Back to search

BIA-Brukerstyrt innovasjonsarena

Accessible tourism for inclusion and value creation in rural areas (ACCESSTOUR)

Alternative title: Reiseliv for alle: Inkluderende og bærekraftige reiselivsdestinasjoner i distriktet.

Awarded: NOK 11.2 mill.

ACCESSTOUR aims to uncover and promote the potential for value creation that lies in accessible tourism as a perspective and strategy for actors involved in nature-based tourism and public service production in rural tourism destinations. ACCESSTOUR wants to contribute to increased accessibility and value creation for both the tourism industry and for visitors and local residents with different functional abilities. The project will develop and test tools to map and evaluate accessibility at destinations and in businesses, as well as explore and test how technology can contribute to increased accessibility. The project group is cross-sectoral, and both knowledge and solutions will be co-created by researchers, destination companies, tourism players, museums, end users and public players associated with the four nature-based destinations Vesterålen, Lofoten, Valdres and Telemark. In addition to the kick-off at Beitostølen in 2021, we have had project gatherings in Lofoten and Vesterålen in 2022 and in Tromsø in 2024. In 2023, workshops were carried out together with the partners in Vesterålen, Beitostølen, Lofoten and Telemark respectively. At all the workshops, we have invited people with various disabilities to share their experiences of travelling. September 2021, 25 people from the project partners gathered at Beitostølen for the kick-off. ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism) contributed with i knowledge of various resources that can be useful to the partners in the project (mapping tools, standards, guides and handbooks). ENAT also contributed with concrete tips to increase the partners' insight into how best to inform about accessibility in your own business as a tourism operator. In addition to professional contributions from ENAT, the partners Øystre Slidre municipality, Stiftelsen Beitostølen Helsesportssenter, Beitostølen Utvikling, Beito Husky and Grete Hedalen contributed with contributions on how their businesses work in relation to accessibility for both visitors and residents. The project partners also visited Beitostølen Health Sports Center to get an introduction to their approach to facilitating equal participation in experiences. User perspectives on accessible tourism were conveyed through lectures from FFO (The Norwegian Fereartion of Organisations of Disabled People) and a resident of Beitostølen. The project gathering was rounded off with a workshop where the partners, partly in groups and partly in plenary, shared experiences, knowledge, knowledge gaps and ambitions for their businesses and for the project. ENAT has also contributed to the development of a survey and survey form during the project. At the gathering in Vesterålen and Lofoten in 2022, the partners first gathered in Vesterålen before we travelled with the Hurtigruta to Lofoten. During the meeting, we visited a number of actors within tourism and the public sector. The collection had a major focus on both barriers and solutions for a more inclusive tourism life. In June 2022, the Accesstour project was invited to give a presentation to the participants at the Sunnaasstiftelsen's network meeting in their project Adapt2explore. The meeting took place in Lofoten, and was the start of a fruitful collaboration that we have continued ever since. Accesstour has participated in the Sunnaasstiftelsen's network meetings in Alta in 2023 and in Tromsø in 2024, where we were also actively involved in the program committee. In addition to several partners in the project presenting results from research and practice in businesses, we have also been able to take part in the foundation's camp for younger people with acquired spinal cord injuries and brain injuries. At the network meeting in Tromsø in June 2024, we took the opportunity to test the mapping tool that is being developed in Accesstour together with the approximately 70 participants at the network meeting. In preparation for developing tools for mapping available nature-based tourism, a user survey was carried out in 2022 in which members of 13 of FFO's interest organisations, as well as users at the Beitostølen health sports center, were invited to participate. The aim of the survey was to increase knowledge about travel habits and travel preferences among people with various disabilities. The results of the survey have been published in Norwegian as a report in Nordlandsforskning's report series. SINTEF has, in collaboration with students at UiO, developed several smaller pilots together with industry partners in Beitostølen, in Telemark and in Tromsø. The results from Sintef's pilots are being published in the upcoming Handbook of Accessible Tourism (De Gruyter). There has been great interest in Accesstour, and we have given a number of lectures, including at international research conferences, for students, for Bufdir, the county councils for people with disabilities, Innovation Norway and the tourism industry in Northern Norway.

The point of departure for ACCESSTOUR is the tangible shortage of awareness and competence on Accessible Tourism (AT) in the Norwegian rural and nature-based tourism industry - as well as in related research fields, public sector and policies at local and national level. The project emphasizes the so far untapped potential for value creation in AT as strategy and perspective among stakeholders involved in rural and nature-based tourism industry in a Norwegian context. AT holds potential to support the operationalisation of important UN sustainable development goals, and this project will explore this potential. Not least, AT may open the tourism market for new customer groups, and new markets, including elderly retired people and local citizens. AT have a significant potential for the tourism sector to reach in the coming years, considering the aging population and the prevailing pandemic situation. The overall objective is to produce knowledge on how to develop sustainable and accessible rural local communities and nature-based tourism destinations, through stakeholder collaboration. The project will build knowledge, create generic models and methodologies and capacity within the tourism industry and public sector with the aim of increasing accessibility and value for both business, visitors and local citizens with different disabilities, using a customer journey framework. The study will take place in 4 Norwegian regions (Lofoten, Vesterålen, Valdres, Telemark), all nature-based and rural tourism destinations dominated by small tourism enterprises (SMEs). The project will develop generic models for how to develop sustainable and accessible tourism destinations, including methodologies and digital technologies to be used by SMEs and public sector, and models for multi-stakeholder co-creation. Potential risks are COVID-19 impacts challenging the methodological design (reduced travel possibilities), as well drop-out risk among SME partners due to bankruptcy.

Publications from Cristin

Funding scheme:

BIA-Brukerstyrt innovasjonsarena