Sauerland comfort: First step towards a barrier-free region

Sauerland-Tourismus e.V. | Barrier-free in the Sauerland

Accessible travel is an important topic for many people - for very individual and different reasons. For almost all people, barrier-free offers also mean additional comfort. The Sauerland would like to offer its guests the best possible comfort and highlight barrier-free offers more clearly. Together with the "Barrier-free in the Sauerland" initiative of the LenneWerk in the St. Georg Schmallenberg social welfare organization, Sauerland Tourism has invited guests to several impulse workshops and has now drawn up a plan of action for barrier-free travel in the region.

The impulse workshops, which took place online and were funded by Aktion Mensch, were attended by tourism managers and representatives for the interests of people with disabilities from the cities, municipalities and districts. Representatives from "Barrierefrei im Sauerland" also supported the events with their specialist knowledge and in particular contributed the perspective of the people affected.

After all, accessibility has different facets and can make life easier, less complicated and more convenient for people in different places - and in many cases can also mean real participation. In the case of travel, this starts with information on suitable destinations and accommodation, continues with comfortable travel and is of great importance for accommodation providers and excursion destinations. Everyday obstacles affect people who are getting older. But also people with various physical or mental disabilities. To make travel possible for everyone in the Sauerland, an empathetic approach is needed and, as a first step, small measures that remove or help overcome the obstacles. Gisela Moser from the MosGiTo consulting agency, an expert in barrier-free travel who supports vacation regions, was one of those who demonstrated what these measures could look like.

The workshop participants also discussed very pragmatically how improvements could be made in many areas in the Sauerland. At the end, they defined goals together and drew up an initial action plan. They agreed that it is important to make the Sauerland more visible as an inspiring outdoor region for ALL people. In future, the offers for people with special needs must be better highlighted. An active network and an expert team of tourism professionals and disability representatives will now come together. They will work together to highlight the existing offers more prominently and to make excursion and hospitality businesses more aware of the future topic and support them in implementing new offers.

Sauerland-Komfort makes a start
Sabine Risse, Outdoor Manager and responsible for the topic of "Sauerland-Komfort" at Sauerland Tourism, is very pleased with the results of the workshops. "With Sauerland Comfort, we have laid the foundations for low-barrier and low-threshold offers in the Sauerland. Now we are going one step further. It is important to understand: If comfortable - preferably barrier-free - offers are created or expanded as a matter of course, then this is crucial for a large number of guests. In principle, however, they benefit everyone."

There are examples of convenient offers in the region that are also low-barrier or even barrier-free. These include the Sauerland walking tours, but also hiking trails that are also suitable for people with limited mobility. There are high ropes courses that can also be used by people in wheelchairs. The Guide4Blind project in Soest has several offers aimed at blind and visually impaired people, enabling them to take guided tours of the city beyond the visible, for example.

New offer from experts in their own right
The "Barrier-free in the Sauerland" team also presented a new, low-threshold offer aimed at accommodation providers in the Sauerland, which aims to help them remove obstacles for people with a disability. A project team has developed a business check to examine businesses to see where they stand in terms of accessibility. "Our unique selling point is that the "Barrier-free in the Sauerland" team includes people with assistance needs. These experts are people who are affected by barriers themselves. That's why they know what they're talking about," explains project manager Bernhard Pilgram. For a small fee, the project team offers people with different assistance needs to come to the hotel and check it using a detailed checklist: For example, what is the parking situation like, how is the route to reception? How is access to reception, the elevators, the restaurant, the conference rooms? The check usually takes a good two to three hours and the hosts receive an informative evaluation afterwards.

The participants in the workshops were convinced and motivated to further develop accessibility in the region. Sabine Risse summarizes: "We don't see many things immediately in our day-to-day business and don't initially think about how they will be received by people with special needs. Yet some improvements are simple and can often be implemented with very small investments or changes to the service."

Contact for the press:
Anna Galon, Sauerland-Tourismus e.V.
Johannes-Hummel-Weg 1, 57392 Schmallenberg
Tel.: 02974-969850, e-mail: anna.galon@sauerland.com