Accessible Spaces for All - Improving the Accessibility of Tourism for Persons with Disabilities in Central Europe

The EU has set high goals for managing the green, digital and just transition in the context of the anticipated future structural changes. However, no transition can be just without ensuring equal opportunities and participation in the society of all citizens, regardless of their personal circumstances. There are approximately 87 million people living with some form of disability in the EU today. Access to services, independent free movement and access to ICT plays a key role in enabling their active participation in the society. While progress has been made in accessibility of the built environment, the EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 also now puts focus to the accessibility of activities contributing to their high quality of life – independent travel and access to leisure activities – especially tourism, arts and culture, and sports and recreation. Many destinations or locations claim to be accessible, however, often this is mostly focused on physical accessibility of buildings, however, not enough care is given to how the buildings can be accessed by travelling independently from site to site – mobility and transport between sites is not taken into consideration enough when planning for accessible tourism. The project will therefore address the barriers and possible solutions for achieving true accessibility of tourism locations and/or destinations, based on two developing rural tourism areas (CZ-AT; SI-HR-HU) which have the possibility and vision to integrate accessibility elements in the planning of the future destinations.