Inclusion and Accessibility: The New Challenge of Cultural Routes

This book focuses on the inclusion of individuals with special needs within the tourism sector, with particular emphasis on cultural routes. Promoting sustainable cultural tourism and planning its development through sustainable strategies present significant challenges. A key objective is to strengthen the interconnection between tourism and both social and environmental sustainability. This involves addressing the needs of individuals with disabilities through social innovation, thereby supporting the transition toward an inclusive tourism model that fosters sustainable, intelligent, and inclusive growth.

Following an overview of public strategies, educational initiatives and stakeholder engagement in the field of accessible tourism, this book presents several case studies that exemplify best practices. These examples illustrate how cultural routes can be transformed into meaningful community experiences by enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

Anna Trono, Professor of Political and Economic Geography, is an experienced researcher in tourism, environmental problems and urban planning in EU Countries. These skills and competencies have been acquired during the study visits as academic visitor at the Geography Departments of The London School of Economics and Political Science and Glasgow University. She studies regional development policies, cultural/religious tourism and environmental sustainability issues. She has published numerous essays and books on these themes, many of which are in connection with large-scale projects involving local and regional organisations and other universities in Italy and elsewhere, under the aegis of European Union research programs, Community Initiative Programmes (Urban, Leader, Interreg) and inter-university accords.

Valentina Castronuovo is Adjunct Professor in Political and Economic Geography at the University of Tuscia. Her main research topics are cultural and natural heritage for local sustainable development. She is a member of the Association of Italian Geographers working group “Territorial Reorganization and Local Development” for the study of local development experiences and the configuration, in this context, of the concept of local identity. She is a scientific reviewer for national and international journals, and she is the author of contributions and articles in journals, books, projects and research reports, published both internationally and nationally.