Social tourism is open to everyone, without restrictions. It aims at mingling cultures, opening up to others and stimulating social integration.

The aim of social tourism is to act fairly towards:
The employed staff: correct wages, respect for the working conditions, collective working agreements and contracts of employment.
Local suppliers: the contribution at the development of the local economy (respect for correct prices).
Durability: the engagement to construct an economically viable social tourism and respectful to other cultures and the environment.

The members, active in social tourism, are mainly linked to the associative, co-operative and trade union sectors.

The first objective of social tourism is to help those less favoured and fragile to go on holiday: the young, the seniors, the low income families and the disabled.

Social tourism primarily aims at a tourism of proximity with as its main objective is the (re)discovery of the land, the natural, historical and cultural heritage, together with encountering the local population.

Families: family holidays have obviously changed over the last few decades because of the evolution of the family structure, mainly characterized by the smaller and smaller size of families, and the increase in the number of single parent families.

Young people: today, young travelers’ (15-25 years old) make up for more than 20% of international tourist arrivals.

Seniors: the demographic evolution over the last few years has been characterized by a rapid growth rate of the over 60 year olds. This reality, which can be explained by both the increase in life expectancy and the decrease in the number of births, will only become more marked in the future.

Disabled people or people with reduced mobility: the obstacles that disabled people come across when organizing and enjoying tourist trips are not only architectonic obstacles, but also obstacles connected to negative attitudes and behaviors’. Even more than in other fields, it is fundamental to train the tourism industry staff to increase its awareness of special needs of disabled people, of adaptation measures needed for accessibility, and of the way to provide appropriate services to these clients, taking into account the different kinds of disabilities.