Created in 1946, SESC is an entity, supported by entrepreneurs in the commercial and goods and services fields, devoted to the social well-being of its customers. The organisation is active in the areas of Education, Health, Leisure, Culture and Assistance. One of their remarkable characteristics is the promotion of important values such as citizenship, freedom and democracy, and assistance to the less fortunate, offering them, through education, means to acquire better living conditions. In 2006, about 4,9 million people benefited from the SESC's social actions. The public reached by SESC is very diverse. SESC counts on more than 4,600 flats and about 15,000 beds, in 19 states and in the Federal district. It is the SESC's Social Tourism programme, destined in most cases to modest-income workers, that is a pioneer in this type of tourism in Brazil. The main objective of its activity is to provide quality services in leisure, integration, culture, education and health. SESC also offers ecotourism and religious tourism activities.