The Generalitat opens this Monday, September 23, the registration period for the new Viaja+65 aid program for people over 65, which will cover up to 70 euros for a double room, including 100 euros per person for gastronomic and cultural experiences and sports and incentives higher than those of Imserso for hotels.
The President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, and the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Nuria Montes, presented last Friday to the tourism sector and city councils the details of the program, which will allow travel at a lower cost between October 14 and December 20, 2024.
The aim of the Consell is to “respond to the inaction and abandonment of the Spanish government” in terms of tourism. Mazón stressed that, thanks to this “social” programme, “the holidays that the elderly of the Valencian Community deserve are being fulfilled.”
In addition, he stressed that Viaja+65 “will allow municipalities to open their arms to our seniors 365 days a year with quality, sustainability and warmth”, both in sunny and beach municipalities and in inland municipalities, sports, cultural, environmental or gastronomic.
Specifically, with the Viaja+65 program, those over 65 will be able to travel from October 14 to December 20, a minimum of five nights (from Sunday to Thursday) and a maximum of ten. Those interested can register through the same platform as the Viatgem Bonus and can also contact a travel agency where the trip will be booked on their behalf.
Stays can be booked with half-board with a 40% discount in hotels, tourist apartments and campsites. Reservations can also be made through travel agencies that will be commissioned at a rate of 20 euros per transaction compared to 12.5 euros at Imserso.
The maximum eligible cost of the Viaja +65 program will be 600 euros without a companion and 900 euros with a companion. The price of accommodation is set at 70 euros per day for a double room or 50 euros for a double room for single use in the case where seniors are traveling alone.
In addition, an additional credit of 100 euros per person per package will be included for gastronomic, health, sports or cultural experiences, as well as parking and transfer services.
Thus, the Consell explained that, for example, a married couple over 65 would spend, with this aid, 207 euros in seven nights in a hotel in Gandia (Valencia), traveling with their own vehicle and including experiences and parking. On the other hand, the same trip with Imserso would cost them 210 euros “without the possibility of choosing which establishment they want to go to and which experiences they want to undertake,” explained the councilor.
“Reasonable” incentives for hotels
This program increases the incentives received by companies in the sector. Hotels will receive an incentive of 35 euros, instead of the 23 euros of Imserso, and travel agencies 20 euros, compared to the 13 euros of the current program.
These are, as Mazón pointed out, “reasonable incentives in which we no longer talk about the very poor, unsustainable and unrealistic premium of 23 euros per night from Imserso, which has made the program so unviable.” In this sense, he stressed that the Generalitat has supplemented Imserso payments to hotels in such a way that “they are minimally sustainable, not only for vacations, but also for the maintenance of jobs linked to tourist accommodation.”
40,000 beneficiaries in 2025
Viaja+65 starts with a two-month pilot program with a budget of 1.1 million, 7,000 beneficiaries and around 50,000 overnight stays. Thus, the Generalitat hopes that after this first edition, its budget will be multiplied by five to reach 6 million euros, 40,000 beneficiaries and 300,000 overnight stays in 2025.
The programme will be reissued from January to the end of April, excluding Easter, and will return from the Pilar Bridge until almost the beginning of Christmas. In addition, the Consell is studying other programme developments by product, such as an exclusive voucher for trips within the Valencian Community and for all ages.
The sector celebrates its launch
The Association of Hotel and Tourism Companies of the Valencian Community (Hosbec) celebrated the launch of the programme as “a key tool for social tourism, active ageing and the sustainability of the hotel sector”, as well as “a clear commitment to the deseasonalisation of tourism.
The hotel employers’ organization said in a statement that Viaja+65 represents “a significant step forward to promote tourism in the low season and guarantee employment in tourist areas throughout the year.”
The president of Hosbec, Fede Fuster, indicated that “we are facing a new tourist reality and an increasingly demanding profile of senior tourists, so this type of initiatives are essential to improve the competitiveness of our destinations.”
Hosbec highlighted the “substantial improvement” in incentives received under the Imserso program and considers the future projection of consolidating the program in 2025 as “encouraging.”
