Inclusive tourism has many advantages: examples of inclusive tourism services, and their impact, will be presented in Oslo at the conference ‘Inclusive Nordic Travel’ on 7 November. First of all, making tourism services accessible increases their quality and the enjoyment for everyone, including local communities. The conference will gather both the private and the public sector, as well as others interested in the field of ‘Universal Design’ and ‘Sustainable Tourism’: a main goal is to offer inspiration to move towards sustainability and accessibility. According to Anna Bjørshol, department director at Bufdir (the ‘Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs’), the whole travel chain needs to be accessible even if the Nordic region has already come a long way when it comes to accessible public transportation, nature trails accessible with wheelchairs and city street crossings with audible indications (just a few examples). But there is still a lot to improve and develop, take for example a nature trail that has been made accessible, and that can be used by practically everybody, but the transportation to the trail may be difficult: travel chains must be linked together. Providing accessible and relevant information about destinations and ways of travelling is also key when making tourism more inclusive. At the conference, several examples of inclusive travel will be presented in three parallel sessions: in the technology session, museums using VR to heighten the visitors’ experiences will be a topic, as well as the use of AI in the travel industry. The outdoor session will tap into the conflict between accessible nature and intervention in nature. The possibilities will be highlighted, and the challenges are weighted against the consideration of equal access to nature and experiences. The examples stretch from accessibility information in Finnish national parks, 1:1 outdoor experimental lab for accessible nature to a presentation of accessible tourism in Iceland. The transport session will deal with various topics such as the UN’s sustainability goals and the transport system, what new transport technology means for disabled people’s travel opportunities. Travel experiences that disabled people have as tourists will be shared. The conference ‘Inclusive Nordic Travel’ in Oslo will be live streamed, the conference language is English. The event is organized by Bufdir in cooperation with the ‘Nordic Welfare Centre’, the ‘Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality’ and the ‘Nordic Council of Ministers‘. The ‘Council of Nordic Cooperation on Disability’ has been involved in drawing up the programme for the conference. Read more on Nordicwelfare.org