Accessible Nature Tourism

Last changed: 31 October 2024
People walking on a wooden trail towards a lake

Spending time in nature and participating in outdoor recreation activities is increasingly recognized as vital to people’s health and wellbeing. However, natural areas and outdoor experiences are not equally accessible to everyone, as many people with disabilities face structural and social barriers that hinder full participation in nature-based activities. Nature-based tourism nevertheless holds the potential to provide access to nature for people with disabilities, but many entrepreneurs find it challenging to offer accessible nature-based tourism products due to, for example, limited knowledge about the customers, lack of financial resources and the absence of a holistic perspective on accessible tourism.

A wooden platform by a lake

One of the the aims in the REGGAE project is to inspire the reference companies to develop their products and services in to more accessible offerings to customers, and to increase knowledge about regenerative, accessible nature-based tourism in practice. Small measures, such as detailed information about the facilities and activities on the website or the installing of a handrail, can often be sufficient to widen the tourism offering to a more diverse customer segment. Today, about 20% of the global population has some form of disability, and with an aging population, this number is expected to rise. Therefore, it is highly important for nature environments and outdoor activities to become more inclusive so that a greater share of the population can benefit from the remedial abilities spending time in nature possess. A rule of thumb is that ‘a measure that is essential for 10 percent facilitates access for 40 percent and is convenient for 100 percent’, which demonstrates how accessibility measures can provide nature experiences to more people.

The reference companies in this project are today not targeting the accessible nature-based tourism market specifically, but there is great enthusiasm and innovative ideas among the entrepreneurs on how to make their products more accessible. Throughout the project, the goal is to increase awareness about this segment and encourage reference companies to realize these ideas, in order to intertwine the preservation and regeneration of natural environments with accessible nature experiences and activities for people with disabilities.

Text & Photo: Kristin Godtman Kling