Turisme de Barcelona Creates First Guided Tour for People with Reduced Mobility

Barcelona, 2nd of December 2015 - Turisme de Barcelona, the city's tourism board, is promoting a new product called Easy Walking Gothic Tour, an hour-and-a-half guided tour of the Gothic Quarter that is barrier free, so that people with reduced mobility, like wheelchair and walking stick users and those that get tired after being on their feet a while, can enjoy the oldest parts of the city centre. The city's tourism board and regional DMO Agència Catalana de Turisme are organising a roundtable event called 'Accessible tourism in Barcelona and Catalonia' on Thursday 3rd of December as part of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The event will feature international experts in responsible tourism.

First adapted tour$

Easy Walking Gothic Tour is a pilot product aimed at people with disabilities and promoted by Turisme de Barcelona's Sustainable Tourism programme. Currently, the Easy Walking Tour is available on the first and third Friday of each month. Turisme de Barcelona is developing other regular accessible tours for groups such as the blind or visually impaired and people who use sign language, tours which today are only available on request.

To accompany the Easy Walking Tour, Turisme de Barcelona will also launch a campaign on Facebook so that local people can also find out about the initiative and how to make the most of this opportunity. The first ten reservations for the new route through Facebook.com/visitbarcelona (for December 11 at 12am, in Catalan or Spanish) will be free of charge.

'Accessible tourism in Barcelona and Catalonia' roundtable event

Turisme de Barcelona and Agència Catalana de Turisme are putting on a roundtable event Thursday, December 3, at 9:30 pm, called 'Accessible tourism in Barcelona and Catalonia' at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Barcelona - Fira Center (Av. Rius i Taulet, 1-3). The event is part of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Chaired by journalist Maria-José Anía, the event features Annagrazia Laura, president of the European Network for Accessible Tourism; Catherine Mack, of tour operator Responsible Travel; Daniela Rubio, digital accessibility consultant and experienced traveller; Martyn Sibley, British blogger; Julià Montero, director of receptive travel agency Barcelona Zero Limits.