The Development of Accessible Tourism in Sweden

The development of accessible tourism in Sweden has in many respects followed the development in other European countries during the last two decades. Beginning with a growing awareness of the fact that also disabled people has the right to travel and make holidays, continuing with a raised knowledge about disabled people's needs and that this issue is more complex than only the talk about physical access; turning into a wider and deeper understanding of accessible tourism from the point of diversity, design for all and a customer-oriented management.

At the beginning of the 1990s accessible tourism was focused on tourism for disabled people, rather than tourism accessible for all. A number of tourism facilities could provide service and accommodation, adapted in most cases to wheelchair user's needs, as an answer to a growing demand. This development took place in parallel to the changes in the society and disability policies, paying more attention to the disabled people's rights to an independent life. In the Governmental directives for The National Tourism Board in the beginning of 1990s, the Government communicated that the disabled person's right to travel and take holidays should also be taken into account in their work. A holiday guide for disabled tourists was produced by the National Tourism Board, until 1993. After some reorganizations of the National Tourism Board, this message was left out in the following directives, and the Holiday Guide for Disabled was no longer produced. In 1995 Sweden joined the European Union, and one of the many issues that had to be handled in the European Context was Accessible Tourism. In the framework of the initiative Helios, accessible tourism was regarded as one important policy issue, as well as a possibility for development of European Tourism. A number of private and public actors in the European Union's member states initiated development projects on the theme of accessible tourism, and were looking for a Swedish partner.