In order to support the issues of tourism and mobility for young people in Europe, ISTO Europe encourages European institutions to develop a social tourism policy.
The topic of youth mobility in Europe can affect many sectors and spark countless conversations. The main goal, however, is to foster a deep sense of citizenship and overcome entrenched social inequalities in terms of access to holidays and leisure, which still exist despite this very access being enshrined as a human right in European law. Another important goal is developing and highlighting skills linked to travel, while also allowing young people to discover jobs in the tourism and hospitality sectors - jobs that are constantly enriched with diverse meetings and interactions.
Additionally, the goal is to bolster economic activity for hosting organisations (such as holiday centres, hostels, youth hostels…), as well as to defend their economic model, which is closely linked to hosting young travellers.
The purpose of this document is to formulate a proposal for a position on social tourism for youth.
The document is composed of two parts:
- The position paper for institutional and political actors;
- A more detailed argument.
This draft text underwent initial work within ISTO Europe’s Youth Working Group and has been the subject of a call for external contributions. It was amended and validated by participants of the Lyon Forum on 5 October 2021, and, following this, was accepted by the Executive Committee of ISTO’s Europe section.
This text, and its argument, are subject to change. They were written to include as many people as possible. The impacts of various issues must be illustrated and supported by data and references. Depending on the needs and conversations sparked by it, more detailed work may be needed, both on the argument and on the text’s content.
