They will be able to start at the end of October after the appeals are rejected

The trips organized by the Institute for the Elderly and Social Services (Imserso) may begin in the second half of October. The Central Administrative Court of Contractual Resources (TACRC), which depends on the Ministry of Finance, has rejected the resources submitted to the tender by the tourist groups that were not awarded, according to the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, in a contest that Avoris, which is part of the Barceló group, was awarded.

The Court of Accounts uncovers the lack of control of the 2.5 million in Imserso aid to senior associations

Further

Imserso trusts “that travel users in our country can begin this season of Social Tourism normally,” he points out. To do this, he elaborates, “work to get everything ready for the dates usually marked on the calendar, during the second half of October.”

After the rejection of the resources by the TACRC, the next steps that Imserso has to take will be, first, signing the contract with Avoris and, then, sending the accreditation letters to the users of the trips.

Nearly a million letters

“These letters contain the information that pensioners need to subsequently book their trip,” indicates the Ministry. “After these steps, marketing by authorized agencies will begin to begin the travel season.”

This year, the 2023-2024 season program has almost 900,000 places (70,000 more than a year ago).

Furthermore, this year’s Imserso program sought a rethinking. Not only combat the active aging of the elderly, but also have a “deterministic impact on another phenomenon on which this Institute works, as it is within the scope of state social services plans: unwanted loneliness,” according to the specifications of the contest.

Delays that have become common

On this occasion, the three lots that make up the competition were awarded to a single company, the aforementioned Avoris. The tender was divided into three lots. The first, that of the peninsular coasts, represents almost half of the contract, around 444,000 places. It is valued at more than 382 million euros. The second, tourism in the island tourism areas, 230,000 places, valued at 268 million. And the third, the indoor one, has just over 212,000 seats and 192 million.

After the lots were awarded, in the middle of summer, the battle for resources began, which is not unusual, because they have become common in recent years, delaying the start of trips.

This year, Soltour presented them, considering “unfair” the elimination of his candidacy from the fight for Lot 1 – the one on the peninsular coasts -. Mundiplan and Seniorplan also appealed, for Lots 2 and 3, respectively. The delays have left the start of the campaign up in the air and have sparked criticism from the hotel sectors, for example, from the hotel employers’ association of the Valencian Community (Hosbec) which assured that if the trips did not start in October it would have to face close of 13,000 layoffs.