Digital Inclusion: A Key to Accessible and Smart Tourism

In a rapidly evolving tourism landscape, digital technologies are no longer a luxury — they are essential to ensuring that everyone can enjoy travel, regardless of abilities, age or background. The SMART Inclusion project aims precisely at this: to harness the power of digital tools to build tourism destinations that are inclusive, accessible and sustainable. 

  • Traditional tourism often relies on physical infrastructure (ramps, lifts, signage), which remains vital — but digital inclusion opens a complementary path: accessible information, booking, mobility, communication, services.

  • Many travellers — people with disabilities, seniors, people using mobility aids, but also families with young children or non-local speakers — face barriers when the digital offering is not adapted to their needs. Digital inclusion helps close that gap and ensures equality of access and experience.

  • By focusing on digital inclusion, destinations become more resilient and adaptive: even remote areas can offer quality tourism services to a broader audience. This aligns with the core mission of SMART Inclusion: building “smarter and more resilient tourism destinations” through “digital tools and innovative practices.”

 

What Digital Inclusion Looks Like in Practice

Here are a few concrete examples of how digital inclusion can transform tourism — many of which the sectors targeted by SMART Inclusion may adopt or adapt:

  • Accessible booking platforms and websites — compliant with accessibility standards, easy to navigate, usable with screen readers or keyboard-only navigation. This allows people with visual impairments, cognitive disabilities or reduced mobility to independently book accommodation or services.

  • Digital guided tours and audio/video descriptions — for people who are visually impaired, hearing-impaired or with other disabilities. Such tools can also serve travellers who don’t speak the local language.

  • Smart mobility and wayfinding apps — giving real-time information on accessible routes, public transport, mobility-aid-friendly paths, elevators, ramps, and services.

  • Multilingual, inclusive, and accessible digital content — information about the destination in several languages and in accessible formats (text, audio, easy-read), benefiting not only people with disabilities but also foreign tourists, older adults, or families with children.

  • Digital support & communication tools — allowing tourists to ask questions, get assistance, or request inclusive services remotely (before or during the trip), reducing uncertainty and improving comfort.

 

Benefits for Destinations and Tourism Providers

Implementing digital inclusion yields multiple advantages:

  • Wider audience & market potential — by opening tourism to more groups (people with disabilities, seniors, families, etc.), destinations can attract a larger, more diverse pool of visitors.

  • Enhanced brand image and reputation — being known as accessible and inclusive can differentiate destinations, especially in a European context where inclusive tourism is growing in awareness and demand.

  • Improved resilience & sustainability — digital tools can facilitate resource optimization (less paper brochures, more efficient communication) and better management of flows (e.g. avoiding overcrowding, optimizing transport routes).

  • Social responsibility and equity — promoting equal access to tourism, supporting social inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunities.

 

Through SMART Inclusion, we provide:

  • A Toolkit with good practices, digital solutions, and inspiring examples to help tourism SMEs and stakeholders adopt inclusive, accessible and sustainable practices.

  • A Guide for Inclusive Tourism, offering methodologies, guidelines, and practical recommendations to embed inclusivity and digital accessibility in tourism offers.

  • Capacity building via workshops and webinars, to support tourism professionals, public authorities and SMEs in their digital transformation toward inclusivity and sustainability.

 

Recommendations for Tourism Stakeholders

If you are a tourism professional, a local authority, a public-private organisation or a SME in the field — here are steps you could consider:

  1. Perform an accessibility audit of your digital presence (websites, booking tools, information services).

  2. Adopt or develop inclusive digital tools (accessible booking, multilingual content, audio-visual guides, mobility apps).

  3. Engage with diverse user groups (people with disabilities, seniors, families) — co-create and test solutions with them to ensure real usability.

  4. Provide training for staff on digital inclusion and accessibility awareness.

  5. Monitor and adapt: gather feedback, update information, ensure maintenance of digital services — digital inclusion is not a one-off but a continuous commitment.