Tourism for people with disabilities is an almost unused part of the tourism market in Lithuania. When we are talking about the accessible tourism for people with disabilities, we want to talk about the accessible tourism for other persons with individual needs: elderly people, families with small children, and persons with temporary health disorders, etc.,as well.
Specialists in the field of tourism lack the knowledge of how to communicate with people with disabilities, as well as what tourism services can be provided to them.
Another aspect is the importance of disseminating information about accessible tourist facilities and routes, as well as the importance of applying the principles of universal design.
Details on the event:
- Target audience: Tourism policy makers from the Ministries of Economy and Innovation, Internal Affairs, Social Security and Labour, specialists from municipal tourism information centre, tourism service providers, representatives of training institutions training tourism specialists, representatives of organizations of people with disabilities and municipalities.
- When: Thursday, November 16, 2023
- Format: Online
- Type of event: Networking
- Language: Lithuanian and English
- How to participate: Free registration
- Accessibility information: Captioning and sign language interpretation in Lithuanian. Translation from English to Lithuanian
- tourism
- Thursday 16 November 2023, 11:00 - 15:30 (EET)
- Country
- Lithuania
Programme
- 16 Nov 2023, 11:00 - 13:30 (EET)Draft agenda
11:00 – 11:15 Welcome speeches.
Justina Jakštienė, Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour.
Andrius Valickas, Senior advisor of the Regional Policy Group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Lina Gulbinė, Head of the program monitoring and control department of the Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour
11:15 – 11:55 "Tourism for All: oportunities and quality of the offer", Annagrazia Laura, President ENAT - European Network for Accessible Tourism
12:05 – 12:25 "How to open the tourism sector to people with disabilities in Lithuania?“, Marius Gorochovskis, Chief officer of Economic development group (Tourism) of the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania
12:35 – 13:05 "Tourism accessible to everyone. Requirements and recommendations", Biruta Švagždiene, professor, dr. Lithuanian University of Sports, Department of Sports and Tourism Management
13:15 – 13:30 Coffee break
13:30 – 13:50 "Druskininkai without limits?", Jurgita Rudienė, Deputy Head of the Investment and Project Management Department of the Municipality of Druskininkai
14:00 – 14:20 "Accessible tourism: important topic in Tourism studies“, Greta Gruodė, Head of the Management Department of the Business Management Faculty of Vilnius College
14:30 – 15:10 Experiences and suggestions of people with disabilities
Hearing impaired representative Vytautas Pivoras, Chairman of the Commission for monitoring the rights of people with disabilities
Physical disability representative Ginta Žemaitaitytė–Buinevičė, project coordinator of the Lithuanian Association of People with Disabilities
Representative of the visually impaired Audrė Grybauskaitė, project coordinator of the Lithuanian Blind and Visually Impaired Union
15:20 – 15:30 Summary
At the end of each presentation, 10 minutes will be allocated for questions/discussion
Practical information
- When
- Thursday 16 November 2023, 11:00 - 15:30 (EET)
- Languages
- English, Lithuanian