As part of BTO 2024, the Panel “Destination for All: Accessibility, Inclusion and Digital Innovation to Make Travel Open and Welcoming for All” has the ambitious goal of connecting the various European destinations, thus simplifying the process of building an inclusive destination that is, a destination in which a tourist can feel free to choose where to go, thanks to the elimination of all physical and cultural barriers.
The creation of an inclusive destination does not only concern people who are vulnerable or have accessibility problems but concerns all of us who practise tourism since an accessible and inclusive destination allows everyone to book, choose and visit more or less unknown places and have effortless relationships with the community that hosts us.
For these reasons, it becomes a priority to transform destinations into inclusive territories without panicking but by starting a systematic analysis of all the attractions and resources of the territory so as to be open to all. To reach this goal, it is ever more necessary to discuss, to make this change more agile, and the case studies brought to the panel at BTO will tell the story of their development. These narratives will also be helpful to better use the funds that were approved with the Interministerial Decree of 1 August 2024 of the Minister for Disability, where, in addition to the regional subdivision of the funds, the Criteria for the Distribution of the Single Fund for the inclusion of people with disabilities for the year 2024 are described, aimed not only at the development of accessible and inclusive tourism, but also at the promotion of Italian destinations and the increase in the presence of tourists with disabilities and their companions. The funded activities, expressly described in the ministerial decree, can include a range of activities from those concerning infrastructural changes to communication. Still, all aimed at providing “full accessibility to tourist services in the area, zone or infrastructure intended for their use and targeted by the initiative.”
Essential elements for this transformation of the destination are digital technologies – AGID (Agency for Digital Italy) will also be present in the panel – the use of which makes it possible to construct a single language among the various private tourist facilities and public infrastructures, thus creating a unique tourist service suited to people’s needs. Innovative technologies are a great opportunity, but let’s not forget that at the centre of tourism activities, there is the tourist, or rather the person, to whom we must give a central role. Technologies, therefore, will only serve to simplify the various steps and to quickly satisfy the needs of every type of tourist, from the elderly to the young to the disabled tourist, who generally prefers a relationship with people and to experience that destination, thus enjoying the greatest number of positive memories of the holiday as is possible.
Activating new technologies for inclusion could mean making enormous investments for only a few people; instead, as I have already written, these investments become a benefit for the entire local community and a flywheel for the economy. Thanks to the elimination of physical barriers, new flows will be possible and therefore, a greater number of tourists will be able to visit the territories and appreciate the local delicacies with the consequent potential loyalty to the product.
If, on the one hand, technologies can boost local development, it should be emphasized that not all people are adequately literate enough to be able to directly access an understanding of the use of new technologies. This difficulty, especially in the presence of elderly or fragile people, could become a limit that should not be ignored, but on the contrary, should be identified to find those one-to-one solutions that are often both easy and not too costly. Still, they must be thought out, researched and updated.
However, on the other hand, not applying the concepts of accessibility and inclusion can limit the tourist flow by decreasing the added value of tourism on the local economy, so much so that they undermine the achievement of the objectives of Agenda 2030, namely objectives 8, 9, 10 and 11, those concerning decent work and economic growth, the reduction of inequalities, the development of businesses, innovation and infrastructure and the formation of sustainable cities. These same objectives could be achieved if destinations become truly accessible and inclusive. In fact, through accessibility and inclusion, the transition to sustainability can be triggered. Thus the destination, once it has achieved complete inclusion and accessibility, accomplishes the Agenda 2030 goals, minimising environmental impacts and therefore becoming sustainable.
In light of what has been written so far, it is clear that accessibility and inclusion involve multiple aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to find out how other territories have already solved the problems that have arisen from time to time whilst always trying to satisfy the needs of tourists.
Very often, the choice of destination derives from a careful analysis and knowledge of the activities and tourist services offered so that the tourist, even before booking, can be sure of finding an answer to his needs. For this reason, it is increasingly necessary to use technologies aimed at communicating clearly and correctly and devices aimed at satisfying the needs expressed as well as those not expressed by tourists.
It is evident that, in view of the tourist’s expectations, a single tourist facility is often unable to accompany the tourist along their itinerary and, in any case, to visit the entire destination, especially if the tourist has physical or mental limitations. Hence, the need to create a network capable of accompanying the tourist during the trip by offering accessible and usable services so that there is a benefit for the tourist, but also for all residents of the local area, both those who have direct contact with the tourist, or those who indirectly or in an induced manner can develop activities with high added value. In essence, inclusive and accessible tourism involves so many services and activities that the entire destination will be able to take advantage of this new combination of productive factors aimed at improving the quality of life for all tourists and residents. This is what Asturias has done, connecting all the tourist services to make the tourist offer truly accessible and inclusive. Networking becomes a fundamental pivot to achieving levels of inclusive and accessible service for all. This process of coordination will be the subject of the panel at BTO, where it will also be explained how the integration of the tourist offer with other mobility and assistance services might be achieved.
A further demonstration of the validity of accessible and inclusive tourism will be provided by the German tourism offer, which, in addition to a very top-down kind of communication, has used new digital technologies to welcome all tourists, thus providing a great advantage for companies that offer an excellent tourist product, capable of satisfying everyone’s needs.
In Italy, there is still a lot of resistance to the aggregation of businesses for accessible and inclusive tourism, and for this reason, the panel aims to provide direct stimuli to undertake that process of change. Of course, businesses alone cannot create a destination for everyone, and the involvement of local public administrations and resident communities is necessary. The management of all services may initially be complex, but the analysis of local tangible and intangible resources together with the knowledge of the different needs of people will be essential to finding the most appropriate solutions both for the planning of the territory for tourism purposes, and for the creation of innovative businesses, thanks to which it will be possible to create those technologically advanced services helpful in making the territory accessible and inclusive.
In essence, a destination that is easy to live in is easy to visit.
Carmen Bizzarri, Associate Professor of Economic and Political Geography – the European University of Rome will speak at BTO regarding the Destination topic, on November 27th from 3 pm to 3:50 pm in Hall #6
We look forward to seeing you in Florence for BTO 2024!
