Calypso (social tourism)

Social tourism is about helping people travel who would not otherwise be able to do
so.

The four groups identified by Calypso include
- underprivileged young adults aged between 18 and 30;
- families facing financial or other pressures;
- people with disabilities;
- and over-65s and pensioners who cannot afford travel or are daunted by the challenges of organising a journey.

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/files/docs/calypso/leaflets/leaflet_calypso_en.pdf

Social tourism allows as many people as possible to go on holiday and therefore, significantly aids mobility. Moreover, it can also contribute to combat seasonality, strengthen the notion of European citizenship and to promote regional development besides facilitating the development of specific local economies.

Social tourism proves that economic and employment opportunities, key goals within the Lisbon strategy, can indeed be generated by increasing tourism accessibility for additional strata of the European population. By facilitating tourism access in European Destinations for society groups for which going on holiday represents a difficult or even impossible undertaking, social tourism strengthens the tourism industry's revenue generation potential. It enables off-season tourism to be developed, particularly in regions where tourism is well developed but highly seasonal, whilst giving the opportunity to relatively unknown, small or emerging destinations to promote their offer amongst a wider spectrum of the European population. Accordingly, social tourism encourages the creation of longer-lasting employment opportunities in the tourism sector by making it possible to extend such jobs beyond the respective peak season.

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/calypso/index_en.htm