Erasmus+ KA2 – Strategic partnerships (2014-1-DE02-KA202-001557)
In recent years, topics like "Accessibility" and "Design for All" have increasingly become a focus of politics, business and public. The concept of accessibility focuses on equal participation of people with physical and mental disabilities in society. The maxim of a "Design for All" also underlines that every person should be considered in the implementation of accessibility to have equal opportunities in participating in economic, social, cultural and recreational activities. Accessible tourism now presents new challenges and increased demands in fields of accommodation, restaurants, leisure or wellness. However, many tourism businesses, particularly in Eastern Europe, have superficial knowledge about how their companies have to be organised and arranged to be accessible for all.
To promote accessible tourism, the project plans to transfer the experience and best practice of the Brandenburg region in Germany into a vocational training to a so-called Accessible Tourism Promoter (ATP) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Based on this training, the ATPs role is the long-term transformation of an enterprise into a barrier-free enterprise offering accessible services.
The project is lead by agens Arbeitsmarktservice gGmbH. Further commited partners are IHK-Projektgesellschaft mbH and Tourismusverband Ruppiner Seenland e.V. from Germany, APT Bucovina from Romania, Florida Centre de Formació from Spain and Bialskopodlaska Lokalna Grupa Dzialania from Poland.
This consortium that will implement the project consists of a social service provider specialising in accessibility issues, three tourist associations, a chamber of commerce and a university offering vocational training in tourism. This kind of partnership does not only ensure direct and manifold involvement of the target group, it also ensures a high quality of the proposed training and materials.
