Brussels is working constantly to improve its accessibility. Many hotels, restaurants, shops, museums, and attractions also offer adapted facilities so that everyone can make the most of their visit to the European capital.
visit.brussels is launching the Handy Events Guide as part of the same approach and to make outdoor events in Brussels optimally suited to the needs of persons with reduced mobility.
In Brussels, like elsewhere in Belgium, more than 30% of the population is considered to be in the reduced mobility category.* This percentage is increasing as the population ages.
Developing tourist numbers therefore necessarily requires the development of an offering that is accessible to all. The importance of having accessible tourist sites and preparing your journey is key for a successful stay.
On a day-to-day basis, tourism stakeholders are becoming more organized and developing initiatives to make tourism more accessible to all. For many years now, visit.brussels has included persons with reduced mobility in its strategy for developing tourism in Brussels and in the organization of these events (eat! BRUSSELS, drink! BORDEAUX, the Comic Strip Festival, etc.). This is why it is now launching a guide that provides organizers with the key information they need to make outdoor events accessible to people with reduced mobility: the Handy Events Guide.
The Handy Events Guide
To do everything it can to accommodate persons with reduced mobility during events, visit.brussels has produced a practical guide for the organization of outdoor events accessible to this section of the population, the Handy Events Guide – The Keys to Accessible Events. This guide was created in collaboration with AMT Concept (handy.brussels) and Access-i. The guide is available free of charge online and in three languages and is a practical check-list that can be used to organize any event in a public space. It is aimed primarily at the key stakeholders in the events field, such as advertisers, organizers, and events agencies as well as site managers and owners.
The guide is available in PDF format at https://visit.brussels/en/article/handy-eventsguide-the-keys-to-accessible-events
Other initiatives are also helping persons with reduced mobility to have an enjoyable stay.
Below is a brief overview.
“be accessible be.brussels”: brochure on accessible museums and tourist attractions in Brussels
Created in partnership with the Brussels Council of Museums, Attractions & Tourisme and AMT Concept, the “be accessible be.brussels” brochure presents 50 museums and tourist attractions that are accessible to persons with reduced mobility. The activities listed in this brochure allow everyone to discover accessible locations and enjoy our museum collections in a dynamic, creative way. The brochure is free and available in four languages. It is available in PDF format: https://visit.brussels/en/article/accessible-museums-andtourist-attractions-in-brussels
visit.brussels uses the Access-i reference for its events
This year, visit.brussels worked very hard to improve the accessibility of the eat! BRUSSELS, drink! BORDEAUX Festival and the Comic Strip Festival, which were held in September. visit.brussels obtained Access-i certification for its two events following an audit by the nonprofit association Plain-Pied. Access-i provides reliable and high-quality information on the accessibility level of a building or event; persons with reduced mobility can use this information to plan their journeys with total peace of mind. More information: https://www.access-i.be/evenements/eat-brussels-drink-bordeaux https://www.access-i.be/en/events/fete-de-la-bd-1
*Source: https://mobilite-mobiliteit.brussels/en/node/50
