions and the platform of working people's demands we are sure that in the close future the phenomenon of social tourism will revive in our country.

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