Benefits of social tourism programmes for seniors: the case of the INATEL Foundation in Portugal.

Abstract This chapter analyses the social tourism programmes for seniors offered by the INATEL Foundation in Portugal over the years, and examines the benefits of participating in these programmes, as perceived by seniors. First, a literature review is presented concerning the relevance of social tourism programmes in overcoming some travel constraints for seniors and the potential benefits obtained by seniors from participating in these programmes. In the next section, the social tourism programmes offered by the INATEL Foundation are described in terms of their most important characteristics, demand for them and the benefits obtained from them by the participants (seniors). The chapter ends with the most important conclusions regarding contributions to developing social tourism initiatives to increase the participation of seniors in tourism activities and further research on this topic.