Did you know that disability can (and should) be defined as the result of the interaction of people with disabilities and common obstacles in the environment that undermine their full participation in social life and equal opportunities i.e. understanding disability as an interaction means that disability is a social construct and not a personal attribute?
We also use this definition when in regard to accessibility. In fact, Local Democracy Agency Montenegro has published Tourism Accessibility Manual for tourism workers through the Co.Co Tour project. The manual provides information and useful tips on ways how people with, whether temporary or permanent, disabilities can have full experience of a tourist destination and its offer.
In addition, 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability and makes 12% of the tourism market. So facilitating the travel of people with disabilities is not only an imperative to preserve human rights but also an exceptional business opportunity.
According to the statistics of the European Association “Tourism for All”, the travels of people with disabilities make 1/3 of European tourist travels, which brings an annual income of 80 billion euros to turistic sector. Co.Co Tour aims to ensure smart, inclusive and sustainable growth of coastal communities in target areas by developing a cross-border eco-museum model and a common strategy on community tourism.
A special aspect of the project is accessibility, so the beneficiaries had the opportunity to attend accessibility in tourism training with an Italian expert. The training opened many questions such as the very definition of disability, how Montenegro in general as a society strives to respect anti-discrimination laws, to universal design in construction (including tourist facilities), and finally the topic of possibilities of cooperation of PWD associations with tourist guides associations in terms of training and certification for working with PWD.
In addition, the Agency for Local Democracy brings you this Accessibility in Tourism Manual, which is also the result of cooperation with partner organization on the project, Magna Grecia Mare.
We hope that it will help tourism workers resolve their dilemmas about how to treat people with disabilities and that it will contribute to Montenegro in taking the first steps towards being an accessible and inclusive tourist destination. Download the guide on the link or on the website in the Publications section.
Co.
Co Tour is project co-financed by European Union under the Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance ( IPA II)