A European initiative promoted by the Veneto Region: Tourism-for-all has motivated BestVeniceGuides to research the difficulties Venice presents to visitors who have largely had to fend for themselves till now – whether they be individuals, families or groups with Special Needs or disabilities.
Venice can be an assault course presenting any number of obstacles and dangers to the would-be visitor. We aim to provide people with Special Needs the sort of quality, bespoke services they need whether they plan to live or simply visit Venice. BestVeniceGuides supports the Veneto Region’s aim to raise awareness and propagate values of inclusion and participation. The goal is to underscore the common good of no one being excluded or left out.
BestVeniceGuides have promoted and set up training courses to plan and implement of tours for people with motor impairment, hearing disabilities, for guests with autism, new facilitated tours for blind and visually impaired people, and the development of projects relating to accessibility throughout the city.
We work and collaborate on a local level with a growing number of sectors in the tourism industry which are increasingly aware and receptive to the sensibilities of people with Special Needs with the goal of helping individuals or families with the problems they may have in planning their stay in Venice and receiving the services and assistance they need before and during their visits.
Venice is a city built to a human scale where cultures have been intertwined for centuries and where everything is measured and delivered for the individual. People come here to enjoy the contrast to the wide roads and concrete canyons of their own modern cities. But the medieval infrastructure can present its own insurmountable problems. Until now. Our mission is to make Venice open for everyone.
We believe tourism in Venice is sustainable – if those who come can enjoy it while wishing to preserve it. We believe all our guests are potential guardians and custodians of the city. We believe that people with Special needs should and must not be excluded from the city or its stewardship, that we together can create the sort of tourism for the third/ fourth and fifth decade of the C21st (and beyond) a tourism which consolidates what is good, protects what needs protected, and sustains the delicate environmental/ human balance of the city of the lagoon.
