If you are a tourism services supplier (e.g. tour operator, tourism agency, association for the promotion of natural and cultural heritage, SME in the hospitality sector, etc), located in the territory of the “Way of St.Benedict” in Italy, or in the last part of the “Way of St. James”, in Galicia and Castilla y León Regions, the SA.BE.R project will offer you the opportunity to be part of a network of accessible tourism services suppliers that will be promoted at European level.
Accessible tourism is more than a niche market; within Europe, 127 million people suffer permanent or temporary impairment (people with different types of disability and people over 65 years old) and they represent a huge potential market for SMEs and territories able to offer accessible tourism experiences.
Necessary steps to make a service or facility accessible are often less demanding than one might expect. In most cases businesses suffer from a lack of information about measures/actions to be undertaken.
SA.BE.R project wants to create a network of accessible services/infrastructures along two pilgrimage ways of European relevance such as the “Way of St.James” and the “Way of St.Benedict”.
Here is how to join the project:
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In the territories concerned by the two Ways (Umbria and Lazio Regions in Italy, Galicia and Castilla y León Regions in Spain), training courses targeted to tourism services suppliers will be organized to provide information and practical suggestions on how to make services/facilities accessible with the final aim to host and attract a greater number of customers (public) including people with permanent or temporary impairment;
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During training courses, each SME will have the opportunity to undertake a self-assessment of its own services/structure to check the compliance with the minimum accessibility requirements; businesses that already meet accessibility requirements can be included in accessible tourism packages to be defined during the project;
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Businesses which do not meet the accessibility requirements will have time to (undertake) perform the needed adaptations by the end of the project, i.e. December 2017, or later.
The aim of the project is to promote tourism services suppliers who intend to offer accessible services, through different channels (ways) such as the project’s web site, already available in 3 different languages (Italian, English and Spanish), guides targeted to tour operators and travel agencies, fairs and events of national and international relevance and other dissemination channels, even beyond its conclusion.
Training courses will be organized by March/April 2017 both in Italy and Spain; for more information on the detailed training program, please, see our web site www.openuproute.eu, or subscribe to our newsletter.