The president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, attended the launch of a new holiday season focusing on elderly people. The project that has been running for 14 years, is supposed to offer the Chilean people “traveling opportunities, continuing the adventure of life, meeting new friends and discovering landscapes."
"I want to emphasize that a total of 47,000 older people will be the beneficiaries of this program. 19,000 of the places will be specifically targeted at vulnerable adults and they will receive a much higher funding, up to 70 to 80 percent for their trips. Older adults are a priority for our government," stated the president.
Minister of Economy Development and Tourism, Luis Felipe Céspedes, explained that in 14 years of this program, more than 400,000 seniors have been able to travel and tourism industry benefited with more than $90,000 million. This served extra 2,700,000 hotel nights in mid and low season.
"This initiative has also contributed to the employment in regions where fewer tourists come during the holiday season. These visitors also contribute to the economic activity of the regions and generate inclusion, identity and care for our heritage," concluded the Minister.
Tourism Undersecretary Javiera Montes said that "we will continue to strongly support Senior Vacations program and not only help them to travel in Chile, but to share their experiences with others. This benefits small and medium size tourism businesses in low and middle seasons. "
The director of SERNATUR (PT), Nicolás Mena, said: "In these fourteen years, the Senior Holiday Program has been very important to promote tourism in more than 20 destinations in Chile."