Calpe aspires to position itself as an accessible tourist destination and, for this reason, has launched a promotional campaign to encourage visitors with functional diversity and highlight the improvements made in terms of accessibility on beaches, in public spaces and tourist resources.
This initiative is part of the Strategic Plan for Accessible Tourism, approved in 2022, and is also part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan (PSTD) with the support of the Regional Ministry of Tourism of the Valencian Community - Turisme Comunitat Valenciana - and the State Secretariat for Tourism within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) financed by the European Union - Next Generation.
The publicity campaign will be carried out on social media, as well as in both general and tourism-related online and offline media, to promote the town as an accessible holiday destination.
It will be held in Calpe's main tourist markets, both nationally and internationally. This is the case of the Valencian Community and the autonomous communities of Madrid, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla y León, Aragón, Navarra, La Rioja and the Basque Country. Abroad, the campaign will target France, Germany, Benelux and the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland), which also have low-cost connections to Alicante and Valencia airports.
The campaign will also include inclusive events and activities, and associations and people with disabilities will be invited to discover and try out different accessible experiences in Calpe. In this regard, the Exploratory Walk was held this week, an event in which users of the Maite Boronat Occupational Centre and members of the Calpe Association of People with Disabilities took part and had the opportunity to try out the new adapted vehicles acquired by the Department of Tourism - an initiative that is also part of the PSTD financed with Next Generation funds -: an all-terrain Joëlette chair for travelling to places that are inaccessible with conventional wheelchairs; an OPair electric bicycle, a bicycle with a built-in wheelchair, and two tandem bicycles that allow a person with reduced mobility or visual impairment to share the experience of cycling with a companion.
This promotional campaign joins other initiatives aimed at consolidating inclusive tourism included in the PSTD. Talks and training courses are being held to raise awareness among local tourism companies and citizens of the importance of the town being an accessible tourist destination adapted to people with all kinds of functional diversity, in addition to the acquisition of adapted vehicles.