More information
Description
Ministry of Culture, National Heritage, and Sport research on Tourism activity of people with disabilities reveals that in 2018 in at least one tourism trip, the percentage of people with disabilities was only 23%. This is not only due to a shortage of the necessary equipment and infrastructure, but also of readily available information on accessibility of tourist trails. In Poland there is an increasing number of social tourism initiatives and respite care programs. These spheres are developing independently of each other, instead of the services being placed together. The project aims to make mountain tourism more available to people with disabilities, and to cause it to be treated as a form of respite care. We will give project participants and volunteers training on tasks in the project, and also provide mentoring for people with disabilities, parents, and carers. Together with volunteers and instructors, people with disabilities will gather information about accessible mountain trails in the Sudetes mountains (approximately 300 km; description. photographs), and there will be internships in administration and promotion of the project. We will involve carers in self-advocacy measures intended for local authorities (respite care) and on a public forum during regional and national events (social tourism). We will organize ten meetings of entities active in social tourism and respite care, and study visits in which they participate. Sixteen adults with disabilities, eight carers for children with disabilities, forty volunteers, and ten people from local authorities (role in networking) will participate. The project will mean greater opportunity for people with disabilities to make independent use of social tourism. A website will be created providing information about fifteen mountain trails to make it easier for entities that provide respite care to include mountain tourism.
Summary of project results
The project responds to the problem of social exclusion of people with disabilities. Mountain hiking is a form of mental and physical rehabilitation that allows people to focus on their abilities rather than their limitations. In Lower Silesia, it is an activity that attracts tourists and activates the local population. However, the study "Tourist Activity of People with Disabilities" by the Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Sport showed that in 2018 only 23% of people with disabilities participated in at least one tourist trip. The reason for this is not only the lack of necessary equipment and infrastructure, but also the lack of accessible sources of information on the accessibility of trails. There is a growing number of initiatives providing social tourism services, and respite care programmes are also being developed. However, these areas are developing in parallel, without the creation of common and coherent baskets of services.
The project carried out a number of activities to promote the availability of social tourism in Lower Silesia. Parents and carers of people with disabilities were involved in self-advocacy activities on respite care addressed to local authorities and in public forum activities at regional and national events on social tourism. People with disabilities were employed to make an inventory of trails in the Sudetenland. All project participants and volunteers received support in the form of free training to prepare them for their roles in the project. People with disabilities, parents and carers were also offered mentoring support, the opportunity to work individually with trainers and coaches and to participate in development workshops. Training courses covered topics such as interpersonal communication, teamwork, expressing emotions and communicating needs, mountain tourism and rules of behaviour in the mountains. A nationwide network of social tourism was also set up, bringing together people and organisations from all over Poland involved in social tourism and institutions responsible for implementing and providing various forms of respite care for people with disabilities and their families. The network has organised online meetings and study visits for network members. A website has also been set up where the 15 mountain trails developed during the project have been uploaded with photo documentation and instructions - the trails are easily accessible to people with disabilities who want to enjoy mountain tourism.
To promote respite tourism - an innovative service in the field of active respite care - among representatives of the tourism industry and public administration, a social media campaign was carried out to promote the National Respite Tourism Network and the website www.turystykawytchnieniowa.pl. Two information brochures have been developed for representatives of state and local administration and tourism organisers, mainly private entities. An online expert panel on the development of respite services in the tourism sector was organised. Two articles on respite tourism were published - on a national information portal and on an industry portal. Promotional activities were also carried out during the International Tourism Fair in Wroclaw.
An important outcome of the project is the activation of people with disabilities through self-advocacy activities. Their work has produced tangible results in the form of developed routes. As a result, people with disabilities have much greater opportunities to independently enjoy various forms of social tourism in the region. An important outcome of the project is also the establishment of the National Respite Tourism Network, which has led to increased social support for people with disabilities and fruitful cooperation with local authorities. The project has raised awareness of the importance of accessibility in social tourism, both among those responsible for implementing such policies at local, regional and national levels, and among people with disabilities and their immediate environment.