Promotion of Social Tourism as Element of Social Inclusion in Visegrad Countries

Tourism is important social activity and also important part of economy. Nowadays a lot of attention is put in EU on sustainable tourism, Visegrad countries should do the same. One element of sustainable tourism is social toursim. Social tourism was invented for people, who could not afford normal commercial tourism. That is why social tourism is perceived as form of donation and charity for poor people. Till now it is not seen as tool for dissemination social inclusion and empowerment of disadvantaged groups. Still majority of social tourism activities is addressed to children from poor families. There is lack of information and knowledge that social tourism could be addressed also to disadvantaged groups of adults – such as seniors or disabled people. This movement is still in initial phase. There is still a lot of things to do to make society more aware about social tourism for adults.

Project’s short-term aims

• • raising awareness about social tourism among NGOs and disadvantaged people in Visegrad countries
  • raising awareness of NGOs how and where to look for funds for social tourism and how to organize such events for adults in Visegrad countries
  • multinational exchange of knowledge about social tourism applied in partners countries

Project’s long-term aims

• • raising number of social tourism events in Visegrad countries
  • activitisation of disadvantaged adults via participation in social tourism

Major project activities

• • creation of project website (project promotion and projects’ topic – social tourism)
  • collection of Visegrad good practices in social tourism (case studies from each partner)
  • creation of guideline for NGO about social tourism (publication)
  • organisation and providing 4 workshops in 4 countries focused on social tourism concept for adults