Anj. Gerekou: Tourism for All is a democratic right

“Accessible Tourism is a right of our fellow citizens, an obligation of the official authorities and a smart business with a moral sign. It will allow a class of our fellow human beings, who often feel marginalized and socially isolated, to live on equal terms with the rest of society.” This was pointed out by the president of EOT, Angela Gerekou, speaking today at a conference on “Accessible Tourism” (Tourism for all), organized by the Department of Tourism of the Veneto Region in Italy.

The President of EOT, after referring to the untapped heritage of the infrastructure created in 2004 with the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Athens, noted that since 2020 a National Action Plan has been prepared for the rights of people with disabilities in accordance with UN principles. , which specifically concerns the tourism sector:

• the development of a legal framework for Accessible Tourism,

• the digital mapping, in collaboration with the Regional Authorities, of accessible destinations and the creation of a Network of Accessible Tourist Destinations in Greece,

• the registration and certification of tourism businesses and tourist destinations “Friendly to Accessible Tourism” through a special Accessibility Signal,

• the upgrade of accessibility to the EOT portal visitgreece.gr, which will have special content for people with disabilities, such as e.g. ability to print texts in braille system, audio and visual descriptions, etc.,

• training programs in Accessible Tourism and corresponding certification for employees, in tourist units,

• the inclusion of digital applications of Accessible Tourism in the initiative of the start-up companies of the FDI (CapsuleT), and

• the encouragement and organization of voluntary actions.

Ms. Gerekou also focused on infrastructure projects according to the principles of Accessible Tourism on the Acropolis of Athens, since “in a country like Greece, tourism goes hand in hand with culture”, while she also referred to private initiatives to make businesses and services that offer full accessibility to all. He also made a special mention of the Seatrac special ramp for autonomous access to the sea for people with disabilities and mobility problems, an internationally innovative research product of the University of Patras.

“Tourism for all is not a tourism product, it is a democratic right” remarked the President of EOT, who closing her presentation underlined: “The good of Tourism for All is addressed to 15% of the world population and about 130 million citizens in In other words, there is a huge market that will expand and diversify the tourism product of our countries and strengthen the national economies.Tourism for All can become coexistence with diversity are values ​​and acts of life “.

The conference is held in the framework of the European program “Interreg Italy-Croatia TOURISM4ALL”, with the participation of representatives of European institutions and national bodies from Italy, Croatia and Greece.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ