Calypso Widens Europe’s Travel Horizons

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Everyone deserves a break. Calypso is an exciting European Commission initiative that could improve the lives of underprivileged citizens across Europe. It aims to allow people who cannot usually do so to travel to Europe’s holiday spots, while at the same time helping local economies beat the offseason blues.

EU Calypso logoEveryone deserves a break. Calypso is an exciting European Commission initiative that could improve the lives of underprivileged citizens across Europe. It aims to allow people who cannot usually do so to travel to Europe’s holiday spots, while at the same time helping local economies beat the offseason blues.

Underpinning Calypso is the opportunity for Europe’s less privileged citizens to discover parts of Europe unfamiliar to them. Every European citizen should have the right to travel. And what better way to build a sense of European citizenship than through cultural exchange?

Holidays offer a breath of fresh air and a break from routine. They can be an opportunity to step back from the problems of everyday life and to broaden mental horizons. They are a time to discover the rest of Europe and see one’s own life from a different perspective. The problem is that a considerable number of Europeans cannot afford them.

With the way school holidays are organised, much of Europe travels in summer, or around Christmas and Easter, when the prices sometimes double.

Europe-wide exchange network

The European Commission wants to encourage stakeholder involvement by strengthening the structures dealing with low-season tourist exchanges. It will also investigate the possibility of creating a platform that could enhance opportunities for NGOs, travel agencies and other demand-side structures to interact with carefully vetted hotels, spas and holiday villages. It is hoped that this tool will eventually allow particular groups to travel in the low season to other countries in Europe.

More documents are available for downloading from the EC Calypso website