How can regions become accessible to everyone?

The research provides insight into the wishes and needs of guests with disabilities during the entire customer journey: before, during, and after the visit. It also shows what is needed for an accessible region that can be visited by everyone. The results of the extensive research are concisely summarised in an infographic that focuses on the customer journey. In the toolkit, 12 provocative questions lead to activation.

For Martine Norden of the municipality of Berg en Dal, working on accessibility starts with knowledge and awareness. “This research makes a nice contribution to that. And with the toolkit, we can get parties into action mode in an accessible way. The Toolkit is to the point and practical. Entrepreneurs love that!”

An accessible destination is accessible to everyone

The research clearly shows that despite all the good intentions of many, the ideas of accessibility have not yet landed in the tourism-recreational sector. There is also too little insight into the visitor flows of people with disabilities in the region. That makes it difficult to make a suitable offer. What is also forgotten is that an accessible destination becomes more accessible to everyone.

Deputy Peter van 't Hoog of the province of Gelderland about the result: "I am pleased with the suggestions that have been made to improve the accessibility and inclusion of the Gelderland recreational offer. This shows that we must get to work, we can be even more hospitable in that respect. And we will work together to achieve that.”

Focus on the customer journey

Going through the customer journey with experienced experts is the key to designing and realising accessible recreational offerings in the region. That is the starting point for the development of an accessible regional destination. An accessible offer can only be developed by understanding the world of an expert through experience. At this moment, too much of what is on offer is devised and implemented by people without a disability.

Ensure accessibility

For experience experts, accessibility must be guaranteed throughout the entire customer journey. For the customer journey, this means that there is accurate, detailed, and honest communication. Information about crowds and the time required for a visit is also important so that the guest with a disability can make good planning. Also don't forget to differentiate according to a disability, because it's not just about people with a wheelchair. People also want to be clear in advance about the financial consequences of the trip, including cancellation options. Finally, they want to know in detail how the distance between home and recreational facilities can be bridged. During the customer journey, communication on the spot, correct treatment, preventing inequality, and thinking along with unexpected events are important. After the customer journey, picking up reviews is especially useful to learn from new experiences of visitors with a disability.

Accessible to everyone

Accessible tourism and recreation is not an isolated issue. Designing (regional) recreational facilities for everyone means profit for all visitors and residents. That starts with the awareness that design with real attention - with people in mind - must be the basis. The principles of Universal Design are very useful here. This creates broad accessibility: physical, information, digital, social, and financial.

Impediments

The researchers have identified six barriers to accessible recreation. The first is a lack of insight and awareness that many people are now excluded and therefore unable to enjoy recreational destinations. Second, a lack of knowledge about accessibility and inclusion. Third, researchers see the traditional chicken-and-egg dilemma. Companies get few questions from people with a disability, often because they think the location is not accessible. But awareness and knowledge about accessibility alone are not enough; fourthly, action must also be taken. By making storytelling, convincing stories, making good practices visible, and by ambassadors, a region shows that it is self-evident and hip to be accessible. A fifth obstacle is that due to the differentiated target group and uniqueness of each location, it is difficult to copy solutions one-to-one. Finally, we also have to deal with taboos on exclusion and discrimination, and fear of otherness.

Take chances

Of course, there are also opportunities. It starts with government policy at the national, provincial, regional, and local levels. A region can seize opportunities through, first of all, an intrinsic motivation as the driving force. This means an active municipality that formulates policy and provides subsidies for inspections and certificates, involving experts by experience, and forming a permanent network with a coordinator. Accessible locations can also do a lot for the visibility of quality marks on location and online, but also with a discount for visitors with a disability.

Researcher Brigitte Nitsch summarises the opportunities emerging from the report nicely: “A solid story, developed into a tool, that provides the sector with a new insight into inclusiveness and accessibility.”

Who has what role?

The government has a driving and facilitating role. The DMOs, VVVs, and visitor centers have a crucial role in making the available accessible tourist-recreational offer visible. Entrepreneurs can make all the difference locally with small actions. Finally, it is up to the education and research institutions to embed accessibility in their education and research programs.

Jeroen Klijs, professor of social impacts of tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences, says: “This project has shown that accessibility can be an important component in the development of 'Conscious Destinations'. In executing its research agenda, CELTH will take the topic on board and develop further insights that will help destinations give accessibility the attention it deserves.”

What now?

Working on an accessible destination is more than 'running' a project. Continuous strategic collaboration between public and private stakeholders is needed. The solution for an accessible destination does not lie with individual entrepreneurs, but in fixed networks within the ecosystem. A coordinated approach is the recurring success factor. Organisations can achieve a lot by working with people with disabilities and a team that consists of a diverse group of people with perspectives, life experiences, ages, and needs.

Project leader Karin Stiksma of Joint Projects has some tips for regions that want to take the first step: “Involve experts when investigating the customer journey to your destination. With this, you immediately hear about their experience and what they need, to have a nice day out or night away. These are often surprisingly small things that you already had or already did as an entrepreneur. You just have to position them differently or make them accessible. That way you really make an immediate impact as a region!”

The project

The 'Accessible Destinations' project was carried out by Joint Projects, Hogeschool Utrecht, Breda University of Applied Sciences and NHL Stenden on behalf of the province of Gelderland, the municipality of Berg en Dal-RvN@, the Achterhoek region, and the Vechtdal region with the support of CELTH.

More information

The results of the research have been visualised in an Infographic and translated into a 'Toolkit Development towards an Accessible Destination'. These can be found in the Knowledge Base of the Accessible Recreation community (www.jointprojects.nl/community) and on the websites of the affiliated research partners.