The results of this study reveal the relevance of social tourism programmes directed at the senior market and integrating a health component. Due to the discussed constraints of this market and the importance of tourism for the population’s well- being, several countries, all over the world, have included in their social policies, tourism stimulating initiatives. The here analysed program (Health Tourism Programme for the senior market provided by INATEL - Portugal) is one of the initiatives offered to the senior market yielding the improvement of well-being of its participants as well as a contribution to economic development of the destinations, where the various editions of the programme take place. The destinations included in this Programme are thermal spas, mainly located in the hinterland of the country’s North and Central Regions of Portugal, that still present low levels of economic and tourism development, which might also be recognized as a contribution to more sustainable development within the country. It is, in our view, crucial to undertake studies that quantify the economic impact of this kind of programmes. Results may become fundamental inputs both for the definition of social policies in the tourism domain, eventually justifying the public investment (or even suggesting its increment), and for the improvement of these programmes. Despite the relevance of studies that quantify the total economic impact of social tourism, the literature review about this topic clearly shows a lack of these studies.
Table 9.4 Total economic benefits of the Health Tourism Programme for the Senior Market (2007)
Total Benefits
Resulting from expenditures due to programme implementation
Resulting from seniors’ extra package expenditures
Resulting from the totality of expenditures
Output (€) Direct 1,879,823 1,689,968 3,569,792
Indirect 1,537,273 1,065,043 2,602,315
Induced 4,692,635 4,485,806 9,178,441
Total 8,109,731 7,240,817 15,350,548
Household income (€) Direct 683,137 764,509 1,447,646
Indirect 470,829 338,806 809,635
Induced 914,135 873,419 1,787,554
Total 2,068,101 1,976,734 4,044,834
Value added (VA) (€) Direct 837,625 923,552 1,761,177
Indirect 675,084 494,777 1,169,861
Induced 1,247,012 1,192,131 2,439,144
Total 2,759,721 2,610,460 5,370,181
Employment (N) Direct 47 51 98
Indirect 29 15 44
Induced 54 52 106
Total 130 117 247
On the other hand, as far as the application of input-output models is concerned, there are very few input-output based studies of the macroeconomic effects of Social Tourism Programmes. In this sense, the methodology presented in this chapter and the results obtained from the evaluation of the total economic impact of the Portuguese Social Tourism Programme are a relevant contribution for the development of research in this field.
Results of the presented study reveal that the economic impacts of the Social Tourism Programme offered by the Portuguese INATEL Foundation to the senior population are substantial, considering direct, indirect and induced effects. More specifically, the Programme generated, in 2007, in the Portuguese economy, a total of 15,350, 548 Euros of output, 4,044,834 Euros of household income, 5,370,181 Euros of value added and 247 jobs. It is interesting to note that the overall demand generated by the Programme in the national economy is both due to the expenditures with the implementation of the Programme and the expenditures undertaken by its participants outside the package acquired, with the amount of the latter nearly corresponding to the amount of the first. This reflects the important stimulating effects of the Programme’s implementation on additional demand generated by its participants.
As far as multiplier effects of the Social Tourism Programme analysed in this article are concerned, it is clearly observable that the secondary effects (indirect and induced) in terms of output, household income, value added and employment are much higher than the primary direct effects. These results corroborate other studies in the field of tourism, revealing similar results (e.g. Archer1995; Lee and Kwon1997).
Apart from this, results also show that it was the category of expenditures undertaken for implementing the programme that generated most significant multiplier effects in terms of output. In terms of income (household income and value added), it was the category of expenditures undertaken by seniors outside the acquired package that generated the largest multiplier effects. As far as sector effects are concerned, the largest multiplier effects for output and employment occurred in the field of hotels and restaurants (H); in terms of household income the largest multiplier effects occurred in the domain of renting and business activities (K); and in terms of value added the most important multiplier effect occurred in the activity branch “public administration and defence, compulsory social security” (L).
The results obtained in this study clearly corroborate the hypothesis that the social tourism programmes, apart from their important role for the (non- quantifiable) well-being of the social groups involved, which otherwise might not have the possibility of engaging in tourism, constitute an important economic development tool for the tourism destinations where they are implemented. In the case of the Programme studied, the total effect generated in terms of value added for the Portuguese economy, in 2007, was about four times higher than the amount invested by the state to finance it.
However, despite the social and economic relevance of the Programme, it is important to note that it still presents a very reduced penetration rate in the Portuguese senior population. In 2007, only about 4,800 senior residents in Portugal (0.2 % of total population) participated in the programme. These data clearly reveal
that there is still a large growth potential of these programmes in the country. For this reason, it seems advisable to increase the supply of this kind of programmes, which might permit the access to tourism to an increased group of Portuguese seniors, while simultaneously increasing the economic benefits produced by the programme, both to the Portuguese economy and to the tourism and economic development of the destinations included in the programme. The last mentioned aspect reveals the programme’s contribution for enhancing economic dynamism in marginalized regions (where most of the thermal spas included in the programme are located), which, together with the reduction of seasonality also achieved with the programme (taking place in the low season), contribute to a more balanced and thereby sustainable tourism in Portugal.
Although the methodology developed in this study is considered adequate for quantifying the economic impacts of tourism, given the nature of the phenomenon and the type of data available, some of the assumptions of input-output models must be pointed out as limitations for the suggested model, namely: constant returns to the scale production function, no input substitution and no supply constraints. For overcoming these assumptions, some studies on economic impacts of tourism that have been published recently use General Equilibrium Models (e.g. Blake2009;
Kumar2004; Pratt2011; Schubert and Brida2009). Despite the relevance of these models, the statistical data available in Portugal in terms of National Accounts does not yet make their use possible for quantifying the total economic impact of the social tourism programme analysed. However, the authors intend to apply General Equilibrium Models to quantify the economic impacts of Social Tourism Programmes in the future.
It would further be interesting to develop studies that quantify the impacts of this Programme for the regional economies, due to its implementation in specific regions with low economic development levels, as well as studies that allow the evaluation of the impacts of the Programme, both for the national and the regional economies, in diverse time periods, as well as its evolution over time.
The outcome of the analysis will furthermore enable social policy makers in Portugal to take well justified decisions about the allocation of scarce resources, when considering alternative programmes. As far as the here analysed Programme is concerned, it can be said that it has proved to be a very interesting means of furthering both social and economic goals yielding sustainable development.
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