“Tourism for All - Promoting Universal Accessibility” Good Practices in the Accessible Tourism Supply Chain

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To mark the theme of the World Tourism Day 2016, this booklet presents six selected case studies illustrating some of the key parts of the Accessible Tourism supply chain.

Cover illustration with wheelchair user on wooden jetty, arms wide open Cover of the "Tourism for All" brochure, UNWTO.

To mark the theme of the World Tourism Day 2016, this booklet presents six selected case studies illustrating some of the key parts of the Accessible Tourism supply chain. The examples show some of the best practices in the most relevant aspects of accessible tourism provision:

  • Accessible Heritage Tourism: Best Practices of Universal Accessibility in India: Adapting sensitive cultural monuments to enable all visitors to enjoy cultural heritage sites;
  • Exhibition of 3-D copies of Works of Art from the Prado Museum ́s Collection, Spain: Use of new technologies to make art accessible for visitors with visual impairments;
  • Everyone Belongs Outside: Push to Open Nature & the Alberta Parks Inclusion Plan, Canada: Inclusion of often-excluded groups of visitors, such as persons with reduced mobility and learning difficulties, in outdoor environments;
  • Barrier-free Tour Center, Japan: Application of accessibility-improvement measures and Universal Design to achieve access in urban planning and buildings through advocacy groups working with public and private sector;
  • Lonely Planet Accessible Travel Guide: Availability of accessibility information; and
  • T-GUIDE: Guiding Visitors with Learning Difficulties: Vocational training course on guiding visitors with intellectual impairments or learning difficulties at cultural heritage sites.

While these examples provide a small sample of possible solutions regarding accessibility, they will hopefully inspire others to take steps towards broadening the availability of accessible offers in tourist destinations around the world. The very first step is to open one’s mind to the idea that “Tourism is For All”. From then on, with the help of the appropriate guidance and know-how, accessible tourism can become part of every tourism experience.

Illustrated, 24 Pages. Download the document in PDF format from the right-hand panel.

This is the accessible PDF version, uploaded on 1st September 2016.


UNWTO has partnered in the last 5 years with the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) and the Spanish ONCE Foundation for the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, amongst other organizations, to produce specific recommendations and technical manuals for making destinations ever more accessible.

For more information please visit http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/accessible-tourism

World Tourism Day logoWorld Tourism Day, 27 September 2016.